LONDON (Reuters) – Mercedes showed off their new W16 car in a digital launch on Monday as they prepare for pre-season testing and a fresh start after the departure of seven times world champion Lewis Hamilton.
Italian 18-year-old Kimi Antonelli has replaced Hamilton, now 40 and at Ferrari, in the lineup alongside Britain’s George Russell and experienced reserve and former Mercedes racer Valtteri Bottas.
“We open an exciting new era in the story of our team and Mercedes-AMG motorsport in 2025. We are building on the incredible legacy of our heritage, and we can’t wait to go racing,” declared team boss Toto Wolff.
“We have made gains in the off-season, but we will only know where we stand come the first race in Australia.”
Wolff said Russell, the ‘senior driver’ starting his seventh season in the sport, would help lead the team forward while Antonelli faced a rookie year in which “there will inevitably be ups and downs.”
Mercedes, winners of a record eight constructors’ championships in a row between 2014 and 2021, finished fourth last year.
Technical director James Allison said that while stable rules on the chassis side made big gains in lap time harder to find, “we’ve been concentrating on making improvements in the areas that held us back last year.
“Our primary focus has been on dialling out the W15’s slight reluctance to turn in slow corners, along with the imbalance in tyre temperatures that made the car inconsistent from session to session.
“We are pleased with our progress over the winter and we’re looking forward to finding out where we stack up against everyone else.”
Allison expected to see multiple winners this season, possibly more than the four teams and seven drivers that won last year.
The season starts in Australia on March 16 with Mercedes-powered McLaren seeking to defend their constructors’ title while Red Bull’s Max Verstappen chases a fifth drivers’ crown in a row.
(Reporting by Alan Baldwin, editing by Christian Radnedge)
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