Mercedes and Ferrari are preparing to hit the track with test days before the 2020 Formula 1 season starts next month.
Due to the coronavirus, no on-track action has taken place since pre-season testing concluded in Barcelona in February, while the last race remains the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix from last December.
That extended gap has led to concerns of rustiness, with drivers limited to home simulators to keep their skills sharp but unable to replicate the physicality of actually being out on track.
Per the regulations, teams are not allowed to use their current cars nor the current tyres in a private test.
So, on Thursday, the current world champions announced both Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton will head to Silverstone next week to drive the 2018 Mercedes W09.
Bottas will step behind the wheel on Tuesday, with Hamilton following on a day later.
According to Formula1.com, Ferrari will follow suit with their own drivers, likely taking a 2018 car to Fiorano, but that, and the dates, haven’t been confirmed at this point.
Also Read:
- Hamilton planning to avoid F1 rust to stay ahead of Leclerc & Verstappen
- Russell keen to test ‘anything with four wheels’ before F1 season starts
- Ricciardo predicts ‘chaos’ in early F1 2020 races
Meanwhile, earlier this week, Lando Norris headed to the British Grand Prix venue to drive an F3 car as he teamed up with his old pals at Carlin.
“I’ve got an F3 test coming up and I’m doing some karting next week, just something to get my body going again,” he said.
“It’s just getting the body back into that physical feeling of the G force and everything like that, to get that muscle memory back and working as it should do… but it’s also a bit of a shock to the system to get back into doing that as well.
“Driving anything that you can push and go flat-out [in] is going to be a good feeling.
“For it all to start up again next month is going to be weird, after almost getting used to the last two or three months looking at computer screens all the time,” Norris added, referencing all the gaming he’s been doing.
“I look forward to it. It’s going to be a challenge jumping back into a Formula 1 car, because it is challenging; Formula 1 cars are like no other things that you get to drive, so it’s going to be nice.
“It’s going to be a cool feeling to get back into a Formula 1 car and feel like being on the limit and pushing it to the max.”
