Mercedes completed a filming run in Silverstone on the day of revealing its 2026 car and livery, as Williams fires-up and F1 movie gets Oscar nominations.
Having revealed a tweaked livery for 2026 F1 season, Mercedes hit the track straight up at Silverstone, with the W17 getting first taste of tarmac albeit a wet one. The new power unit also got track time, where the German manufacturer got double the data after Alpine’s run on Wednesday.
Alpine were the first team to use the Mercedes power unit on track, with the factory team following on. Both George Russell and Andrea Kimi Antonelli got the chance to drive around a wet Silverstone, with Toto Wolff in audience, as they completed 67 laps – just short of 200 km.
Mercedes joined the likes of Audi, Cadillac, Visa Cash App RB and Alpine to have a shakedown/filming run before the official shakedown from January 26 onward. Elsewhere, another Mercedes-powered team Williams fired-up their new machinery amid rumours around the team.
Certain media reported that Williams is behind schedule due to weight issues and haven’t even passed crash test. So much so, that they could miss the Barcelona shakedown. But with the fire-up video, the Grove-based team dismissed the rumours of potentially missing out on track running.
“We have had a sensible first day of running with the W17 at Silverstone,” said Andrew Shovlin. “As with any shakedown, the focus is on ensuring everything operates safely and reliably. We were able to get through our allotted mileage, with both George and Kimi getting to experience the 2026 car on track for the first time.
“That is testament to the hard work of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth. Our attention now turns to Barcelona where we will look to build on today’s running and add to our understanding of the W17,” summed up Shovlin, as Mercedes now readies to travel to Barcelona.
The day also saw Oscar announce final nominations and the F1 movie got selected in four categories, which includes the big ticket nomination of ‘Best Film’. Here’s the list of nominations: https://x.com/AppleTV/status/2014343951499534800?s=20
Mercedes: https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2014338298395738345?s=20
https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2014361208795836654?s=20
https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/2014376567485403587?s=20
Williams: https://x.com/WilliamsF1/status/2014380118030852568?s=20
https://x.com/WilliamsF1/status/2014397651848958108?s=20
Here’s Mercedes showing its livery
Here’s news on Doriane Pin
Here’s news on Williams F1 driver academy
