22/02/2022
NEWS STORY
Like Haas, McLaren made use of the filming days rules to allow Lando Norris and Daniel Ricciardo to get their first taste of the Woking outfit's 2022 contender.
Both drivers got to try the MCL36 which will feature a development package by the time of the first race in just over three weeks.
"When driving, what you can see inside the cockpit is quite different," said Norris after experiencing the new car, and the new regulations, for the first time. "Where the sidepods are, the mirrors, the car feels... I don't know if it's wider, but it feels a lot wider. I think because the sidepods are further forward or something. It actually does feel different because visually it's quite different.
"The rest, I don't know," he admitted, "it just takes a bit of time to get used to. The sound is slightly different because the engine is slightly different with the different fuels and so on.
"Apart from that, I don't know. It's cool, nice to be back, nice to have been driving again."
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Technical director, James Key believes the development race this season will be "aggressive", and contrary to what some are predicting, believes there will be a shake-up of the pecking order.
"I think there's going to be a real mix of pecking order through the year in all likelihood," he said. "The development rate is going to be very aggressive.
"There's a chance people will surprise and people will be a little bit further back than expected in the first place," he added. "There are no reference points at all at this stage.
"It doesn't stop any team from developing out of it. I think once we get to see each other's cars, we get to learn our own cars a little bit, so the trends and the priorities and development steps will become increasingly clear and obvious.
"I don't expect the grid in Bahrain to look anything like the grid in Abu Dhabi, in all honesty. I think there's going to be a real transient ebb and flow through the season."
Ferrari and Alpine are expected to take to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya today, ahead of the opening 'test' which gets underway on Wednesday.
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