Mercedes' W12 is alive - pump up the volume!

It's hardly ground-breaking news, but reigning world champions Mercedes fired up their new W12 Black Arrow yesterday at Brackley.

The German outfit's 2021 contender - an evolution of last year's baseline dominant machine - will likely feature a few interesting aero tweaks when it is unveiled online on March 2.

But the Mercedes engine, which voiced a strong roar in the short clip released on social media, has been the subject of some cautious comments by Hywel Thomas, who has taken over from former engine guru Andy Cowell at the helm of Mercedes' HPP power unit department in Brixworth.

Thomas admitted his team had faced a few issues over the winter as they worked to optimize the unit for 2021, but the Briton insisted that plans were in place to address the problems in time for the start of the season.

In addition to its works team, Mercedes will once again supply Williams and Aston martin F1 while the manufacturer has revived this year its partnership with McLaren.

At Brixworth, production is running at full capacity but has been adjusted to account for the additional engine supply associated with the Woking-based outfit.

"In terms of readiness, we’ve got plenty of engines in build at the moment getting ready for the new season," said Thomas in a video released by Mercedes.

"We have already got some of them together and we have also got engines running on the dynos right now, doing their durability runs.

"There are also engines for our customers too, which are already with them and either in the back of their chassis and fired up or in the process of doing so."

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