Mercedes completes 286 laps in Pirelli test

Pirelli has concluded its three-day test with Mercedes, completing 286 laps on prototype 2017 tyres at Paul Ricard.

Following on from tests for Ferrari and Red Bull in August, Mercedes got its first taste of the 2017-size tyres during three days of running with Pascal Wehrlein at the wheel in France. The team was testing slick tyres ahead of next year's regulation changes, using a modified 2015 car in an attempt to simulate increased downforce levels.

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After starting the week with 134 laps on Tuesday, Wehrlein completed 89 laps during Wednesday's running before concluding the test with a further 63 laps on the final day.

Ferrari was simultaneously carrying out slick tyre testing for Pirelli at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya, where Kimi Raikkonen and Sebastian Vettel completed 267 across two days of testing on Tuesday and Wednesday.

Pirelli motorsport boss Paul Hembery told F1i in Monza the current slick tyres are far from the finished product as the tyre manufacturer works through concepts before attempting to finalise its plans in time for a test involving all three teams - Mercedes, Red Bull and Ferrari - in Abu Dhabi at the end of the season.

The next session in Pirelli's 2017 tyre test programme will take place from 21-22 September, again with Mercedes at Paul Ricard, although this time on wet tyres.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.