Pictures: New views of Mercedes W15 running in Bahrain test

Mercedes’ much-changed W15 has hit the track during pre-season testing at the Bahrain International Circuit.

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The car was launched one week ago today at Silverstone, where Mercedes also conducted a brief shakedown run.

The team stated early last year it had decided on a complete change of design direction for 2024. The ‘zero’ sidepods which appeared on the previous two cars it launched were replaced within a few races last year. But the changes to its car design for this year go much further.

Besides the switch to a more conventional sidepod design, the W15 also sports a particularly novel front wing. The rules require these to feature four distinct elements, but Mercedes have made the uppermost of these as narrow as possible, enlarging the lower planes as far as possible. The bottom plane does not join the front wing, as seen on several rivals’ cars.

The team has also made a significant change at the rear of the car, swapping its pull-rod suspension for a push-rod configuration. While this means more of the suspension components have to be situated higher in the chassis, which makes it harder to keep the car’s centre of gravity low, it creates more space for the aerodynamicists to exploit the powerful floor tunnel.

Mercedes suffered from a lack of rear end grip last year, so this change promises to address a key weakness of the W14.

The team’s latest car is the last which seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton will drive before he joins Ferrari next year. He was in the garage today following George Russell’s progress and is due to take over driving duties tomorrow.