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Mercedes to conduct vital test ahead of key F1 season
Mercedes has confirmed it is to complete a shakedown of its
brand-new W17 2026 F1 car at Silverstone on Thursday. Digital
renders of the new W17 machine were unveiled on Thursday morning,
the car the team hopes will end a title drought stretching back to
the 2021 constructors' after its struggles in the ground effects
era. Across the four seasons of the old regulations, Mercedes
claimed just seven grand prix wins, including none in 2023, as the
Brackley engineers could not work with the regulations to the
success of Red Bull, and latterly, the customer engine team,
McLaren. However, given the success of Mercedes High Performance
Powertrains (HPP) in designing the initial turbo hybrids in 2014,
the works Mercedes team is regarded as one of the major title
favourites for the biggest package of rule changes in F1 history.
The new machine will hit the track for the first time at the
British Grand Prix venue later on Thursday, but it will not be the
first Mercedes-powered car to be on-track. New customer Alpine
completed a shakedown, also at Silverstone, on Wednesday, the first
for a 2026 Mercedes-powered car. The W17's first outing will be the
fifth 2026 car to hit the track, following Audi in Barcelona,
Racing Bulls at Imola, and both Cadillac and Alpine at
Silverstone. Once again, the drivers will be team leader, Briton
George Russell and Italian Kimi Antonelli, who is starting his
second full season of grand prix racing, although chief designer
John Owen is stepping down before a period of gardening leave ahead
of a move elsewhere. Despite its struggles in the ground effects
era, Mercedes did finish runner-up in the constructors'
championship twice, in 2023 and 2025. Check out a full photo
gallery of the new Mercedes W17 livery by clicking this link, and
make sure to let us know what you think of it by voting in the poll
below!
