Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, Friday 25 February

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo, as well as Team Principal Andreas Seidl after Day 3 of the pre-season test.

LANDO NORRIS, #4

Laps/km/miles	52/243km/151 miles
Best laptime	1m20.827s (11th)

“It’s been a good week and start to the year. Many things have gone well. Of course, a couple of problems here and there but we’ve got through a lot of our test programmes, and we’ve understood the car more. As a driver, I’ve been able to get comfortable with the car nice and quickly. Our focus now moves onto learning and reviewing everything we put together and tested, to try to make progress going into Bahrain, and make sure we’re ready for the first race of the season.

“A massive thanks to the team for getting the car ready. I don’t think we’ve had as many problems as a lot of other teams. We’ve had a reliable car and a good car so far that has given me the confidence, so all the hard work is paying off at the minute. We need to keep it up and keep pushing.”

DANIEL RICCIARDO, #3

Laps/km/miles	86/402km/250 miles
Best laptime	1m20.790s (10th)

“It was good to get a little bit of wet running, there was quite a lot to learn from that. We then got into a different programme to yesterday where we racked up plenty of laps, which was really productive. Now it’s about giving that information back to the team and trying to build on this positive start.

“I think we’re in a good spot, but there’s always something to work on and improve. So, we’ll give the team some data to work with and some areas of work to do, I'll focus on what I can keep doing better. Overall, a pretty flawless three days for the team, a really awesome start to the season. Thanks to everyone back at MTC for putting the hard work in over the winter to put us in this position.”

ANDREAS SEIDL, Team Principal

“It’s been a productive first three days for us in Barcelona, and we leave Spain with plenty of data to analyse before we head to Bahrain for the official pre-season test and Grand Prix.

“As a team, we’ve been able maximise our running time with both drivers running a total of 365 laps over the three days. We’re pleased with the amount of work we’ve been able to complete to help us get a better understanding of the MCL36.

“The team, both in Barcelona and back at McLaren Technology Centre, alongside our colleagues at Mercedes HPP have done an excellent job to deliver a reliable car across testing. The hard work from the entire team has been crucial in enabling us to achieve our objectives.

“Thanks to Lando and Daniel for their tireless work and valuable feedback. To step straight back into the car and complete more than 150 each laps isn’t easy to do, and they’ve given the team back in Woking plenty of direction as to how the car can be continuously improved.

“Despite the significant regulation change, the competition is looking very tight between the teams. There doesn’t appear to be any clear leader or backmarker at this stage, even though there are a wide range of philosophies and solutions up and down the grid. We look forward to heading to Bahrain, where we will further gather data to help us develop the car before kicking off the 2022 season in just under a month’s time.”

Today's official testing times

1	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:19.138s	94 laps
2	George Russell	Mercedes	1:19.233s	66 laps
3	Sergio Perez	Red Bull Racing	1:19.556s	74 laps
4	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:19.756s	59 laps
5	Sebastian Vettel	Aston Martin	1:19.824s	48 laps
6	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:19.831s	44 laps
7	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:20.072s	92 laps
8	Alex Albon	Williams	1:20.318s	94 laps
9	Nicholas Latifi	Williams	1:20.699s	13 laps
10	Daniel Ricciardo	McLaren	1:20.790s	86 laps
11	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:20.827s	52 laps
12	Fernando Alonso	Alpine	1:21.242s	12 laps
13	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	1:21.939s	41 laps
14	Pierre Gasly	AlphaTauri	1:22.469s	40 laps
15	Nikita Mazepin	Haas	1:26.229s	9 laps
16	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1:30.433s	10 laps

What's next?

The first pre-season test has now concluded. The MCL36 will return to the track in Bahrain on Thursday 10 March for the first day of the second test.

Test dates

Three days (Wednesday 23 - Friday 25 February 2022). 

Join the team

McLaren Plus is our free-to-join fan loyalty programme, bringing McLaren fans closer to the team with the most inclusive, rewarding and open-to-all fan programmes in motorsport.

Sign up now, or current members can amend their details in the form below if necessary.