Spanish GP: Post-Friday Practice comments from McLaren

Mclaren continued their impressive 2020 form into 2021 with a new Mercedes Engine back of the car. After first three races of the season, they sit P3 in the Constructors Championship with 53 points.

Team had a mixed Friday practice session at Spanish Grand Prix, Lando Norris managed to finish FP1 in P4 with a impressive lap of 1:18.944s and completed 24 laps. While his teammate Daniel Ricciardo struggled for pace and finished the session in P14 with a fast lap of 1:19.732s and Aussie completed 24 laps.

During after noon session both cars struggled for Grip due to increase in track temperatures. Lando managed to come home in P12 after completing 28 laps while clocking 1:19.092s for fast lap.

Daniel managed to complete 28 laps in FP2 but his efforts of 1:19.195s was just enough for P15 in the final standings. With lots of data in the bank to be analyzed over night, the Aussie and team is hoping to improve car performance before important qualifying session.

LANDO NORRIS

“Tricky day. We felt good in FP1 but, as the temperatures came up a bit in FP2, we struggled a little bit more. We need to understand that a bit better if we can and make some improvements for tomorrow. It didn’t feel bad, but we were just a bit off the pace. As usual, we’ll work hard tonight and see if we can turn it around for tomorrow.”

DANIEL RICCIARDO

“So, Barcelona. I was going to say not much has changed – but it has with Turn 10. I don’t think it’s going to change the racing, but it makes it a little more interesting to have a new corner.

“Today, it’s close. Our positions don’t look great on paper, and we do have work to do but I’m only a second off in 15th, so it’s really close. Every tenth counts at this point so we certainly have to find a few for tomorrow and put ourselves in a fighting position. We’ve changed a few things on the car and it’s still too early to know what’s good and what needs work, but we’ll spend some time tonight looking at it. The important thing was that we got the laps in. I think FP2 was definitely better than FP1, even if the position doesn’t reflect that, so we’ll hopefully make another step in the morning.”

ANDREA STELLA, Executive Director, Racing

“A busy day in Barcelona. We had an intense programme today in terms of both aerodynamic tests and work on tyres in preparation for the race, which are always a fundamental factor here, given the high wear on the left-hand side of the car. Overall, we worked through our programme well, and we’re happy with the data we’ve gained. Overnight, we’ll review everything we’ve learned and come back tomorrow ready for what should be a very close qualifying session.”