McLaren plans to use Tuesday’s Formula 1 test in Abu Dhabi as a familiarisation session for new signing Oscar Piastri.
The Australian has already completed a run in a previous-generation McLaren at Paul Ricard, with Tuesday’s outing his first in the squad’s 2022-spec machine.
Piastri will have a full day behind the wheel of the MCL 36 in Yas Marina, while Lando Norris will steer the team’s other car.
“It will be probably a good mix of getting familiar first of all to the current car after he tested in the old car,” explained McLaren Team Principal Andreas Seidl when asked about Piastri’s programme by Speedcafe.com.
“Then, probably going straight into long runs but also then some qualifying runs, just to get as much experience as possible.”
Tuesday’s outing is a valuable one, as pre-season testing for 2023 is limited to just three days of running.
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Split between the team’s two drivers, Piastri will have just 1.5 days to get up to speed ahead of his maiden campaign as a Formula 1 race driver.
It makes a full day in the car in Abu Dhabi a significant opportunity to add mileage in a car thta’s analogous to that he’ll compete in next season.
“In terms of what matters, in the end when he’s going to Bahrain next year, we have a clear plan in place of what we’re going to achieve with Oscar in this test but also then in January, February with him before we hit the track, going testing with next year’s car,” Seidl said.
“The objective is clear, we want to make sure that with the hard work we put in together with him, that he goes to the first race in Bahrain and it doesn’t actually feel like the first race for him.
“It’s a lot of hard work ahead of us, but I guess we are an en experienced team, we know exactly which boxes we have to tick.
“Oscar’s a very talented driver, great personality, as well a great character, so looking forward to get going with him.”
Speedcafe.com is on the ground in Abu Dhabi for the Formula 1 post-season test.
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