Aston Martin became the first team to run a 2022 Formula 1 car on track when its new AMR22 began a shakedown at Silverstone on Friday lunchtime.
Lance Stroll was at the wheel for the initial laps.
Aston Martin is using one of its two permitted filming days – at which running is limited to a maximum of 100km on demonstration tyres – for the shakedown, which is taking place a week and a half before the first official pre-season test at Barcelona begins.
“Really what we wanted to do was shakedown as early as possible to check the systems on the car and give us some time between the shakedown and Barcelona test,” Aston Martin technical director Andrew Green explained during the car’s launch event on Thursday.
The sight and sound we've all been missing… 🔥 #AMR22 #WeClimbTogether pic.twitter.com/WkF9mLy9iD
— Aston Martin Aramco Cognizant F1 Team (@AstonMartinF1) February 11, 2022
“Because the car is absolutely brand new, with no carryover at all, and pre-season testing is really short, and the second test is so close to the first race that it’s going to be almost impossible to react to, we thought it’s good to get a shakedown in prior to the first test.
“We give ourselves a gap between the shakedown and the first test to react.”
