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Nikita Mazepin says it was a dream come through to test the Mercedes W10 at Barcelona on Wednesday.
After full-time driver Valtteri Bottas handled driving duties on Tuesday, the 2019 GP3 racer stepped into the cockpit on Wednesday, clocking up 115 laps and the fastest lap time of the day.
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However, the session didn't go fully to plan as he spun the car at one stage, which put a small dent in Mercedes' run plan.
Despite the mishap, Mazepin was keen to show what he could do and says he understands by the W10 has been so dominant in the opening stages of the 2019 season.
"Today was incredible," Mazepin said. "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."
Mercedes sporting director Ron Meadows says that Mercedes focused on power unit and aero testing for most of the day before switching focus to one-lap qualifying runs.
"It’s been another successful day here in Barcelona and we managed to complete all of the programme we had planned," he said.
"We spent the first three-quarters of the day focused on aerodynamic and power unit development testing, before switching to one-lap performance runs, working through the different specifications of the tyre with Nikita.
"He did a really superb job today, just as we expected he would," Meadows concluded.
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