Lando Norris has said the past two days at the Hungaroring have been “just as important as any other days I’ve ever done”.
The McLaren F1 Team test-driver was in the car for both days of the test in Hungary and has enjoyed going through run plans over the two days instead of the usual performance testing.
“Yesterday was quite tricky because it was the first time I’ve driven in the wet in Formula 1, and it’s quite a different experience to Formula 2,” said Norris on Wednesday. “Driving these cars does take a bit of time to get used to, but a lot of it’s just because of the run plan, testing a lot of different parts and getting aero data.
“The team has been trying to get as much information as they can on things open to them over the next few race weekends, and things that they tested over this weekend, so they can analyse the runs.
“There’s not been that much performance testing where I’ve been able to do as quick a lap-time as I would like, but a lot of it has been going over the run plan and sticking to that.”
This was the second time Norris has been in the McLaren car and was pleased to feel the car having more power than its predecessor but more importantly, happy that he was straight up to speed and didn’t have to spend time getting used to the car.
“This year’s car feels much better than last year’s, for sure, mainly because it’s got a bit more power, but it’s hard to say,” said the Briton. “Compared to last year I’ve been doing a lot more testing rather trying to make myself look good by doing a fast lap-time.
“The first important thing is being able to jump in and get up to a pretty reasonable base quickly, and not wasting the whole morning taking ages to get up to speed. It’s about being within a few metres straight away on the braking points and high-speed corners.
“Secondly, the team wants consistency and your feedback, so that they’re able to precisely know if something’s worse or better, and whether to keep it for the future. These test days are just as important as any other days I’ve ever done.
“Whether it’s Barcelona, Abu Dhabi, here last year, they’re all important in terms of how I drive on-track, my behaviour off-track, my feedback, and how I try and move everything forward.”
