Rookie Lando Norris conducted himself like a veteran professional by playing down the fact that he ended his first test session as a fully fledged McLaren driver second fastest on the second day of Formula 1 preseason testing at Circuit de Catalunya in Spain.
The 19-year-old kept his best for last to pop the orange car into second place on the timing screens late in the afternoon to bring to an end another positive day for the Woking outfit.
The mood in the McLaren garage was jovial, the relief palpable but the occasion was not going to the youngster's head, and reported afterwards, “The times aren’t important to us, it’s about getting through the plans we have to do, especially in this part of the season when there are a lot of new things on the car to test."
“The times aren’t important to us, it’s about getting through the plans we have to do, especially in this part of the season when there are a lot of new things on the car to test.
“I’ve not done much long running in the past or pit-stops, so getting up to speed and talking to my engineers are the most important things for me to get on top of over the next two weeks. Laps, mileage and reliability are the main objectives, as well as getting to know the car.
“There are still a lot of things we need to continue to work on and improve over the next few days. It’s definitely a work in progress,” explained Norris.
A day earlier Carlos Sainz was also second fastest, but Norris found a couple of seconds more than the Spaniard was able to extract and when the chequered flag waved to end the day's track action the rookie was only four tenths shy of Charles Leclerc's best time in the pace-setting Ferrari.
And the pair set almost identical times, with the Spaniard ending the first day on 1:18.555 and Norris lapping at 1:18.553 today.
https://www.grandprix247.com/2019/02/19/barcelona-day-2-leclerc-has-good-first-day-for-ferrari/
loading
Latest News
Loading
