
This is the 2025 Mercedes AMG Formula 1 car, the W16, which was unveiled a few days before pre-season testing.
Like its rival teams, Mercedes had already shown off this season’s livery at last week’s F1 75 launch event in London, using an older model. Now it has unveiled the launch spec of the W16 car that its drivers George Russell and debutant Andrea Kimi Antonelli will contest the upcoming Formula 1 world championship.
With the W16 Mercedes is aiming to make fundamental changes to its lineage of ground-effect cars that have proven very hard to get in the optimal set-up, and have seen dramatic performance swings from circuit to circuit.
“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,” the team’s technical director James Allison explained.
The team explained it has changed “every aerodynamic surface” of the car for 2025, as well as designing a new front suspension.
Russell and Lewis Hamilton managed to win two races apiece over the 2024 season, including a dominant one-two in Las Vegas, but at other times they found the W15 much less competitive and complaint, and tricky to balance.
That meant that over the balance of the season Mercedes struggled to keep up with its fellow frontrunners and finished fourth in the constructors’ standings, behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
Russell is now the team leader at the Silver Arrows after Hamilton’s departure to Ferrari. At just 18 years old, long-time Mercedes protege Antonelli will become the youngest-ever driver at the outfit, with the Italian having been fast-tracked through its junior programme to fill Hamilton’s vacant seat.
“It’s going to be a significant change this year,” Russell said. “To be honest, we say every year we’ve uncovered a problem, we’ve solved it, and it’s created a new one.
“We’ve probably been a lot more disciplined with every change that we’ve made, and being more thorough than ever in terms of the simulator running, just to ensure we’re not going to fall into a new trap. So far, it’s a reasonable step. It’s going to be quite an interesting season with how people deploy the resource between 2025 and 2026.”
Mercedes will conduct a filming day with the W16 at the Bahrain International Circuit on Tuesday ahead of the pre-season test at the same venue on 26-28 February.
Hopefully the revised aerodynamic treatments will make the car more user friendly to set-up and no more porpoising. The silver and black livery looks elegant too. Best wishes to the team ahead of the new 2025 season.

Official website and social media:
https://www.mercedesamgf1.com/news/team-launches-mercedes-f1-w16-for-2025-season
https://x.com/MercedesAMGF1/status/1894024754106880255
https://www.instagram.com/p/DGdUiHDtGPk
News stories:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article/first-look-mercedes-unveil-new-2025-car-as-w16-breaks-cover.LkmND8hccfBlSctQQXqkJ
https://www.racefans.net/2025/02/24/first-pictures-mercedes-reveals-w16-new-f1-car-2025/
https://www.skysports.com/f1/news/12433/13316124/mercedes-w16-silver-arrows-reveal-2025-formula-1-challenger-ahead-of-pre-season-testing-in-bahrain
George Russell says he believes Mercedes have made a “reasonable step” with the new car the team unveiled on Monday.
Russell said the W16 E was “going to be a significant change” from last year.
Mercedes won four races in 2024, two each for Russell and former team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the team’s first victories since 2022.
But the car’s performance was inconsistent and Mercedes finished fourth in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
“Every year [since 2022] we have uncovered a problem, solved it and it’s created a new one,” Russell said.
“We have been a lot more disciplined with every change we have made, and more thorough than ever in terms of the simulator running, just to ensure we’re not going to fall into a new trap.
“If we bring the performance we expect, it should be a good step forward. There are never guarantees. But I’m optimistic we can have a decent season.”
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/articles/cly6jdnv6gjo
New Mercedes driver Andrea Kimi Antonelli has insisted he does not view himself as filling in for Lewis Hamilton and he is keen to write his own story in Formula 1.
After the seven-time world champion decided he would join Ferrari at the completion of his 12th season at Mercedes, the squad evaluated its options for 2025 and eventually opted for its Italian protege, despite the latter’s inexperience.
Antonelli has long been viewed by Mercedes as a worthy replacement for Hamilton – though it was not expected his services would be required so soon – after he took back-to-back titles in the European karting championship, then won no fewer than four championships in his first two years in single-seaters, before his move to F2.
“I don’t find it right to say I’m his replacement,” Antonelli said about Hamilton. “He has done so much in the sport, and I just feel like the next Mercedes driver, and I really want to make my own story.
“Definitely, racing for Mercedes is a big responsibility because it’s obviously a top team, but at the same time it’s a great opportunity, it’s a privilege to be where I am today. I’m just trying to make the best out of this opportunity.”
https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/antonelli-write-own-story-not-replace-hamilton/10697929/