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Lando Norris says that it is hard to judge how much to push when saving tyres in Formula 1.
2019 marks Norris' first year in the pinnacle series, having spent his 2018 campaign racing in Formula 2.
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Norris contrasted the differences between preparations at pre-season testing, when a small mistake can afford to be made, while the pressure is much higher during race weekends.
"I think the hard thing in the practice and pre-season testing and everything is knowing how much to push and not to push," he said.
"Especially for my first time doing a race sim in Barcelona, knowing how hard to push with a full tank of fuel, tyres that drop off a lot both in wear but also thermally, it’s always hard to judge.
"Sometimes you have loads of tyre deg and you think ‘oh no, this is going to be terrible’.
"When you’re in a race you obviously gauge yourself much more of others drivers around and it’s easier to know what they’re doing and what you have to do to make changes and save the tyres more, save they tyres less. So it is very different.
"As a whole experience, the pressure is on a lot more. It’s what counts on the Sunday, rather than pre-season testing [where] you can do a lock-up, a little mistake, it’s like ‘that’s nothing’.
"But if you do it on Sunday you lose a place or you have to box for a flat-spot or something like that, then it’s a much bigger problem.
"So altogether it’s a lot more pressure, you have to think about a lot more things when it comes to the race itself rather than in pre-season when it’s a bit more relaxed."
Norris scored his first points in F1 at the Bahrain Grand Prix, as he drove to a sixth-place result - McLaren's best finish since the Australian Grand Prix last year.
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