On Sunday, the McLaren team deployed their gear in Montmeló, where Lando Norris roared the MCL-35 for the first time on filming day. The regulation allowed only 100 kilometers and the use of the tires indicated by Pirelli. It was a simple aperitif for official training, which starts on this same circuit next Wednesday, although optimism in the British team was felt in every corner of the garage.
James Key, technical director of McLaren, has highlighted the "very visible step forward" that the Renault engine took during 2019, the World Cup where his team was consolidated as the reference of the middle part of the grid. "We saw the Ferrari engine a little ahead, but the competitiveness of the Renault engine was quite good and very close to Mercedes," said the engineer.
The MCL-35, the first car that bears the signature of Key in the Woking factory, will mount the propellers of the French brand for the third and final year, since in 2021 he will return with Mercedes, with whom he already maintained a successful alliance between 1995 and 2014.
"One of the positive aspects of 2019 is that Renault took a very visible step forward and improved the speed in the straight. That was definitely part of our improvement," said Key, one of the most respected men in the 'paddock' after his work for six years for the structure of Red Bull.
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