VIDEO: Mercedes shows off pit stop practice form

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The Mercedes F1 team has given fans a chance to see how Grand Prix pit stops might look in 2017 in the wake of the rules and regulations changes that were introduced over the off-season.

The new tyre specifications mean that the 2017 Pirelli compounds will be appreciably wider and heavier this season, which means that the pit crews have needed a lot of practice to get used to the more unwieldy tyres.

Under the new rules, the front tyres are 60 millimetres (2.4 inches) wider at the front and 80 millimetres (3.1 inches) at the back. Overall, a full set of tyres is 5 kilograms heavier than last year's, which meant the FIA has needed to raise the overall minimum weight requirement for the cars.

The difference in size and weight means that the crew members in charge of manhandling the tyres during pit stops have needed plenty of practice over the winter to get used to the different size, shape and weight of the tyres.

Mercedes certainly thinks that its pit crew has once again mastered the dark art of the super-fast pit stop, so much so that they're happy to let the world see how they're doing it.

The team's new driver Valtteri Bottas was there in person to study the action, as he prepares for his maiden race with the team next month in Australia after taking over the race seat from reigning world champion Nico Rosberg.

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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.