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“Now you’re gonna think we are fast and overhype us”: McLaren’s Lando Norris looks back on a strong first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona

Somin Bhattacharjee
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Lando Norris topped the timing charts on the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona ahead of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz. 

Pre-season testing in Barcelona is finally underway. All ten F1 teams have now tested their 2022 cars on the first day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.

At the end of over nine hours of running, McLaren star Lando Norris ended day one on top. The Brit completed 103 laps, putting in the fastest lap-time of 1.19.568. He finished ahead of the Ferrari duo of Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz.

Norris however, is not particularly pleased about finishing P1 in the first outing of 2022. He feels that his early pace would lead to people thinking that he has the fastest car on track, something he insists he doesn’t.

“I didn’t want to be P1. If anything I would rather be last,” Norris said. “Because now expectations will be so high. And everyone thinks we are incredible. But I think we were just on a different run plan to the other people.

“I think we will see in the next few days, people will probably go much quicker than what I did. It was still a good day, we learnt a lot of things.”

Also read: F1 Twitter left stunned with Red Bull and their side-pod design for the 2022 car

Ferrari were dominating day one of pre-season testing before Lando Norris took the fastest lap

This year’s pre-season testing has drawn in more attention than ones in the recent years. Major regulation changes are expected to shake the field up, and fans want to catch a glimpse at how the new cars look on track, before the real racing action starts next month.

Ferrari is the team that everyone’s talking about ahead of the new campaign. Pundits and fans expect the Italian team to rise from the ashes and compete for race wins and potentially the Title, once again this year.

Day-1 of pre-season testing was particularly strong for the Maranello outfit. Leclerc and Sainz were at the top of the timing charts for the majority of both sessions. This was before Norris ended the day strongly to take P1 away from Leclerc, and end the first day at the summit.

However, it’s way too early to make anything out of the lap-times we saw on Wednesday. The set-ups that teams are running in Barcelona are very different from the ones they’ll use at next month’s testing in Bahrain.

Pre-season testing in Barcelona continues on Thursday and Friday. Both McLaren and Ferrari will be looking to continue their strong start to the year moving forward.

Also read: Christian Horner surprised by the performance of the new F1 cars

About the author

Somin Bhattacharjee

Somin Bhattacharjee

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Basketball Editor Somin Bhattacharjee first discovered the game during the 2014 FIBA World Cup. Not long after, he turned to the NBA and found himself drawn to the Golden State Warriors — right at the start of Stephen Curry’s rise. Over time, the admiration turned into full-blown support for the team, one that continues even as the Curry era approaches its twilight. A true hoophead, Somin also follows EuroLeague basketball closely and enjoys exploring the game beyond the NBA. Though holding a bachelor's degree in marketing, Somin discovered his true calling in writing. Since 2021, he has penned over 3,000 articles for TheSportsRush, covering everything from breaking news to sharp opinion pieces and detailed exclusives. He thrives on writing about in-game moments and the reactions that make basketball a uniquely emotional sport. Beyond basketball, Somin plays different sports including soccer and remains a passionate fan of Spanish football giants Real Madrid

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