F1 | McLaren: Norris and Piastri on track in Barcelona with the MCL36

There are three days left until the presentation of the new car from the Woking team, but behind the scenes the team is already working at full speed in view of the new season. After having carried out the first ignition at the end of January of the MCL38, the car that will compete in the 2024 Formula 1 world championship, preparations are also continuing at McLaren on the driver front, to get them back to full speed before the debut in Bahrain.

Last week Oscar Piastri and Ryo Hirakawa took to the track with the MCL36 for a private test session at Paul Ricard, albeit with different objectives. For the Australian it was a good opportunity to regain confidence with an F1 car after two months away from the tracks, while for the Japanese, named reserve for 2024, the test allowed him to accumulate kilometers in preparation for the work on the simulator which will take place during the season. Ferrari and Racing Bulls also organized a similar test between the end of January and the beginning of February, running with the F1-75 and the AT03 respectively.

The choice to focus on the MCL36 was not random, but dictated by the regulation, which allows each team to run without particular restrictions on mileage as long as the single-seater is at least two years old.

However, with the Bahrain tests coming up in less than two weeks, the British team has decided to continue with the private test sessions by lapping the Spanish circuit of Barcelona, ​​still with the MCL36 but already in the chromatic guise that the theme will use in the season 2024.

With demo Pirelli tires and a single-seater that now has at least two seasons under its belt, as required by the regulations, Lando Norris was able to run freely without any constraints in terms of mileage. An important opportunity for the Briton, who had not taken part in the Paul Ricard tests. The Briton then handed over the wheel of the MCL36 to Piastri, thus continuing the extensive preparation programme.

These tests, however, are not only useful for the drivers, but also for the teams. In fact, the engineers and mechanics have the opportunity to get back in touch with the instrumentation on the race fields and with all the management procedures on the track.

On the second day of testing, again carried out on the track located a few kilometers from Granollers, in Catalonia, it was once again Oscar Piastri's turn to return to the wheel of the MCL36, so as to complete preparation for the new season before the winter tests in Sakhir which, however, they will feature the MCL38.