It’s been a very positive start to proceedings for the McLaren F1 Team, who have successfully continued with the excellent progress made in the pre-season test.
Both on the hard and soft compounds of tyre, McLaren drivers Lando Norris and team debutant Daniel Ricciardo have looked strong at the Sakhir International Circuit in Bahrain. Norris ended Free Practice 2 in second place with Ricciardo only a few places lower in sixth.
Similar to comments made by Ricciardo, McLaren’s Executive Director Andrea Stella, also spoke about the difficulty the new free practice schedule has brought.
“The first day of practice for a new season is always very busy, but today was intense, with the length of the sessions reduced from 90 to 60 minutes. Happily, we didn’t have any major problems. The team did a good job to ensure both our busy sessions progressed smoothly, and we completed our programme.“
Over the weekend the wind looks set to cause headaches for many, with a different wind direction predicted for Saturday and Sunday. This factor combined with the tightness of the midfield sets the weekend up beautifully for a fascinating first round of the 2021, Formula One World Championship.
“The change of conditions from day to night, and the major variable of the wind always keeps it interesting in Bahrain. In addition, the field looks incredibly compact and competitive, so there’s a lot of work to do to be ready for qualifying and the race – but we’ve started with a productive Friday.”
