Lando Norris has completed his first laps in the MCL40. The Brit had to find his feet on Wednesday in Barcelona with McLaren’s brand-new challenger. Not only because the successor to his championship-winning car feels very different, but also because of the new race number applied to the nose: “It’s still strange to see,” Norris admits candidly.
Lando Norris ran his long-awaited first circuits in the MCL40 on Wednesday, McLaren’s 2026 car. But that wasn’t the only thing the reigning world champion had to get used to at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The Brit also saw racing number 1 on his car for the first time.
“It was just nice to be back, and really nice to see a number one on my car — it still feels quite unreal,” Norris said afterwards to F1TV. “I saw it on the timing screen, and I still find it incredible. It’s still strange to see. Now it’s really the first time I see it on my race suit, on the car, on timing screens, all those things, and it looks good.”
‘MCL40 seen in full for the first time’
The Brit started his test day for McLaren midway through Wednesday morning and completed 77 laps in the brand-new challenger. “It’s the first time everyone can see the car in its entirety — it was literally only put together this morning,” Norris revealed. “It’s unbelievable, great to see how it all comes together, great to see how hard everyone has worked.” The MCL40 was still wearing the black test livery. The livery for the 2026 season will only be unveiled on 9 February.
Norris’s Wednesday in Barcelona was largely devoted to getting to grips with the brand-new MCL40. According to the reigning world champion, the car also felt noticeably different to the machine he used to secure his first world title at last year’s Abu Dhabi GP.
“The car is slower in corners,” Norris said. “When it comes to acceleration and top speed on the straights it probably feels quicker than last year. You hit 340, 350 km/h a lot sooner than in previous years. But you still need to learn more about the battery, the power unit… all those systems are in some respects more complex and just different. And when something is different, it always takes time to figure out the best way to manage it.” The Brit is expected to return to Barcelona on Friday for a second test day.
