Lando Norris says pre-season testing has put him in a “much better position” ahead of his Formula 1 debut.
The Briton is one of three F2 drivers making the jump for 2019 but he, along with Williams’ George Russell, have the additional pressure of having come through the junior ranks with F1 team backing.
Norris also comes in replacing Stoffel Vandoorne, another McLaren junior who ultimately failed to impress when his opportunity came, and the 19-year-old spoke of the importance of his four days behind the wheel.
“In terms of how prepared I felt coming into these past two weeks compared to how I feel now, I think I’m in a much better position in terms of knowing what I need to be doing and knowing what I need to do to achieve if I get the opportunity in Melbourne,” he told reporters on Thursday.
“From that side of things, I feel much more confident and I feel I can do the job I need to be doing going into the first race.”
As for what was his biggest challenge, Norris echoed comments by Toro Rosso’s Alex Albon, the third F2 driver stepping up, by pointing to the complexity of a modern F1 car.
“As a rookie, it’s never an easy thing coming from F2 where you have like three buttons that you press [on the steering wheel], and mentally there’s a lot more to think about in qualifying and the race,” he explained.
“It plays a big part in racing, changing your diff or whatever, you need to know what to do and how to change the car, even throughout the race. It can win you points, it can lose you points, and get you wins or podiums.
“I’ve done enough FP1s, in-season tests, simulator stuff that you can do enough of it to prepare, so from that side of things now I’m pretty confident with everything I need to do,” Norris added.
“I’m making changes without asking or getting recommendations from the engineers, but if I haven’t done something that they can see in the data, they recommend it or tell me to do it.
“From that side of things, a bit of it comes with experience in how to handle different situations and how to handle the tyres, and that’s something already from last week to know that I’ve got much better at and I’ve understood a lot more.”
Also Read:
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- Norris brushes off pressure of avoiding Vandoorne-style McLaren demise
One element of testing that can also be tricky for rookies is the attempts by teams to hide their true pace through fuel loads and other measures, but Lando revealed he has now pushed the MCL34 near to its limit.
“There’s not seconds [of improvement] in it, but there’s still some tenths within myself and the car,” said Norris of his best time, a 1m17.084s.
“We’re not far away from our potential, but there’s a lot of work to do and then we’ll be able to unlock more pace.”
