Champions Mercedes, recent strugglers McLaren and newcomers Haas yesterday unveiled their 2016 Formula One cars online with very different hopes for the coming season.
“After a highly successful season all round in 2015, our priority has been to identify the areas in which we were weakest and try to improve on those,” Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe said on the team homepage.
Mercedes, and British driver Lewis Hamilton, are seeking third consecutive titles in the constructors’ and drivers’ championships and hope the W07 hybrid can continue to give them an edge over rivals Ferrari and Red Bull.
Hamilton’s teammate Nico Rosberg has finished second in the last two years and is targeting his maiden championship in 2016.
“While the car may look very similar to its predecessor from the outside - as is inherent within stable (sporting) regulations - underneath there are quite a lot of mini revolutions that make up an overall evolution for the season,” Lowe added.
McLaren unveiled their black MP4-31, amid hopes that they can rebound from the worst season decades in Formula One racing.
The car includes a new power unit from engine partners Honda which will be tested for the first time today when pre-season testing starts in Barcelona.
The eight-time world champions McLaren finished a dismal ninth from 10 teams in 2015, their worst season since 1980 in the first year of their renewed partnership with Honda.
“All of us remain united in our purpose. That purpose is to develop our team towards our shared ambition: to win,” McLaren chairman Ron Dennis said in a team statement.
“We’ll make no predictions as to when those wins will come, but I can say without fear of contradiction that every member of our team has worked with truly relentless dedication over the past few months.”
McLaren drivers Jenson Button and Fernando Alonso, both former world champions, finished 16th and 17th in the drivers’ standings, and also hope for a turnaround in the 2016 campaign which starts March 20 in Autralia.
“Despite the ups and downs we saw last year, there were steady improvements all year long, and that gives us confidence in the design direction we’re taking,” Button said.
Haas delayed their F1 debut by a year to now, and the American team of successful NASCAR team co-owner Gene Haas have signed experienced Frenchman Romain Grosjean and Mexico’s Esteban Gutierrez as their drivers.
They will compete in a grey and red VF-16, with the engine and other components coming from Ferrari.
The main objective in the maiden season, according to team principal Guenther Steiner, is to finish races and earn respect.
“Our goal with this car is to score points,” he said.
“First, we need to go out there and show that we can do the job, that we can finish races, that we are respected by the fans and other teams in the paddock. Then, we want to score points. That is the ultimate goal.”