Bahrain International Circuit, Friday 12 March 

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Daniel Ricciardo and Executive Director, Racing, Andrea Stella after Day 1 of the pre-season test.

Key facts

Drivers	Daniel Ricciardo, Lando Norris
Laps/km/miles	45/243km/151 miles, 46/248km/154 miles
Best laptime	1m32.203s (7th), 1m30.889s (2nd),

DANIEL RICCIARDO, #3

“It was really good to get back out in the car for my first proper session with McLaren. I was able to push the car a little bit and get more familiar with it. It was a smooth morning, everything ran well and that’s all you can ask in testing – you want reliability on your side and the team back in Woking has done an awesome job of giving us a great start on day one. We got a good amount of runs and laps done, with a focus on getting more and more familiar and comfortable in the car. The plan for the next few days is similar, we’re aiming to leave here feeling ready to go for the Bahrain Grand Prix. Happy days!” 

LANDO NORRIS, #4

“First of all, very happy to be back in a Formula 1 car. It’s my first time putting the MCL35M to the test in the dry. It’s quite a shock to feel the speed of a Formula 1 car again, it’s been a while since I’ve had that sensation. It was a good shock and it felt nice to be back, but not as nice with the conditions today. The second half of the day was very dusty and windy which made it tricky, so it wasn’t the easiest first day back in the car.

“We spent the session going through our test programme, making sure there are no problems with the seat and that I’m comfortable in the car. We’ve got some things to work on from that side over the next couple of days. We’ll sit down and review everything this evening, but it’s been a solid first day. Thanks to everyone both here and back at the factory for all the hard work and making it such a smooth first day's running.”

ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing

“It was a productive first day of testing. The conditions were a bit special due to the wind and sand on the track, but actually this didn’t affect the run plan very much as we could still compare data from run to run and from both drivers. We didn’t have any major issues today, only small things to fix here and there which is normal on the first day running a new car. But it’s only day one, and we’ll keep monitoring as we accumulate mileage on the car.

“We were able to run through our planned test items – Daniel running in the morning and Lando in the afternoon – with both drivers getting an early understanding of the car. We now need to optimise the remaining two days with preparation for the first race being shorter than ever, so we need to try and be as efficient as possible.”

Today's official testing times

1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:30.674s	139 laps
2	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:30.889s	46 laps
3	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:31.146s	129 laps
4	Lance Stroll	Aston Martin	1:31.782s	46 laps
5	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:31.919s	57 laps
6	Antonio Giovinazzi	Alfa Romeo	1:31.945s	68 laps
7	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:32.203s	45 laps
8	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:32.231s	74 laps
9	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:32.727s	37 laps
10	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:32.912s	42 laps
11	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:32.242s	59 laps
12	Kimi Raikkonen	Alfa Romeo	1:33.320s	63 laps
13	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:33.742s	51 laps
14	Roy Nissany	Williams	1:34.789s	83 laps
15	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:34.798s	70 laps
16	Mick Schumacher	Haas	1:36.127s	15 laps
17	Valtteri Bottas	Mercedes	1:36.850s	6 laps

 
What's next?

Daniel will take the wheel of the MCL35M tomorrow morning, with Lando taking over in the afternoon.

Test dates

Three days (Friday 12 – Sunday 14 March 2021). 

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