Mercedes releases the W09

Written by Grant Rivers (@SnowAndBeach)

Mercedes’ W09 has broken cover a little earlier than planned with a photograph of the new car leaked on social media.

Disappointingly, just a day after Toro Rosso’s STR13 was unveiled through a leaked photo, Mercedes’s W09 has greeted the world in a similar fashion.

Mercedes launched their car officially at 12.10pm GMT but appeared to hit early problems in their first testing run at Silverstone.

Teams are allowed to do 100km of running before the pre-season testing at Barcelona to produce promotional films of the new model.

The Finn was later recalled to the garage seconds after mechanics had wheeled him out into the open after apparently encountering a problem.