On the occasion of the first test session, both McLaren and Ferrari impressed well. Lando Norris finished the first day with the best time, while Charles Leclerc put his autograph at the top of the timesheet at the end of the second day.
It was then Mercedes that took the headlines at the end when Lewis Hamilton placed his paw ten minutes before the end of the session ahead of his new teammate George Russell.
Of course, as always, every evaluation is to be taken with a grain of salt given that the teams in Barcelona have paid more attention to mileage than to the pursuit of performance, but Lando Norris has managed to get a first idea of the values on the pitch that we will see in this 2022 season. characterized by single-seaters with ground effect.
“Mercedes never looked strong in testing but they always amazed at the first race. If he’s already fast in testing, it means they’ll probably dominate from the start, ”joked the British driver who extended his contract with McLaren this winter until 2025.
Lando Norris, McLaren MCL36
Photo by: Mark Sutton / Motorsport Images
“In any case, I think everyone has thought about respecting their own work schedule. Everyone is running with different fuel loads and engine maps ”.
“If I had to give a picture of the current situation I could say that we are in a good position, but Mercedes and Ferrari seemed very competitive from the start. They have managed to occupy the top of the timesheets every time and the race pace looks really good ”.
“Ferrari looks competitive, but I think Mercedes and Red Bull are just ahead of us at the moment.”
Norris, who admitted that the three-day test in Barcelona was not perfect despite a productive work shared between himself and his teammate Daniel Ricciardo, then underlined that in McLaren there is still a lot of progress to be made if the team wants. reach the top teams.
“Personally I think we still have a lot of work to do if we want to fight with them. It’s something I expected, but I’m sure we need to improve on several aspects to be at their level ”.
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