Mercedes breaks tradition, won’t launch 2025 F1 car at Silverstone

Mercedes has decided not to organise its traditional launch event for its latest Formula 1 car this season, Autosport understands.

The new W16, which will be driven by George Russell and rookie Andrea Kimi Antonelli, will first emerge when Mercedes runs a filming day at Bahrain International Circuit on 25 February, with pre-season testing set to take place on the same track from 26-28 February.

Current sporting regulations allow teams to cover 200km during ‘Promotional Events’, which means that Russell and Antonelli can share up to 36 laps of the Sakhir track.

Previously, Mercedes typically launched its new F1 challengers at Silverstone, with every car unveiled early in the morning before a filming day was run.

This had been the case since 2017, with an exception for the W12 in 2021. “It always rains in Silverstone, so we decided that we don’t want to stand in the freezing rain again!” Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff joked at the time. “We will be doing the filming day on the Tuesday after the Bahrain test. This, I think, is more representative and better pictures than we could probably get at Silverstone.”

This time around, the late launch will allow Mercedes to keep developing its machinery until the very last moment. Four seasons into the current ground-effect technical regulations, teething issues are less likely to occur during the initial running and disrupt the only pre-season test.

However, Mercedes’ new livery will still be on display at London’s O2 Arena on 18 February at F1’s official season launch, which commemorates the world championship’s 75th anniversary.

Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes, George Russell, Mercedes, Toto Wolff, Team Principal and CEO, Mercedes-AMG at the 2024 launch

Photo by: Mercedes AMG

All teams’ liveries are embargoed until then, which is why Ferrari has opted for a 19 February unveil online, with Aston Martin expected to take on a similar approach.

Meanwhile, Williams will take the covers off its new FW47 on Valentine’s Day, albeit with a “bespoke one-off livery”.

Autosport understands some outfits will not unveil their cars until pre-season testing actually gets under way on 26 February.