
Formula 1 teams preparations for the new season have begun in earnest on Monday as the new cars hit the track for the first time in testing.
Six new cars are running at the Valencia track in Spain at the start of a three-day test.
Three of the sport's big four teams have their new cars on track - McLaren, Mercedes and Ferrari - along with Williams, Renault and Sauber.
The team's new challenger, which will be raced by Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, features the 'Silver Arrow' livery that the team unveiled at Mercedes-Benz's museum in Stuttgart last week.
The design features an unusual version of the 'V-nose' trend started by Red Bull last season - the Mercedes' nose being extremely slim and also having a dip in the middle.
Meanwhile, Jaime Alguersuari has called on Formula One to extend its testing restrictions in order for young drivers to gain more experience.
At the moment, teams are restricted to 15,000 kilometres of running per year - plus four days of straight line work - although circuit testing is banned during the season.
Also on track are McLaren test driver Gary Paffett, Sauber's Pedro de la Rosa, Robert Kubica in his Renault, Rubens Barrichello for Williams and Toro Rosso's Sebastien Buemi.
None of the four completely new teams are attending the test, with Virgin Racing due to unveil their new car online on Wednesday and Lotus launching theirs on February 12.
Spanish-based Campos Meta have yet to announce a driver to partner Bruno Senna while the North Carolina-based USF1 team plan to carry out their first tests in Alabama.
Red Bull, runners-up to Mercedes - then Brawn - GP last year, are also missing the opening test to give themselves more time to develop their car as are Force India.
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