Mercedes W11 hits track for ‘particularly precious’ shakedown

Silverstone hosted Mercedes on Valentine’s Day as their W11 – the car that could add to their tally of 12 championships since 2014 – was unleashed on track for the first time ahead of the 2020 F1 season.

And as the new Silver Arrow hit the circuit, the team emphasised just how important this 100km shakedown session, with Valtteri Bottas driving before Lewis Hamilton, is for the season ahead with just six days of testing on offer this year – two fewer than in 2019.

Technical Director James Allison said: “The shakedown has always been important, but it is particularly precious this year. It’s our last chance to make sure all is well ahead of the first official day of winter testing. If all goes well in the shakedown then we will be well placed to roll out the garage at nine o’clock in Barcelona and just start hitting the laps.With a shorter winter testing programme, that last ticking everything off at the shakedown is proportionally more important so we are determined to squeeze every drop of goodness from it that we can.”

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