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Norris ‘a potential star of the future’ - McLaren

Lando Norris' impressive performance during his first Formula 1 test outing on Wednesday in Hungary has prompted McLaren racing director Eric Boullier to call the Briton "a potential star of the future".

Norris, 17, enjoyed his first outing in an F1 car on Wednesday as part of the collective test following the Hungarian Grand Prix, finishing second in the final timesheets behind Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel.

The current Formula 3 racer was delighted with how his day went, compelling 91 laps in total, and hopes it will lead to more run-outs in the future.

"It was a great experience driving a 2017 McLaren-Honda. It was a fantastic opportunity for me to learn and further develop as a driver," Norris said.

"It was good to drive at a track I'd been to before and it was pleasing to get up to speed with the current McLaren-Honda.

"I was also present earlier in the week and it was interesting to watch the team work from the sidelines while I picked up valuable information from Stoffel [Vandoorne] who was behind the wheel on those days.

"I managed to get through all the tests that the team asked me to complete, and everything went well. Getting used to the car was a bit of a challenge at first but by the end of the day I felt very comfortable.

"I got a lot of laps under my belt and I really enjoyed the experience. Big thanks to the team for giving me this opportunity. Hopefully it will be the first of many!"

Boullier spoke warmly of Norris' efforts in the McLaren-Honda MCL32, explaining the impact the youngster will have on the team's racing interests.

"Lando has impressed us all with his maturity, professionalism and speed, and has got to grips very quickly with the car in only his first outing in the MCL32," Boullier said.

"His feedback with the engineers has been valuable and accurate, and he's certainly an asset to our test driver line-up - not to mention a potential star of the future."

Zdroj: crash.net