Lando Norris was satisfied at achieving some “good learning” during the second day of the opening pre-season Bahrain test, with the Briton admitting that his high mileage was “probably the most laps I’ve done in a day” in Formula 1.
After splitting driving duties with McLaren team mate Oscar Piastri on Day 1, Norris spent the whole of Thursday at the wheel of the MCL40 and went on to record the highest lap count of the day with a tally of 149 tours.
Joking later on that he was still “fresh as a daisy” following his extensive stint in the car, the reigning World Champion went on to speak positively about what was achieved during the day.
“It was a good amount of laps,” he explained. “I think I said probably the most laps I’ve done in a day, probably ever in Formula 1, so that’s a good thing. It’s not like the shortest track, it’s not a long track either.
“It was good – good learning, high fuel, low fuel, everything in between. It’s also a day where the temperature changes a lot, which is a big part of it. The wind changes an incredible amount and that’s a big part of it.
“Every run, even if you do the same thing, it’s changing, and obviously the battery’s changing every run, and there’s a lot of stuff you’re trying to get on top of and understand and adapt to. So certainly a complicated, challenging day, as I’m sure it is for everyone out there, but it was good.
“A good amount of learning for the whole team, and Oscar’s in the car tomorrow. Then we have a good three days – not the longest time – to golf! But also to understand everything about this car and already what we can improve on and make changes for for next time out.”
While the process of adapting to the 2026 cars – amid sweeping rules changes – is still ongoing, Norris suggested that he feels in a good place as the teams and drivers prepare for the first race of the season, the Australian Grand Prix, on March 6-8.
“Today I certainly got a better understanding of everything,” the 26-year-old said. “We’ve still got to just make sure everything works the way it should and we planned for and all those things.
“There’s still things we need to fix and get our heads around and maximise, but on the whole I feel like if I went to a race now I’d have a pretty good understanding of everything I need to do along the way, all the management you’ve got to do.
“But at the same time every time you go out there’s always something that’s a little bit different and something else that you have to adapt to. So good learning, a good amount of conditions to learn about and play with new things since Barcelona, so a good day for the team and a good day for me too.”
