Mercedes drivers will be back on the track at the Silverstone circuit, UK, next week to prepare for the start of the F1 season on July 5 in Austria, the team announced on Twitter on Thursday.
Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton will drive the 2018 engine on Tuesday and Wednesday, which private testing is prohibited with the car for the current season.
This will be an opportunity for the German team to train protocols before the first Grand Prix of 2020 on the Red Bull Ring, adds Mercedes.
“We’ll be back on the track next week at Silverstone, UK. Valtteri (Tuesday) and Lewis (Wednesday) will drive the 2018 Mercedes W09 in a two-day test as the team practises protocols ahead of returning to racing in Austria next month.” Mercedes posted.
According to the official F1 website, Ferrari will do the same on an unknown date and on a circuit, while the 2020 F1 cars have not taken to the track since the pre-season tests in Barcelona, in February. It means, giving Charles Leclerc and Sebastian Vettel to warm up ahead of their return to racing in Austria.
The start of the season has been postponed by the coronavirus pandemic, F1 officially announced on Tuesday a schedule for the resume of eight races in Europe between July and September. The championship should then continue outside Europe.
According to F1 boss Ross Brawn, there will be no fans at the tracks, paddock personnel will be slashed by around 50 per cent and staff will have to travel to some races by charter flights, if numerous airlines collapse. The main goal, of course, is to make sure that the actual racing doesn’t suffer.
“Travel for the teams and travel for everyone involved is going to be one of the big issues. You could argue once we get there we could become fairly self-contained.” Brawn said.
