Mercedes reveals the W12, its Formula One car for the 2021 season

Mercedes have unveiled the car it hopes will power the team to a record-extending eighth consecutive World Championship double in 2021, after pulling the covers off the new W12.

The Silver Arrows has dominated in Formula One since the switch to turbo-hybrid engines in 2014, picking up every constructors' and drivers' championship since that year, when it ended Red Bull's four-year winning streak.

Mercedes is aiming to extend that remarkable run with the car that is officially called the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance. The new car carries over much of its technology from last season's W11 - which won 13 of 17 races - after Formula One's big regulation change was delayed until 2022 after the COVID-19 pandemic struck.

Nonetheless, there are some key changes on the car, notably the trimmed floor, as required by the tweaked rules for the coming season. Mercedes ran last year's car in a special black livery, which it switched to before the delayed season started, as a show of support for diversity and a stand against racism and discrimination everywhere - a cause that Lewis Hamilton particularly embraced throughout the season.

The team has retained the black colour scheme for 2021, with a fade to silver towards the rear, and a dash of red in deference to sponsor and now team shareholder Ineos. Hamilton will once again be at the wheel for Mercedes after signing a new-one-year contract in January. The Brit picked up his seventh drivers' title last year to equal Michael Schumacher's tally, and will be hoping the W12 can help him take the record outright in 2021.

He will again be joined by Valtteri Bottas, who goes into his fifth year with the team aiming to finally topple his super-quick teammate and claim the title for himself. The new car will hit the track for pre-season testing on 12 to 14 March 2021, ahead of the season opening Bahrain Grand Prix two weeks later.