‘It’s unbelievable’ – Norris shares ‘surreal feeling’ as he runs with number 1 on his car for first time

Lando Norris and McLaren made their debut at the Barcelona Shakedown on Wednesday, meaning the very first laps of pre-season for the team’s 2026 challenger, and the first time the Briton sported number 1 on his car.

Norris, just under two months on from winning the Drivers’ crown, amassed a healthy total of laps at the Spanish venue as the reigning World Champions shook down and began to understand the MCL40 – built to all-new F1 regulations.

Speaking at the end of their Day 1 session, Norris smiled: “It was just nice to be back, nice to be back here, nice to see the number one on my car! Pretty cool, pretty surreal still, so good feelings.

“Just to be back here, our first day on track, the first time that everyone gets to see the car in one piece. It’s literally not been built until this morning [Wednesday], so it’s an incredible thing. It’s nice to see it all come together, nice to see all the hard work that everyone does, all to make that car, and then I get to go and have some fun and drive it.”

Pushed on how special a moment it was to roll out of the pit lane with the number 1 on his car, the first time for a McLaren since Jenson Button in 2010, Norris added: “I saw it actually early on the timing screen and I still find it just unbelievable. Like it’s still a crazy thing to see, especially when you see it now.

“For now, it’s really the first time I get to see it on my suit, on the car, on the timing screens, all of these things, and it looks good. So, still a surreal feeling, the whole situation of being champion, but it doesn’t change anything apart from I’m at the top of the timing screens before we’ve even gone out because I’m the lowest number now!

“Pressure’s on, but at the same time, it’s cool. It’s great for the mechanics, it’s great for them to have that feeling and that honour, but it doesn’t change anything. Otherwise, it’s still hard work, a lot of work that we have to put into everything and many laps we’ve got to complete. But it’s nice to know that I’ve got that number on.”

Norris then offered some more thoughts on McLaren’s early running and what lies ahead for the remainder of the shakedown, before teams head to Bahrain for official pre-season testing.

“Today was really just a first understanding of the whole car, understanding just how it works, really, going through the manual of everything,” he commented. “A productive day, but it’s one that’s really about just figuring stuff out, making sure things are working as they should, understanding things, getting our first picture on all of it.

“A good day for me, just to be back driving again, understanding some of the differences, but a good one for the engineers, the mechanics, the whole team, to get their first look on the regulations of this year.”

As for how much he is enjoying the experience of driving his 2026 car so far, the Briton said: “It’s pretty different. Not even a huge step, I think it’s a bit of a step slower in terms of cornering speeds. In terms of acceleration and straight-line speed, it probably feels quicker than it did last year. You get to 340, 350 (km/h) quite a bit quicker than we did in previous years.

“It’s a bit more of a challenge in many places, which is a good thing, but then you have a bit more to understand from the battery, the power unit. All of those things are in some ways more complicated and just different, and whenever something’s different it always takes a bit of time to figure out the best way to look at it, to manage it, to use it, but that’s what these days are for us.

“I think we got a good understanding today. It’s still going to take a while, the conditions here are quite different to what they’re going to be in Bahrain, what they’re going to be in Melbourne, but it’s just trying to gather as much information in every condition possible. Whether it’s going to rain in the next couple of days, or be dry or whatever, the more laps we can do the better.

“Different feelings of course; it still feels like a McLaren, still feels powerful, still feels like an F1 car, which is the most important thing.”