Categories: F1 News, Reports and Race ResultsMercedes

Mercedes launches W06 at Jerez

Mercedes has officially launched the W06 in the Jerez pit lane ahead of the start of pre-season testing.

The new car had already been unveiled by the team via a series of videos and images from a filming day at Silverstone on Thursday, with Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton both spending time in the car. However, Sunday morning saw the car brought out ahead of the start of the first test of the season.

Executive director Paddy Lowe says the team has taken some risks to try and ensure it keeps ahead of the rest of the field.

"Of course, like every other team on the grid, we have been pushing harder than ever to find areas for performance gains," Lowe said. "But at the same time, we must ensure we are moving in the correct direction.

"One of the risks with car development is that attempting forward steps can easily turn into rearward steps. You have to take risks to progress - but those risks must be carefully managed in order to produce a car that is better than its predecessor. This has been an underlying theme for the team over the winter."

Rosberg will drive the car on the opening day of the test, with the team looking to defend both the drivers' and constructors' titles in 2015 after a dominant season last year.

Follow Jerez testing live here

Click here for the full gallery of the Mercedes W06 at Jerez

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.