Lando Norris addresses Hamilton and Verstappen hopes after stealing thunder in testing

Phillip Schofield teases Lando Norris about changing his tyres

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Lando Norris has given his thoughts on what he described as “a decent start” on day one of pre-season testing in Barcelona. The young Briton set the fastest time of the day in his McLaren, as teams across the F1 paddock put their new creations to the test for the first time.

Testing is unique this season, in that no team truly knows where they stand in terms of pace.

That is because they all had to start from scratch in order to comply with a swathe of new technical rules which have come into force for the 2022 campaign.

It creates the possibility for one or two teams to make huge gains on their rivals, if they were able to innovate in ways other teams did not think over over the winter.

McLaren will no doubt be pleased that it was one of their cars on top after the first day, with Norris the only racer to post a sub 1:20:00 time.

Despite that pretty picture, Norris is keen not to get too carried away.

Reacting to being at the top of the pile after the first day, the 22-year-old insists it is “way too early to tell” how the MCL36 compares to the others on the grid.

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Asked if the car is capable of putting him in a similar position when it comes to the competitive action, Norris said: “I hope so! I don’t know. It’s way too early to tell anything.

“Now we’re P1 and everyone’s gonna think we’re gonna win the race, but no chance.

“No, I think it feels good. I think we’ve made some good improvements already from the beginning of the day.

“But we’re only in day one of the season and even if we’re amazing now, everything could change by the time we get to the first race, and everything can change by the second.

“The rate of development everyone’s going to bring to the first half the season is going to be extremely high.

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“I just hope it’s fast. It feels good. [There are] definitely many things to work on – some things are not feeling so good.

“But for a new car and something, let’s say, we never drove before, with so many new things, I think it was a decent start.”

As Norris alluded to, testing is not a reliable indicator as to the balance of power on the grid as each team will be trialling setups and strategies – not necessarily going all-out in terms of pace.

The sessions are better used as a chance for drivers to familiarise themselves with their new machines, while also working out any issues not picked up during development.

With that in mind, Norris has revealed that there is plenty to “get my head around” based on the data gathered on day one.

“I’m not gonna say anything! I’m not gonna give anything away to people!” he said when asked what he had learned in his 103 laps at the Circuit de Catalunya.

“No, there’s certain things you’ve got to change. Not everything – a lot of things are similar. You’ve just got to go out and fuel the car and drive.

“I think even if the car was the same, I would still be trying a lot of different things, trying different driving styles and so on. With this car, you might have to adapt slightly differently and commit more to one style of driving than the other.

“I don’t think I would have started any differently to a normal season, but you’ve just got to expect more differences and be ready to change more than maybe what you’re used to.

“I think I have a good understanding. But it’s still early – there are so many things I need to try and understand and get my head around.”

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