Mercedes W13 F1 car hits track for Silverstone shakedown
The reigning world champions launched the W13 challenger on Friday morning ahead of a first track run around the British Grand Prix venue.
George Russell had the honour of getting behind the wheel of the new car for the first time as an official Mercedes works driver, before handing over to Lewis Hamilton.
Conditions were far from ideal at a wet Silverstone, with the shakedown unable to escape the impact of Storm Eunice, which battered much of the United Kingdom on Friday.
Russell described it as being “the windiest day he’s ever experienced” when driving an F1 car.
Teams are permitted two filming days - with running restricted to 100km - outside of official F1 testing and many have taken the opportunity to shake down their new cars ahead of the new season.
Aston Martin, Alfa Romeo, Williams, Red Bull and Ferrari are all known to have conducted similar shake downs over the past week.
The opening pre-season test takes place next week in Barcelona between February 23-25, before the season begins in Bahrain on March 20.
