Mercedes hits the track immediately after launch as W17 completes first shakedown. Mercedes has unveiled its 2026 livery and immediately taken the W17 on track.

Mercedes has just unveiled the livery with which it will compete in the 2026 Formula 1 season, and immediately afterwards the team headed out on track for its first shakedown. The German squad wasted no time, joining the teams that have already completed their first laps of the 2026 campaign, doing so with a wet-weather shakedown at Silverstone and already revealing the sound of the new engine.

Alpine had been the first of the Mercedes-powered teams to complete initial running on the British circuit, while Williams and McLaren are still yet to take to the track. Today, however, it was the works team itself that experienced first-hand the thrill of putting the new power unit through its first real test.

The livery unveiled

Today, 22 January 2026, Mercedes officially unveiled the livery with which it will take on the 2026 Formula 1 season. It was a highly anticipated moment, offering the first visual clues of what we can expect from the Brackley-based team in the new technical era.

The solutions seen on the car are certainly not definitive, and many changes are expected between the Barcelona tests, scheduled from 26 to 30 January, and the two February test sessions in Bahrain.

The first laps on track

After revealing the details of the new livery through the renderings shared on the team’s social media channels, the W17 immediately took to the track for its shakedown, completing the first official laps of the new season. This was a crucial step for the team, aimed at checking the correct operation of the main systems and gathering the first feedback, albeit without any focus on outright performance.

Particularly significant was the first opportunity to hear the sound of the engine. The Mercedes power unit, in particular, is rumoured to offer something extra compared to its rivals, with suggestions that the team may have managed to exploit a grey area in the new 2026 regulations.

To confirm this, however, it will be necessary to wait for the official tests, if not even the opening race of the season in Melbourne. While waiting for further developments, here is the first exit from the garage of the Mercedes W17.

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O postare distribuită de Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@mercedesamgf1)