Mercedes say development of their new V8 Formula One engine is progressing as planned after testing it on the track for the first time.

Formula One's engine rules are changing next season with the three litre V10s used for the past decade being replaced by 2.4 litre V8 units to reduce speeds and bring down costs.

Mercedes, partners to title-contenders McLaren, said testing at Silverstone on Tuesday and Wednesday in a modified version of the current McLaren had gone well despite problems with vibrations.

"We had an uneventful track debut with our new V8 engine," said Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug in a statement.

"With Pedro de la Rosa at the wheel we gained first basic experiences with the new engine on a race circuit and we completed our programme as planned."

Sign up to our free newsletters

Get the best updates straight to your inbox:
Please select at least one mailing list.

You can unsubscribe at any time by clicking the link in the footer of our emails. We use Mailchimp as our marketing platform. By subscribing, you acknowledge that your information will be transferred to Mailchimp for processing.