drivers and have detailed how their preparations have modified as a way to adapt to the upcoming regulation adjustments in Method 1. Each add that there is one factor they cannot ignore: the elevated workload within the cockpit.
2026 welcomes a brand new set of rules which is able to introduce an influence unit with an virtually 50:50 cut up between inside combustion and electrical energy. DRS shall be changed by energetic aerodynamics, and there shall be extra driver enter on when to reap and deploy vitality.
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Whereas the bodily preparations are principally the identical for each drivers, Norris defined that he was spending extra time within the simulator than in earlier years.
“I imply, you are still getting ready a whole lot of the identical methods. Most likely a bit extra time has been spent on the sim, making an attempt to get used to the totally different buttons, the totally different means issues work,” the 2025 F1 champion defined throughout the McLaren launch occasion.
“So, extra procedural stuff slightly than anything altering outdoors of that. However like each season, you evaluation how the final 12 months went, and also you see what you are able to do higher, and a whole lot of the work goes into that.
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“However this 12 months, with the brand new rules, there’s extra adjustments on the steering wheel and issues like that, that we are able to already begin to deal with the simulator and assist us put together for right here in Bahrain and Australia.”
McLaren MCL40 livery
McLaren MCL40 livery
Norris’s team-mate Piastri added concerning the elevated driver enter from the cockpit: “There’s going to be extra for us to consider. We have had the hybrid factor of the facility models beforehand, however there’s far more significance round it this 12 months.
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“Much more energy comes from the battery. You need to use it up lots faster. You’ll be able to recharge it lots faster, so it is a way more dynamic factor that we’ll need to control.
“And, sure, yet one more factor for us to deal with, however the purpose of making an attempt to go as quick as you’ll be able to remains to be precisely the identical, however, yeah, undoubtedly there’s gonna be a couple of extra challenges for us behind the wheel.”
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