Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is keen to see what the W11 can do this weekend at the Australian Grand Prix.
Unlike last year, when the Brackley-based team stunned everyone with their pace in qualifying, it is expected the Silver Arrows will start the season ahead of the pack once again after leading the way in testing.
However, perhaps the biggest question mark hangs over reliability after Mercedes and Williams suffered multiple engine issues over the six days in Barcelona.
“It’s finally time go racing again and we’re looking forward to the new season,” said Wolff in the team’s race preview.
“The team has worked very hard to build a new car and we’re excited to see what it can do when it’s driven in anger.
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“We managed to get through most of our programme as planned at the winter tests; however, we faced some reliability issues that we needed to resolve.
“We’re glad that we encountered these issues in testing rather than at a race weekend as we could work on fixing them without any penalties.”
Interestingly, the Austrian’s remarks seem to suggest the issues might not have completely been resolved, something that could offer hope to their rivals at Red Bull and Ferrari.
Looking beyond Melbourne though, Wolff also commented on the challenge ahead in trying to balance both their 2020 and 2021 programs, ahead of major rule changes next year.
“The new season will be exciting to watch both on-track and away from it as everything we do this year will have a knock-on effect for our competitiveness in the future,” he claimed.
“We face the challenge of the biggest technical changes our sport has ever seen combined with a budget cap, so the work that we do this year will determine the start to 2021.
“This makes the 2020 season a massive challenge – a challenge that everyone in Brixworth and Brackley is looking forward to.”