The new Mercedes W03 was officially unveiled to the world’s press just prior to the start of the second week of official Formula One testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.
As seen in the spy shots earlier last week, the W03 features the stepped nose, similar to that of several other Formula One cars.
The new car has already been shaken down at Silverstone last week, and conducted a private test at Catalunya on Sunday – which the team were permitted to undertake because it had only been present for three of the four days of running at Jerez earlier this month.
Mercedes chose to stick with its 2011 car for Jerez in order to gain valuable data on this season’s Pirelli tyres, and was quickest on two of the days it was present – though it was running to full 2011 specification, including the no-longer-permitted exhaust-blown diffuser.
Norbert Haug, Mercedes motorsport chief, has commented that the W03 would not feature any radical innovations – contrary to speculation that the team had waited until the second test to reveal the car because it featured technical breakthroughs it did not want rivals to copy.
The most obvious outward change is the move to a stepped nose, in common with the majority of rival teams.
Having been unable to beat rivals Red Bull Racing, McLaren and Ferrari to race wins in its first two years, Mercedes GP is hoping to get among the top three on a more regular basis this season.
Last year it revamped its technical team with the addition of former Renault engineer Bob Bell, ex-Ferrari design chief Aldo Costa, and Geoff Willis, formerly of Williams, BAR and Red Bull Racing.
Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher continue in an unchanged driver line-up at Mercedes. With Schumacher coming into the final season of what was initially planned as a three-year comeback deal, speculation about whether the seven-time world champion will stay on into 2013 and beyond is likely to be one of the biggest stories around Mercedes this season.