Lando Norris declared himself happy with his shakedown run onboard McLaren's new MCL60 on Tuesday in Bahrain.
Team papaya put its new challenger on track at Sakhir for a filming day that allowed the outfit to gain a first impression of its contender.
Although limited to 100 kilometers, the run was trouble-free which bodes well for the start of pre-season testing on Thursday.
Last year, McLaren's test programme was plagued by a brake overheating issue that significantly disrupted the team's preparations.
"I think it was a super important day for us, especially because we need to start this season off better than we did last year," said Norris after his run.
"So far we've done exactly that, so I'm happy the team are happy.
"There's a lot of hard work to make sure we start smoothly, and we start with the reliability, and get everything on top of where it should be. They've done exactly that, so yeah, super important."
Sending it in the #MCL60! 🤩
👀 That popping papaya
🔊 That roaring engineWatch @LandoNorris drive it for the first time. 👇
— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 21, 2023
Norris' teammate Oscar Piastri also enjoyed a stint at the wheel of McLaren's new car during the day.
McLaren generated a bit of intrigue around its new machine when it blurred out in the video footage of the car's run on Tuesday the MCL60's floor edge, a crucial area in terms of the car's ground effects and downforce.
Furthermore, the MCL60's downward sweeping sidepod design bears a striking resemblance to Red Bull's 2022 RB18, but that is expected to be the case for several other teams this season.
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