In Pictures: Alex Palou begins testing for McLaren F1 in Barcelona

2021 IndyCar champion Alex Palou tested for McLaren this weekend at the Circuit de Catalunya, driving the 2021 MCL35M. The Spanish driver recently confirmed that he will continue racing for Chip Ganassi Racing in the IndyCar series next year and that the team has allowed him to test last year's McLaren in the team's testing program.

In a social media post ahead of the test in Barcelona, Palou wrote:

“I’m excited to announce that Chip Ganassi Racing and I have come to an agreement and I’ll be back in the number 10 car next season, I’m also grateful that Chip Ganassi Racing will allow me to pursue F1 testing with McLaren outside of my IndyCar commitments. Thank you Chip, Mike [Hull] and the entire team for your willingness to work together and help support both the team and my personal goals throughout this process.”

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Lando Norris describes the Italian GP as his "best" race of the 2022 season with McLaren

Both McLaren drivers started the 2022 F1 Italian Grand Prix from the second row last weekend. Lando Norris, however, was the only one to finish in the points after Daniel Ricciardo was forced to retire during the closing stages of the race thanks to reliability issues. After securing a seventh-place finish in Monza, Norris was particularly happy with his outing last weekend, describing it as one of his best races so far in F1 when it comes to having patience.

In a post-race media interaction, the Briton said:

“I went extremely long on the first stint. I would say it was probably one of my best races in Formula 1 in terms of management and being patient with things and so on. One of the best I’ve done definitely this year, almost in Formula 1. Whether or not he [Lewis Hamilton] would have passed me after a few laps, quite possibly. But we would have had a race and an opportunity.”

“Maybe I could have hung on until the Safety Car? So, fifth was where we should have been today, but we ended up seventh. Seventh doesn’t feel like it accomplishes a lot for what I feel like I did, but that’s life. It happens and we’ll learn from it and move on.”

Lando Norris initially qualified seventh on Saturday but was promoted to fourth for the race start after several drivers took engine penalties. The Briton had a less-than-ideal race start which cost him heavily at the beginning and then had a slow-pit stop that certainly did not make things any easier. He then made an impressive recovery and crossed the checkered flag in second place.

Norris currently stands seventh in the drivers' standings with 88 points to his name. Meanwhile, McLaren have lost their fourth-place position in the constructors' standings to Alpine, who have an 18-point advantage over the British outfit. Alpine, however, failed to score any championship points in the race last weekend, allowing McLaren to catch up.