says seeing the championship-winning No 1 tag on his new automotive is a “surreal” feeling as he begins his 2026 season preparations this week.
The British driver, who final 12 months, was on the wheel of McLaren’s MCL40 on Wednesday, setting the third-fastest lap of the day and clocking up 77 laps in complete.
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As per the laws, the reigning world champion has the choice of choosing the primary tag for the next season’s automotive and, having taken up that choice, Norris acknowledged how totally different it felt on Wednesday.
“It was simply good to be again, good to see a primary on my automotive – fairly surreal nonetheless,” Norris stated. “I noticed it on the timing display screen, I nonetheless discover it simply unbelievable.
“It is nonetheless a loopy factor to see. Now it is actually the primary time I get to see it on my swimsuit, on the automotive, on timing screens, all of this stuff, and it appears to be like good.
“It is the primary time that everybody will get to see the automotive in a single piece, it is actually not been constructed till this morning. It is an unbelievable factor, good to see all of it come collectively, good to see all of the exhausting work that everybody does.”
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McLaren opted to overlook the primary two days of this week’s non-public ‘shakedown’ occasion with a purpose to maximise the event time for his or her automotive. The payaya-clad group, adorning a brief black livery in , have revealed there will likely be minimal updates to the automotive earlier than the primary race in Australia on 8 March.
Norris added: “At present was actually only a first understanding of the entire automotive, understanding simply the way it works actually, going by way of the handbook of all the things.
Lando Norris clinched his first world championship in Abu Dhabi final 12 months (PA Wire)
“So a productive day, nevertheless it’s one which’s actually about figuring stuff out, ensuring issues are working as they need to.
“It is fairly totally different. It is a step slower by way of cornering speeds. By way of acceleration and straight-line pace, it most likely feels faster than it did final 12 months, you get to 340, 350 [kph] fairly a bit faster than we did in earlier years.
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“However then you could have a bit extra to know from the battery, the facility unit, all of these issues are in some methods extra sophisticated and simply totally different. And at any time when one thing’s totally different, it at all times takes a little bit of time to determine one of the simplest ways to handle it.”
Oscar Piastri takes to the monitor on Thursday, with each drivers set to separate duties on Friday. McLaren unveil their 2026 automotive livery in Bahrain on Monday, 9 February, two days earlier than the second pre-season check begins.
