Norris on 2019 car: "Completely different" but "not perfect"

McLaren rookie Lando Norris has praised the morale and the car at the Woking-based team, as the teenager believes the atmosphere has improved from last season while the car has completely changed as well - although it still has flaws.

Norris has made the step up after being McLaren's reserve driver last season. With him finishing second in the Formula 2 championship and both Fernando Alonso and Stoffel Vandoorne leaving, a seat opened up for the teenager.

Speaking on the car, Norris can vow for how much it has changed, as he's driven the MCL33 of last year on multiple occasions as well.

“It’s a completely different car to last year,” he told Motorsport.

“Overall, it feels very different in terms of aero to last year with the differences. 

"Some things we have improved on from a car perspective, but there’s a lot to work on and a lot of things we’ve learned in the last two days that we need to develop and improve on for the rest of the test, and also for the first race."

With him having run one full day at the Circuit de Catalunya on Tuesday, in which he completed over 100 laps, the Brit thinks the attitude within the team has had an uptick from 2018.

“I definitely think it’s an improvement from last year. Obviously, I wasn’t the driver last year so I wasn’t as integrated as I am now, but in terms of seeing the motivation for everyone and the way that they work as a whole group and family, it definitely seems to be going in the right direction.

“It’s not perfect, but I think that some of the problems that we have had and the niggles that we have had to overcome have been ironed out slowly, so it’s just about making sure everyone is working in the right direction and in a positive way.

“It’ll take a bit of time to get there completely, but everyone is very motivated and working extremely hard.”