Mercedes's new shark fin makes its début

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The new 2017 Mercedes W08 Hybrid is back in action at pre-season testing at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya this afternoon, only this time it's sporting a new addition in the form of a proper 'shark fin'.

The shark fin is a new feature of this year's Formula One cars as a result of the new tyre and downforce regulations that have been brought in over the off-season.

However Mercedes left the full fin off the car when it was photographed for its official launch, and it was also absent when Valtteri Bottas took the new car for its first test laps on Monday morning.

With Lewis Hamilton taking over the wheel for the afternoon session, the team has now installed the complete shark fin to compare it with the earlier running times to see what impact it makes.

Ferrari and Vettel top the time sheets mid-day!

Already back in action in the afternoon is Kevin Magnussen, after repairs were made to his Haas VF-17 following an accident at turn 12 just before lunch which damaged his front wing.

Daniel Ricciardo has also taken to the track, this afternoon having losing track time in the morning with a sensor issue on the RB13.

Meanwhile Honda has decided to change the engine in Fernando Alonso's McLaren which suffered an oil leak on its very first installation lap. The team says that changing the unit will save time overall.

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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.