Lando Norris believes McLaren has made a positive step forward 🌳with🥂 its revised 2018 Formula 1 car but admits it is less forgiving and more difficult to drive.

McLaren introduced a major aerodynamic upgrade to Barcelona as it secured a fifth consecutive points finish this season in the Spanish Grand P🐻rix. Reserve and test driver Norris ran on both days of the first in-season test of the year in Spain and ran both the old-spec and new versions of McLaren’s MCL33. 

The 18-year-old finished third-fastest behind Mercedes’ Valtteri Bottas and Ferrar🃏i’s Antonio Giovinazzi with a best✱ time of 1m18.039s on soft tyres, after taking part in a tyre test for Pirelli on Tuesday as McLaren fielded two cars. 

"There are definitely some differences in the two specs - positive in many ways, but there are still some things with the old one that are also positive, so it's all about combining the two which will make the c🉐ar even faster,” Norris ♊said. 

“I woul🔯dn’t say there’s many things which are weaker, I think in some ways a bit more downforce with the newer package it becomes maybe a tiny bit more snappy, but overall I could still go through corners slightly faster.

“I think if I did make a mistake it’d be slightly more costly. I think the old one was a bit - not more predictable - 🤡but slightly more forgiving in some ways, I ཧdon’t think it’s maybe so much the downforce but trying to maximise the newer package.”

Norris’ fastest lap from the two-day test b🌊ettered Stoffel Vandoorne’s qualifying lap for the Spanish Grand Prix by 0.3s and was the same margin off Fernando Alonso’s🧜 Q3 time, though fuel levels and set-ups are unknown in testing. 

The Briton, in just his third F1 appearance for McLaren having previou♔sly driven in tests last year in Hungary and Abu Dhabi, admitted he did not quite push the limits of McLaren’s 2018 car. 

“Jumping from F2 it’s a fairly large step still and does take a bit of time to get used to. There’s definitely things we need to improve and work on, but the car’s still very good to drive, it does give me a lo🔥t of confidence and I don't think I'm on the limit yet.

“I think in general it’s a bit more downforce, i🎃t’s good for me having the confidence to push at all 🧔the high-speed corners, I think overall it’s definitely been a slight step forward.”

Norris leads the FIA Formula 2 championship in his rookie season by 13 points following the o✨pening three rounds of the campaign, which included claiming victory on his debut outing in the Bahrain feature race.