McLaren wasn’t “amazing” in Barcelona despite trouble-free test, claims Lando Norris

Lando Norris believes McLaren wasn’t in an ‘amazing place’ in Barcelona despite a mostly trouble-free run. The Briton has claimed that the team still had to deal with ‘a lot of issues’ that weren’t visible from the outside.

Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the Barcelona test, he said:

“I don’t think we’re in an amazing place. I think we’re in a good place. We had a car which as soon as you put on the track, worked well. Of course, there’s always new things and some unexpected issues here and there. But it’s been a good start.”

He further said:

“But we still had a lot of issues. It’s not been perfect. Maybe from the outside it looked amazing. But still many things behind the scenes, which were not out of control but just to work on and fix and we’ll amend for the future.”

McLaren had an impressive run in Barcelona's first pre-season test, with both Norris and Daniel Ricciardo topping the timesheets on various occasions. The new MCL36 also looked good reliability-wise. The team placed third in terms of total mileage completed over the course of three days, just after Ferrari and Mercedes, but above Red Bull.

Meanwhile, the team also seemed to have been unaffected by ’porpoising’ unlike almost every other team. Nevertheless, the team appeared uninterested in indulging any hopes of them having a better car compared to Mercedes and Red Bull, reiterating that testing lap times were unrepresentative.

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Daniel Ricciardo pleased with McLaren’s “flawless” execution at testing

Daniel Ricciardo said that he was pleased with McLaren’s “flawless” execution at the first pre-season test in Barcelona. He felt the team had achieved a positive baseline to build upon for the rest of the season.

Speaking to the media after the conclusion of the testing, the Australian said:

“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 [and] 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 [the factory] for putting the hard work in over the winter to put us in this position.”

A sub-par 2021 season saw the driver struggle to extract the most out of his car. Ricciardo is now hoping for a fresh start in 2022, as the British outfit hopes to give stiffer competition to the top teams in the battle for the championship.