Nikita Mazepin not only made his Mercedes debut in Spain on Wednesday but did so with a P1, going from spinner to winner.
Mazepin, who currently competes in Formula 2 for ART Grand Prix, was called up by Mercedes to take one of their young driver days at the Barcelona test.
The Russian driver covered a marathon 128 laps with a best time of 1:15.775.
That put him 1.3s up on second placed Alexander Albon in the Toro Rosso.
The day, though, wasn’t without problems as Mazepin beached the W10 in the gravel just before the lunch break.
“Today was incredible,” said the 20-year-old. “Being a part of this team, even just for this day was very special for me.
“It’s every young driver’s dream to drive a car like this and today mine came true, so I’m really happy.
“Importantly it was a successful day on track too.
“We gathered most of the data we set out to collect, we didn’t encounter any problems and from my side I felt I could deliver consistently throughout the day – which is important for the team.
“In the afternoon we were competitive on the performance runs and the car felt great.
“Everyone in the team is working so hard and you can feel that when you sit in this car.”
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