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LONDON (Reuters) – Racing Point became the first Formula One team to get their 2020 car on track after the COVID-19 shutdown when Lance Stroll took part in a limited-mileage private test at Silverstone on Wednesday.
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None of the 10 teams\\\’ drivers have turned a wheel in their latest cars since the end of pre-season testing in Spain in February.
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Teams are allowed two in-season promotional days for filming purposes, and Stroll completed 100km on Pirelli demonstration tyres at the circuit over the road from the Racing Point factory.
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Renault were also in action at the Red Bull Ring in Austria, where the season is due to start on July 5 with two back-to-back races, with Frenchman Esteban Ocon at the wheel of the team\\\’s 2018 car and completing 614km.
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“I\\xe2\\x80\\x99ve missed this so much, 145 laps done ahead of the Austrian Grand Prix feeling fresh, feeling ready, and more,” he said on Instagram.
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Australian Daniel Ricciardo drove on Tuesday, doing 115 laps and 500km.
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Six-times world champion Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes team mate Valtteri Bottas drove the title-winning 2018 W09 car last week as they practised protocols for races without spectators and special measures related to the pandemic.
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Other drivers have also clambered back into the cockpit after months of gym work and simulated racing, but in less powerful cars.
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McLaren\\\’s Lando Norris drove a Formula Three car at Silverstone this month.
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“It\\\’s surprising how many top quality drivers fancy a go in an F3 car just to get their eye back in,” Trevor Carlin, who runs teams in a range of junior series, told Reuters.
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“Lando\\\’s doing Silverstone again this week and (team mate) Carlos (Sainz) is doing a day with him as well. I\\\’ve had a Red Bull driver out, I\\\’ve got a Williams driver out and I\\\’ve got various other young drivers out as well.”
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(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Ed Osmond)
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