After the official presentation, George Russell took to the track at Silverstone to race the first race of the new Mercedes W17 car.

The team had previously released digital images of the vehicle and confirmed that the vehicle would hit the track for the first time on the same day.

Team leader Russell was given the honor of driving the W17 for the first time in Silverstone’s wet and windy conditions, following Cadillac’s Sergio Perez and Alpine’s Pierre Gasly who tested their new cars earlier this month.

Prior to this, Nico Hulkenberg with Audi in Barcelona and Racing Bulls drivers Liam Lawson and Arvid Lindblad, who tested the new car at Imola, also managed to take to the track.

VIDEO. Mercedes F1 is already on the track. The team conducted closed tests

Last night, January 21, the annual awards ceremony of the authoritative publication Autosport took place.

As always, the names of the best British athlete, the champion of the year among different racing series, the driver of the year, the rookie of the year, the best car of the season and the team were determined.

The titles of champion of the year and British athlete of the year went to Lando Norris with great expectations. The McLaren pilot broke Max Verstappen’s streak of four consecutive championships in the 2025 season and won the first Formula 1 championship in his career.

Max Verstappen was chosen as the best Formula 1 driver of the year according to Autosport. Despite Red Bull’s problems in the first half of the season, the Dutch driver managed to make a great recovery in the second half of the championship and received 102 points out of 104. However, this was not enough to win their fifth consecutive world title.

The British publication gave the Rookie of the Year award to Verstappen’s new teammate Isak Hajjar. In his debut season, he achieved his first career podium, outpacing his more experienced teammate.

McLaren was considered the best team and also the best car of the 2025 season. The team won its second consecutive title in the Constructors’ Championship, with the drivers of the MCL39 car showing a huge advantage over all their pursuers.

The McLaren team will not take to the track on the first day of the Formula 1 pre-closed season testing, which will start on January 26 in Barcelona. This decision stems from the team’s desire to make the most of the time to finalize the new MCL40 car with which it will defend its championship title.

According to team leader Andrea Stella, the rules only allow each participant to race on three of the five test days. McLaren decided to skip the start day in order to gain additional time to develop the car, which is currently undergoing trial testing.

According to Stella, the work on the car under the new 2026 regulations is extremely dynamic and the team is finding improvements almost every day. Leaving the circuit early would have forced McLaren to “freeze” some technical solutions earlier, which could have had a negative impact on the final effectiveness of the package.

While the MCL40 is expected to first appear on track in a temporary livery on the second or third day of testing, the team will present the full livery on February 9. McLaren believes a later start will allow the season to begin in the most competitive configuration.