F1 Champion Lando Norris Reveals ‘Surreal Moment’ as McLaren Hit Track for First Time

McLaren waited for Wednesday before rolling out of the garage for the first time.

McLaren Racing

Lando Norris hit the track for the first time as a Formula 1 world champion as McLaren made its testing debut on Wednesday.

The constructors' championship-winning outfit opted not to run on the opening two days of the behind-closed-doors pre-season test as it continued preparations on its new MCL40, its challenger for the first year of F1's overhauled technical regulations.

Lando Norris' new number

McLaren F1 Team

It meant that British driver Norris ran with the number 1 on the car for the first time on Wednesday, having beaten Max Verstappen and Oscar Piastri to his maiden drivers' title last season, marking the first time a McLaren driver had the #1 on-track since compatriot Jenson Button joined the team for the 2010 campaign.

“It felt great to be back on track and see the No.1 on the car, which is a surreal moment for me," said Norris at the end of Wednesday's running. Getting out there was a significant moment for the entire team, with it being the first time our car under the new regulations has been on track. Thank you to everyone for getting us to this point."

Norris was able to log 77 laps at the Spanish circuit, 11 more than a grand prix distance at the venue to provide a positive start to the new year.

Another aid to McLaren will be Mercedes' new power unit, which has proved to be reliable already as the works' outfit has run up over 1500km at the hands of George Russell and Kimi Antonelli on days one and three of the test alone.

Watching the MCL40 on track for the first time like a proud parent 🧡 pic.twitter.com/vr765kTMfR

— McLaren Mastercard Formula 1 Team 🧡 (@McLarenF1) January 28, 2026

“It was a productive and positive first day," insisted Norris. "Our aim was to gain an initial understanding of the new car, check that all systems work, and gather some baseline data for the engineers.

"With any regulation change, it takes time to figure everything out, but I am feeling good about how the day went, and I’m looking forward to getting more laps in on Friday.”

With teams able to run on any three of the five days this week, McLaren will be on track on both of the remaining days, barring any issues with the car.

Piastri will complete an entire day's running on Thursday before he and Norris split duties on Friday to round the week off. Two further pre-season tests then take place in Bahrain before the start of the season in Australia at the start of March.

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