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I think the F2 tyres are probably one of the hardest things to adapt to, harder than the Formula One Pirellis were to get used to.
Getting in and out of the car with the halo takes a bit of experience. I struggled initially, but after a few trial runs I was fine.
How you go about testing is just very different to just being in the situation of qualifying, having to go out, having to nail the lap.
I started off with sim driving, playing 'Gran Turismo,' and my Dad had some sort of Logitech steering wheel with pedals for the PlayStation 2.
I saw MotoGP on TV first, before I saw F1 and other types of car racing. It's what I got more into. It was cool, there was good, exciting racing.
The biggest difference in the wet between F2 and F1 is that there's so much more power in F1 as being on the throttle earlier has a bigger advantage.
For my career, I wouldn't go racing if I didn't enjoy it. I still need to have my say, and not just get put with a team and get told to deal with it.
Even though I had won in other categories, I didn't have any expectations when I came into F1. Qualifying fifth, finishing sixth? I didn't expect it.
In karting, you turn up and drive, look at the data and go home. But I like doing more, learning about the engines and how to make them go even better.
I'm loving my role as a McLaren Young Driver, spending time in the simulator at the McLaren Technology Centre and attending some Grands Prix with the team.
I had to drive with a roof in LMP2, and I managed to get used to that quite quickly - although it's still not a Halo, it's still different to what I'm used to.
My favourite car I drove in the 'shoot out' at Silverstone was the 2016 Mercedes DTM car. I loved every moment in it, the downforce being particularly surprising.
I don't like going to the gym. My biggest focus is the neck and endurance. I wear this 'Fifty Shades of Grey' harness, with a resistance trainer pulling against it.
Every driver is different, so I just hope whatever I do is going to be good enough, because it's not that I just want to be with McLaren. I want to win with McLaren.
Of course it would be nice for everybody and myself if we could win but we can still have a personal or a team win if we achieve a target that is effectively a win for us.
I'm sure like everyone else I'm not always the happiest if I don't do a good job in quali or the race or whatever, so I think beating myself up sometimes makes me work harder.
It seems like F1 is kind of going down that route, opening it up more to the public and letting them know what is going on, what you do, instead of just driving and going home.
It's just trying to do the best job I can in these opportunities that I get to show what I can do, be consistent, have good feedback, be fast, at the same time not make mistakes.
You can only get to a certain point when you feel confident with the simulator and it always changes when you get to the track and you actually drive it for real for the first time.
I probably work harder, putting in a lot of time and effort, than a lot of drivers because all I think about, and all I do, is to do with racing, trying to make myself a better driver.
I know a lot of people say they always believed they could get into F1, but I didn't quite believe that, certainly not when I was 7 and maybe not until I was 14. It was always so far away.
If I want to do well in racing I need to be more focused so I stopped going to school. If I wasn't a very good driver it would not be a wise decision, but it gives me an advantage over my competitors.
Growing up I've watched Lewis and aspired to have some of his attributes, mainly his speed. His raw pace is probably the best of everyone on the whole grid, so there are bits you want from different drivers.
There's so many bits on a car these days it's hard to know where everything is. You have a bit of an idea but if you are behind someone and you suddenly change direction it's hard to know exactly where the car is.
As a British driver, you get compared to Lewis and I get that. But when he came to McLaren, they were doing well and had a championship-winning car. I'm in a very different situation so I don't compare myself to his stats.
I turned away from bikes when I got a bambino kart for my seventh birthday and started doing some karting, just around some cones at home, but I didn't think at that point I knew I wanted to go into F1, it was more just for fun.
I used to watch MotoGP quite a bit, I liked MotoGP. I had a motorbike before I had a go-kart and before I had a motorbike I had a quad bike but I was too dangerous, and before I did quad biking I did horse riding, so it's been a long journey.
The 'Pro-Sim' is pretty much the best simulator you can buy, because of the steering motor and the pedals. The force feedback we get through the steering is pretty much exactly the same as what we get in the actual car in terms of how heavy it is.
I am sure there's going to be times when I do things wrong that no one's going to like and everyone's going to think I'm terrible and rubbish but I know I'm going to go through those times, and it's just about understanding that that's going to happen.
I kind of look up to Lewis, not as a hero, but as a very good driver who is very fast. Everyone has to admire his pace, especially in qualifying. He is a driver I support, in terms of him being British, and I want him to win, but he isn't an idol to me.
It's what counts, isn't it, on the Sunday, rather than pre-season testing. If you lock up, you do a little mistake, it'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. It's a much bigger problem.
I can't remember what made my dad take us karting for the first time, I can't remember really. I was into motorsport by then and I knew everything, and every driver, it was around 2009, 2008. That's when I first properly knew about Formula One. Those were the days.
I think sim racing helps. I have improved in areas and do it whenever I need to improve. You don't feel G-force and those things are probably the biggest things, that and the fear factor which you feel when you drive. Therefore, when I go on to the track I'm better.
I never enjoyed school and I was never that good at school so leaving wasn't the biggest thing, but the social aspect of school, leaving your friends, you lose contact with them a bit and now I have more friends at the race track than the friends I keep in touch with at school.
That's one of the biggest things. Never being home, always traveling, having different interests and focusing on different things, just the time aspect of going back home and seeing them, you don't have that at all. It was a big sacrifice but, at the end of the day, it was worth it.
I did suffer a lot since karting, with my size and everything, not really having a clue what to do when I started karting. So I suffered in every category: F4, F3, F2. Not so much F2 but I've had to kind of play catch-up quite a bit and in some ways, F1 was a bit nicer with power steering.
On the RFactor model that comes with the 'Pro-Sim,' everything is balanced and measured. If you go up on the rear ride height, for example, it changes the airflow and the downforce of the car. You learn by trying different things, which gives you a better idea when you're on a race weekend.
I liked watching Rossi, his style, his colours and everything. He was someone I looked up to and until now he is still my only hero. He is the king of motorbikes and most people like Rossi mainly because he comes across as a pretty fun and good character. He is cool and has a good style and look.
I definitely wasn't anything special when I first started but I think I adapted quite quickly into racing and it became a bit better slowly. All of cadets, the first four years of karting, I only won one proper race, one! Which was the British Open Championship at PFI and I started 21st and I won.
F2 cars have downforce; they're quick. But it's difficult for your brain and eyes to keep up with everything that's going on once you're in an F1 car. You get used to it and you learn to stay calm, because if you react too quickly the opposite will happen. Being more relaxed is when it becomes more natural and controlled.
In karting, in the European races, you have the cameras and the film crews and you do interviews. At around 13 I'd already started doing bit of media and it just increases more and more with every level you take, especially when you get into cars - and when you hit F1 it's an even higher step up. It's something you get used to over time.