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Daniel Ricciardo was beaming after his first day behind the wheel of the new McLaren MCL35M at a soggy Silverstone circuit. Fresh from the launch of the new Mercedes powered MCL35M on Monday, McLaren took their new car to Silverstone. This was for the first of the team’s two permitted filming days this year. Filming days grant teams 100 kilometres of track time with their current car for the purpose of getting advertising and promotional footage, but is also frequently used by teams as a way to shake down their cars before the crucial pre-season test gets underway.
Both Daniel Ricciardo and Lando Norris were on hand to share driving duties, with Norris driving in the morning before handing over to Ricciardo for the Australian’s first go at the wheel of a McLaren.
Climbing out at the end of the day, Ricciardo said he didn’t feel hugely confident to start off but that the whole day had run smoothly: “It feels longer than two months! It always takes a little while to get the cobwebs out. I think, in these greasy conditions, they don’t fill you with confidence after it’s been a while since you’ve been in a car!” Ricciardo said. “But, it’s nice. Everything’s ran really smooth, we completed what we had to and that’s all you can ask for. The more laps I turn, the more confidence and comfort I’ll feel with this team.”
Asked about his process for acclimatising to the new environment and crew he’s working with this year, Ricciardo said: “Every little bit helps getting up to speed. Going through all the procedures. The plan and target is to get to Bahrain Sunday afternoon, be on the grid, and for there to be not an inch of panic. It’s really about feeling comfortable and familiar with all the crew. We’re trying to go through scenarios we’d face on a race weekend. We don’t have the atmosphere around us but we can try to replicate it and put a bit of pressure on ourselves.”
“McLaren started on the right foot with the engine fire-up being a day early and the first day of running on track has been smooth. You can’t ask for more this early in the season. Everything’s firing on the right cylinders!”