Mercedes seeking ´optimisation absolutely everywhere´ as 2016 car unveiled

Mercedes believe they still have plenty of room for improvement after officially unveiling their car for the 2016 Formula One season on Sunday.

Much will be expected of the F1 W07 Hybrid, which was spotted for the first time at a shakedown event at Silverstone earlier this week.

Mercedes were the dominant force in the 2014 and 2015 F1 seasons, comfortably taking the constructors’ title as Lewis Hamilton secured back-to-back drivers’ championships.

However, technical director Paddy Lowe has outlined a determination to make further progress this year, as the team aim to stave off an anticipated challenge from Ferrari.

“After a highly successful season all round in 2015, our priority has been to identify the areas in which we were weakest and to try to improve on those,” said Lowe.

“Our objective is excellence in all areas and, while we had some fantastic results last year, there are many areas in which we can still be much better.

“That’s the kind of culture we try to instil throughout the whole organisation – one of constantly striving to reach something better.

“We had a number of races that didn’t go to plan in 2015 – Singapore in particular [where Hamilton retired and team-mate Nico Rosberg finished fourth] – so there were a lot of things that needed improving for 2016. We are seeking optimisation absolutely everywhere.”

Andy Cowell, the managing director of Mercedes AMG high performance powertrains, highlighted the efficiency of the W07, which will be put through its paces in Barcelona next week.

“These power units really are incredible feats of engineering,” said Cowell. “We’re now running at more than 47 per cent thermal efficiency and producing historic highs of power – and all with an ICE (internal combustion engine) restricted to consuming fuel at a rate of just 100kg/hr.

“The old-fashioned, naturally aspirated engines peaked at 29 per cent thermal efficiency during the V8 era – while the last time we saw these levels of power in Formula One was back in 2005, with a V10 that guzzled fuel at a whopping 194kg/hr. To halve the fuel flow rate for the same amount of power is quite something.”