Yas Marina Circuit, Friday 10 December

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, and Executive Director, Technical, James Key after practice for the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.

LANDO NORRIS, #4

FP1	1m26.123s (+1.114s)	26 laps	12th
FP2	1m25.153s (+1.462s)	27 laps	13th

“A decent day. I think we learned a lot. We maybe weren’t so quick, but the car felt relatively decent so I’m hoping tomorrow things will just click a little bit more and we’ll find some pace. So, a positive day I think. It’s also nice to drive the new circuit, there are quite a few differences – both in the layout but also how the tyres behave as well. It’s something else to get used to and we’ll have our guys and girls look at how to maximise everything, including the tyres and the set-up, going into qualifying tomorrow.”

DANIEL RICCIARDO, #3

FP1	1m26.676s (+1.667s)	29 laps	16th
FP2	1m24.959s (+1.268s)	26 laps	11th

“Today was fun, a new layout and some new corners to learn, which I enjoyed. We made some progress in the second session, but we’ve still got a bit to find. Overall, the day was positive, so we’ll chip away at it and make some improvements heading into Saturday.”

JAMES KEY, Executive Director, Technical

“Abu Dhabi has become a well-established end-of-season venue, but the track has changed this year. There’s been lots to learn about the new layout, but also the grip levels on the new asphalt. With very few test items on the car we’ve been able to spend all of our time focusing on set-up and tyre work. High track evolution meant lap-times were a bit hit or miss, but we made some good progress. There’s a bit more to come from the car, and we must do some hard work tonight to refine our set-up, but we’re comfortable with where we are.”

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