McLare🤪n’s switch from Honda to Renault engines has hampered any hope of con🦂ducting a private test run using a two-year old car before the 2020 Formula 1 season begins next month. 

Mercedes is ramping up its preparations for the upcoming campaign by 168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史:undertaking a two-day private test at 🌟Silverstone this week with Valtteri Bottas and Lewis H🅘amilton driving the team’ꦜs 2018 title-winning W09. 

Ferrari is168澳洲幸运5官方开奖结果历史: also expected to carry out a similar t꧅est ruꦫn - most likely to  take place at i🅘ts Fiorano test track - in the coming weeks, but a date is yet to be confirmed. 

F1’s regulations do not allow for officꦛial in-season testing of current cars, but teams are💙 permitted to use older-spec machinery from 2016-2018 to get in as much mileage as they want. 

Bu𓂃t McLaren team principal Andreas Seidl has confirmed the Woking squad will not be completing any private testing as it does not have any Honda power units from the 🧸2015-17 era available. 

That 𓂃means the team could only use its 2018 car for testing but McLaren has opted against investing in a test with the MCL33 due to its vastly different design philosophy which means it is not a representative car to run. 

“On the driver side, unfortunately we don’t have this possibility of having a car that is t🌳wo years old that we could operate because of all the powertrain switches we had here in recent years,” Seidl told Sky Sports. 

“But as you have seen already, Lando was doing some karting and the free testing [in F3 machinery with Carlin] and we look into the same thing also wit🍰h Carlos to have the drivౠers ready.

𓆏“Of course, we will do some simulator work as well with them.”

Mercedes is using its Silverstone test as an opportu🅘nity to get used to working with the new health and safety protocols F1 will enforce at races this season, including the use of social distancing measures, facemasks and other personal protective equipment (PPE). 

Seidl said McLaren🅷’s own preparations have begun ahead of ꦗthe season-opening Austrian Grand Prix on 5 July. 

“We started the race team again last week so we are preparing the cars at the moment and to try and to go through a lot of procedures and processes in the garage under these new c🤡ircumstances with all the social distancing etc,” he explained. 

“With what we know now with the process🥂 that has been outlined from FIA and Formula 1 in terms of how we actually execute the race weekend in Austria, we have 🉐clarity there.

“Now it’s simply important to focus on prep𝔉aration in the next three four weeks and then hopefully we 🃏have a good start in Austria.”

Mercedes released a video of a fire-up of its W09 car ahead of the Silverstone test which s🤡howed a glimpse of F1’s new health and safety measures, with team personnel﷽ adhering to social distancing where possible and wearing face masks. 

The sound of an engine rumbles through the factory again!

Listen up as W09 fires into life ahead of this weꦍek's protocol test for the Team at Silverstone

— Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1)