Shop
Daniel Ricciardo was left surprised by the way McLaren’s 2022 Formula 1 car handled in what was his first pre-season outing in Spain.
Thursday was the Australian’s maiden official appearance in the car and afforded him more than 100 laps in which to familiarise himself.
That left a positive early impression despite initial visibility concerns.
“It was nice to be back you know, definitely just to get a real feel of these new cars,” Ricciardo said.
“There’s definitely some differences, like visibility is a bit trickier,” he noted of the way the new car handles on track.
“Basically, all the cars this year are more square, more flat, so it kind of brings the nose up of the car.
“That kind of changes our line of visibility, so we see less basically around us.
“It’s something we’ll get used to but it is not as good at the moment.
“Then I think feeling with the car, with such heavier cars and less downforce with the new regs, I was probably expecting a bit worse, so a bit more of a difficult car to drive.
“It actually felt pretty balanced, and there’s definitely grip. Some cars are already below the 1:20, so there’s some pretty quick lap times around here.”
Ricciardo set the day’s third best time, having topped the morning session, and was the second-most prolific driver on track with 126 laps to his name.
The McLaren has been identified by Mercedes’ George Russell as one of the cars to watch for.
Lando Norris was fastest on the opening day, having enjoyed a seamless programme on Wednesday.
“With testing, the first thing you want to do is get laps in so to do well over 100 laps on my first day was really good,” said Ricciardo of his Thursday outing.
“It’s hard to quantify who’s ahead of the moment,” he added when asked where McLaren sits in the pecking order.
“For sure, the one thing you want is laps. We’ve had, both days, over 100 laps, so we’re in a good position from that point of view.
“We seem to be [at] the pointy end of the times, but I don’t think Mercedes, Red Bull have really done anything, showing any cards yet, so I don’t really look too much.
“Ferrari, I think they look solid. They look consistently good, but not trying to read too much into it yet.
“There’s definitely some good things, I feel, in the car, and as always some things to work on, but I think we’ve started off with a good base.”
Ricciardo will climb back aboard the MCL36 on Friday afternoon, taking over from Norris who will take part in the morning running.
Proceedings in Spain get underway at 09:00 local time (19:00 AEDT).
