Lewis Hamilton 'starts new chapter' after team unveil 'sophisticated' Mercedes F1 W04

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Published: 5 February 2013

IN SUNNY SPAIN, Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg arrived in two Mercedes SLS AMG Coupes, where they together pulled the cover off the car they will use to challenge for wins this season.

And when they did, critics stood back and contemplated the possibility that Mercedes and Hamilton could be serious title contenders.

Rosberg was behind the wheel of the car in testing today - suffering from an electrical issue and finishing eighth of 11 drivers. Hamilton will test it out for the first time on Friday. 2009 Formula One World Champion Jenson Button topped the timesheets in Jerez, with Webber and Grosjean a distant second and third respectively.

Lewis Hamilton

Making his debut for the Mercedes team, Hamilton said: "It's a very special day for me to officially present our Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrow to the world. There is no company with a longer history in Grand Prix racing than Mercedes-Benz and it is an honour for me to tread in the footsteps of legends like Juan Manuel Fangio, Sir Stirling Moss and Michael Schumacher.

Lewis Hamilton

"It's the start of a new chapter for me, a new adventure, and when I walked through the doors in Brackley, I was so excited to get down to work. I've been at the factory for a few days now, getting to know the guys, meeting my mechanics and engineers, learning myself into the team and I have never seen a group of people that is hungrier for success than this one.

"They have been flat out this winter trying to pack more performance into the new car and I can't wait to drive it and see where I can make a difference to help push the team forward with Nico."

Lewis Hamilton

Mercedes have optimised last season's car with a new five-element front wing and a second-generation Coanda exhaust at the rear. The team continues to lead the way in maximising tyre life and performance by retaining its pushrod front suspension and a pullrod rear suspension.

Rosberg, who won last year's Chinese Grand Prix, has been making sure he is ready for the challenges ahead: "I've been working really hard over the winter on my physical preparation, both in the mountains - climbing to over 2,000 metres with ski boots - and also in the Mediterranean, training on my bike, swimming and running."

The Brackley-based outfit have aggressively packaged the rear end to optimise its aerodynamic development potential while the team has opted to hide its ugly stepped nose design of last season with a small 'vanity panel'. As well as being significantly more pleasing on the eye, it had a slight advantage in aerodynamic testing over the stepped-nose design.

Lewis Hamilton

Having begun working on the Mercedes F1 W04 early last summer, the team may have an advantage over Red Bull and while the outfit did not perform greatly last season, all efforts have gone into making 2013 another Brawn success.

Brawn said it is 'a clear step forward in design and detail sophistication over its predecessor'. "Many thousands of hours of work have been invested by our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth to ensure that the new car delivers a step change in performance compared to last season," explained the 58-year-old -100m Mancunian.

Hamilton added: "This is a new start for me with the team in Brackley but I have worked with Mercedes for a very long time now, and I learned one thing most of all: Mercedes doesn't know how to lose. We are playing a long game here but I know we will have success together and I'm excited to be a big part of making it happen."