Reigning world champions Lando Norris and McLaren have made their first appearance at Formula 1’s private test in Barcelona.
Norris, driving the No. 1 car for the first time in his career, completed an early lap at the Circuit de Catalunya on Wednesday morning, sources confirmed to ESPN.
It was an installation lap, an early systems check which sees a driver leave the pits, drive around at reduced speed and then return to the pit-lane again.
McLaren had not taken part in the opening two days of F1’s private preseason test — each team is restricted to three of the five days this week, and the British team plans to run Wednesday, Thursday and Friday.
Norris won the drivers’ championship in 2026 — McLaren’s first since 2008 — in a three-way fight with teammate Oscar Piastri and Red Bull’s Max Verstappen. The team has won back-to-back constructors’ championships.
McLaren has already unveiled a striking all-black testing livery for the Barcelona shakedown, with its proper launch event set for Feb. 9, right before F1’s first official test in Bahrain.
F1’s secret test, which media and fans have been banned from entering, has been a curious one so far, with minimal information officially being released beyond the confines of the circuit.
After a busy first day, only Ferrari and Red Bull opted to test on Tuesday, a day which saw intermittent showers through the day.
Tuesday’s running featured a crash for Red Bull’s Isak Hadjar and it remains unclear whether the team has enough spare parts to complete their third and final day of the test.
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Day three appears to be a lot busier than Tuesday’s running.
On top of the McLaren, sources have told ESPN that, like on day one, Mercedes was straight out of the pits at the start of the day and immediately put down a competitive lap time — George Russell was at the wheel.
Racing Bulls, Audi, Alpine and Haas all took to the track at some point in the morning too.
Aston Martin and Williams are the only teams yet to have completed a lap. Aston Martin said earlier in the week their “intention” is to start on Thursday, although they appear to be behind schedule, while delays to the car build process meant Williams have skipped the test entirely.
