Following Red Bull, Racing Bulls and Audi, the Brackley-based team also pulled the covers off its new challenger on Thursday, marking the start of the new regulatory cycle.

After four seasons in which it failed to truly shine in the ground-effect era, Mercedes now have a major opportunity to reset under the upcoming regulations, with the W17 long touted as one of the cars to watch.

For months, Mercedes have been tipped as one of the early favourites heading into the new season — speculation that has only intensified since the emergence of the much-talked-about compression-ratio trick on the new power unit, which is rumored to deliver a significant horsepower advantage over the competition and, crucially, lap time.

While the final version will look very different from what was shown in the very first images, the Brackley outfit’s new car already offers an initial glimpse of what’s to come, with the livery itself also featuring a few changes compared to last season.

The colour scheme naturally remains dominated by silver, intersected by the familiar turquoise Petronas stripes, but with more black on show compared to last season’s car. Added to that is the Microsoft logo on the engine cover, following the recent announcement of the deal with the US tech giant. The sidepods also feature more detailing, with four black stripes running across the upper section.

Mercedes will head to Spain for the Barcelona shakedown next week (26–30 January), marking the first of three test sessions scheduled to prepare for the upcoming season.

Below is the full gallery of the new W17.