Mercedes AMG W05 nose and front wing detail. Formula One Testing Day One, Jerez, Spain, Tuesday, 28 January 2014. © Sutton Images
After finishing second to Red Bull in the 2013 constructors’ championship, Mercedes are hoping the new machine will help them go one better this year in the hands of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.
The F1 W05 is the most complex Formula One car ever produced by the team, thanks in large part to the dramatic regulation changes for 2014, which include the move to hybrid, 1.6 litre turbo engines.
"It is always exciting to pull the wraps off a new car for the first time but even more so at the start of this momentous 2014 season,” said the Mercedes team’s executive director (business), Toto Wolff. “Our new Silver Arrow is the result of a single-minded, integrated approach between our engineering teams.
“My compliments and thanks go to every team member in Brackley, at Brixworth and also at our key partner, Petronas, for their hard work to deliver this new car and the Power Unit at its heart; it is the result of several years of intense effort. But we know that the adventure has only just begun. We have a busy winter testing period ahead of us and a long season where both performance and reliability will be critically important.
“Lewis and Nico begin the season hungry for success and I am confident that our team will benefit thanks to the continuity of their work during the winter period. We have positive momentum after our second-place finish last season. Our clear target is to continue building up our team and we aim to deliver on every single race weekend in 2014."
Technical director Paddy Lowe added: "For 2014 we have probably the greatest change in regulations in Formula One history and the start of a new era for our sport. From a technical and also a racing perspective, this is an incredibly exciting time for Formula One. We are introducing technologies that are new not just to racing but to the wider automotive world as well.
“The headline is that of improved efficiency and the fact that we will be completing races with advanced Hybrid systems on just 100 kg of fuel sends a great message about the technology that Formula One can deliver. But it is also about the technology that Mercedes-Benz can develop compared with our competition, both for the chassis and the new Power Unit.
“The whole team has done a fantastic job on the management of the project and its delivery. We have hit our milestones and hit our targets but, as ever, we will only begin to understand how successful we have been once we begin running in anger on track.
“The new car is an elegant but aggressive design and, as is often the way, its beauty is much more than skin deep; the internal engineering of the car is extremely innovative and intelligent. Our team can be justifiably proud of its work so far - but none of us are under any illusions about the amount we still have to do before the first race in six weeks' time."