Bahrain International Circuit, Thursday 23 February

Hear from McLaren Formula 1 drivers Lando Norris, Oscar Piastri and Team Principal Andrea Stella after Day 1 of the pre-season test.

Key facts

Laps/km/miles	40/216km/135 miles
Fastest lap	1m33.462s (5th)

"It was a reasonable first day. It was good to be back on track, to get a good number of laps under my belt and to get that first feeling from the car, so I’m happy with that. It wasn’t quite the smoothest of days with a few little setbacks here and there, but we got through a lot of the plan and some of the key test items, which we can learn from over the next few days as well some changes we can already start to implement. I’m feeling more comfortable in the car and have changed little things here and there to start to optimise a few things. As far as test days go, it was positive and I’m looking forward to going again tomorrow."

Laps/km/miles	52/281km/175 miles
Fastest lap	1m34.888s (18th)

"My first morning of testing went pretty smoothly which is a good start to the season. We got through the programme we wanted to, which was great, with the focus being on getting myself back up to speed and used to the new generation of F1 cars. There is still a lot to learn and improvements to make but I think I’m getting there. It was good to get some laps on the board and everything felt pretty comfy. I’m looking forward to my next few sessions to keep improving and learning more about the car."

ANDREA STELLA, Team Principal

"A productive day in Bahrain which went largely to plan. Despite a few very minor issues, which are common at testing, we’ve got a lot of information and were able to complete a lot of test items. There were some short delays caused by the team wanting to reinforce the body work in some places in order to prevent a failure. These were preventative measures, but we thought they were useful to make so we could run safely and reliably for the remainder of the day. Overall, a positive day. We hope to continue like this for day two and three so we’re ready for the first race of the season."

Today's official testing times

1	Max Verstappen	Red Bull Racing	1:32.837	157 laps
2	Fernando Alonso	Aston Martin	1:32.866	60 laps
3	Carlos Sainz	Ferrari	1:33.253	72 laps
4	Charles Leclerc	Ferrari	1:33.267	64 laps
5	Lando Norris	McLaren	1:33.462	40 laps
6	Lewis Hamilton	Mercedes	1:33.508	83 laps
7	Alex Albon	Williams	1:33.671	74 laps
8	Guanyu Zhou	Alfa Romeo	1:33.723	67 laps
9	George Russell	Mercedes	1:34.174	69 laps
10	Logan Sargeant	Williams	1:34.324	75 laps
11	Nico Hulkenberg	Haas	1:34.424	51 laps
12	Valtteri Bottas	Alfa Romeo	1:34.558	71 laps
13	Nyck De Vries	AlphaTauri	1:34.559	85 laps
14	Felipe Drugovich	Aston Martin	1:34.564	40 laps
15	Yuki Tsunoda	AlphaTauri	1:34.671	46 laps
16	Pierre Gasly	Alpine	1:34.822	60 laps
17	Esteban Ocon	Alpine	1:34.871	53 laps
18	Oscar Piastri	McLaren	1:34.888	52 laps
19	Kevin Magnussen	Haas	1:35.087	57 laps

Test dates

Three days (Thursday 23 - Saturday 25 February 2023). 

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