Official Formula 1 pre-season testing for the 2022 season gets underway this week, but some of the teams have already hit the track with their new 2022 cars. Most of the teams have cashed in one of their two annually permitted filming days, granting them 100 kilometres of track time, while Ferrari opted for a short 15-kilometre demonstration run on their own track at Fiorano. Here's a look at each car that has taken to the circuit already, ahead of official testing.
Aston Martin
Aston Martin were the first team to hit the track with their new 2022 machine, the AMR22. Just a day after the launch event for the new car, Aston Martin headed along to Silverstone for a filming day on 11 February. While most of the teams had not even revealed their cars at this point, Aston Martin took their challenger for a spin on a wet and blustery day at the Northamptonshire circuit. Both race drivers - Lance Stroll and Sebastian Vettel - had a chance to take the wheel, with the team releasing images of the car on track after the event.
Mercedes
Mercedes held their launch event and shakedown filming day on the same day, heading along to Silverstone on 18 February. With the formalities of the launch over, George Russell was first to hop behind the wheel of the new W13 and peeled out onto the track in the early afternoon. After his turn, Lewis Hamilton stepped back into an F1 car for the first time since the dramatic final lap of the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix – Hamilton also getting the chance to get his eye in with the 2022 machine in damp conditions.
Ferrari
Unlike the other teams to run on track so far, Ferrari have not yet used up one of their filming days. Instead, they chose to use a permitted demonstration run – the rules for which restrict track time to 15 kilometres, which must be done at a track that is not a recognised (ie. FIA Grade 1) F1 track. With their own track, Fiorano, just across the road from their factory, the Scuderia sent both Charles Leclerc and Carlos Sainz out for a handful of laps in the F1-75. Coasting around slowly behind a camera car as the fog enveloped the Italian circuit, Ferrari later released some dramatic photos from their day.
Williams
Williams were another team to run at Silverstone, as the Grove-based team used up a filming day on 15 February. Their new FW44 hit the track with both Alex Albon and Nicholas Latifi getting a shot behind the wheel for some rain-soaked laps of the circuit.
Red Bull/AlphaTauri
Shrouded in secrecy, both of the Red Bull teams are understood to have held filming days with their new machines – neither of which have been officially confirmed. Red Bull's RB18 was let loose at Silverstone, with only some shaky, unclear photographs on social media serving as evidence that it occurred. It is a similar story for AlphaTauri, which ran their new AT03 at Misano. Again, only some unclear, fan-shot video has emerged from that day. Neither team have released any imagery from their shakedowns.
Alfa Romeo
Alfa Romeo carried out a shakedown at Fiorano on 15 February, running their brand new C42 in a heavily camouflaged livery as Valtteri Bottas put in laps of the Italian venue. The car is scheduled for launch on 27 February, two days after conclusion of the first pre-season test in Barcelona, with the team set to reveal their actual 2022 race livery at the same time.
Haas
The brand new Haas VF-22 has also officially hit the track, with Nikita Mazepin starting off the team's filming day at the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya on 21 February.
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