With a little over four weeks to go until the start of the 2019 FIA Formula One season, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport today completed the first laps with its 2019 challenger. Named the Mercedes-AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+, the 2019 contender ran on the 2.98 km Silverstone International Circuit this morning with Valtteri Bottas behind the wheel, to be followed by Lewis Hamilton this afternoon.
 
"The 2019 season will be a new challenge for all of us," said Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO. "The regulations have changed quite substantially. We have to start from scratch, we need to prove ourselves again - against our own expectations and against our competitors. We start the season with zero points, so we're taking nothing for granted and there's absolutely no feeling of entitlement to be at the front. In fact, with the regulation change for the new season, every team can have a shot at the title and we're seeing all of them as a potential threat."

 
Today's running constitutes an official 100 km filming day, which the team also uses as a final systems check before the first pre-season test in Barcelona.
 
"We're eager to hit the ground running in Barcelona, to benchmark ourselves against our own simulations and see if our predictions materialise on track," said Toto. "We will focus on ourselves, building up performance and hopefully be ready when the first really competitive session starts on Saturday in Melbourne."

2019 is the first year in which Mercedes will compete in both Formula One and Formula E. Joining the all-electric racing series at the end of the year for season six, the team is looking forward to a completely new challenge which will complement the brand's motorsport approach.
 
"We embrace the challenge in every category in which we participate," said Toto. "Formula E will be a completely new playing field for us. There are teams out there that already have a lot of experience in the series and experience is crucial for success in Formula E, so it will be a tremendous challenge for us. We are setting ambitious expectations but at the same time we don't overestimate the impact we can have in our first-ever FE season. We will be the only car manufacturer that participates in both Formula One and Formula E and the learnings from both series will cascade into the road car world, making both platforms an important technology driver for the entire Mercedes family."