2019 Pre-Season Test I, Day 1

The Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+ completes 150 laps on the first day of pre-season testing

Date:                           Monday, 18 February 2019

Drivers:                       Valtteri Bottas (AM), Lewis Hamilton (PM)

Circuit:                        Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya

Circuit Length:            4.655 km

Laps Completed:         Valtteri 69, Lewis 81, Total 150

Distance Covered:       Valtteri 321, Lewis 377, Total 698

Best Lap Time:             Valtteri 1:20.127, Lewis 1:20;135

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport completed its planned programme on the first day of 2019 pre-season testing, gathering valuable aero and tyre data. Valtteri and Lewis took turns at the wheel of the team’s 2019 challenger, accruing almost 700 kilometres at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya.

• Valtteri was the first behind the wheel in the morning session, focussing on gathering tyre and aerodynamic data
• Lewis was driving the new car in the afternoon, collecting information on how the new car reacts to certain set-up changes
• Today’s programme focused on improving the understanding of the new Pirelli tyres for the 2019 F1 season as well as gathering aerodynamic data
• Mercedes-Benz Power Units today completed a total of 838km
• Tomorrow, Lewis will be behind the wheel of the W10 in the morning with Valtteri driving the new car in the afternoons session
• Rights-free imagery of the morning run is now available on our media site

Valtteri Bottas

I quite enjoyed this morning, it’s good to be back at the track. I did 69 laps and there were no major issues with the car, so it was a relatively successful run. Since the car is brand new, we immediately found ways to improve the balance and the behaviour and we will continue to work on that in the next days. It’s good to see the car running well and it proves that the entire team is doing a great job, both in Brackley and Brixworth, but also here at the track. I’m looking forward to a more time in the car tomorrow afternoon.

Lewis Hamilton

It’s good to be back in the car and it’s great to see the car is running as smoothly at it is. It feels quite a bit different compared to last year and we’re now getting to know it, trying to understand the balance and trying to understand the characteristics we’re working with. It’s been a positive first day, we got through our running plan and there’s lots for us to learn about the new car which we will be working on.

James Allison

The first day with a new car is always a really exciting thing and today was not a bad start. Both drivers had their first taste of the W10 and got 150 trouble-free laps on the board by the end of the day. We managed to squeeze quite a lot in to this first day of running, finding out both how the 2019 tyres are working and also learning about the way the car responds to set-up changes. Today was not about absolute pace and we’re reasonably pleased with the handling of the car and the way it is behaving.