George Russell says he believes Mercedes have made a “reasonable step” with the new car the team unveiled on Monday.
Russell said the W16 E was “going to be a significant change” from last year.
Mercedes won four races in 2024, two each for Russell and former team-mate Lewis Hamilton, the team’s first victories since 2022.
But the car’s performance was inconsistent and Mercedes finished fourth in the constructors’ championship behind McLaren, Ferrari and Red Bull.
“Every year [since 2022] we have uncovered a problem, solved it and it’s created a new one,” Russell said.
“We have been a lot more disciplined with every change we have made, and more thorough than ever in terms of the simulator running, just to ensure we’re not going to fall into a new trap.
“If we bring the performance we expect, it should be a good step forward. There are never guarantees. But I’m optimistic we can have a decent season.”
Technical director James Allison said: “We’ve been concentrating on making improvements in the areas that held us back last year.
“Our primary focus has been on dialling out the W15’s slight reluctance to turn in slow corners, along with the imbalance in tyre temperatures that made the car inconsistent from session to session.”
The car is doing a brief shakedown test in Bahrain on Tuesday before the official F1 pre-season test at the track starts on Wednesday at 07:00 GMT.
The first race is the Australian Grand Prix in Melbourne on 14-16 March.
Russell said he expected McLaren, who last year won the constructors’ title for the first time since 1998, to start the new season in the strongest position.
“Look at how dominant McLaren were, they are the favourites going into this year,” Russell said.
“In the final year of the regs it becomes close naturally but I still expect McLaren to be right at the forefront.”
Team principal Toto Wolff said: “It is going to be a highly competitive season. We saw last year just how close the field was. You couldn’t say race-to-race who would be at the front, and I expect this year to be even closer.
“We will have to be at our very best if we want to challenge for championships this season.”
Following Hamilton’s move to Ferrari, Russell takes over as team leader alongside new team-mate Andrea Kimi Antonelli.
Antonelli, an 18-year-old Italian regarded as one of the most prodigious young talents in the sport, said: “Winter preparation has been quite intense. Really interesting. Trying to focus on as many things as possible, want to avoid arriving to Melbourne to have some bad surprise.”
Russell said: “Even if the line-up stayed the same this year, going into this season it’s my fourth with Mercedes, seventh in F1.
“Last year was probably my strongest ever and I feel I’m getting stronger year-on-year. So even if things had stayed the same, I felt a huge amount of support from the team.
“Equally the team gave me that support when I joined and now Kimi is a super-fast driver, super-motivated. Naturally a lot to learn but I am sure it’s going to be a good season together.”
Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors’ titles from 2014-21 but have fallen from the very front since new regulations were introduced for 2022, winning only five grands prix in three years.
Russell said: “The last couple of years we have been so focused on solving the problem, we weren’t looking ahead to what future issues it would cause.
“You solve one thing and it creates a new problem, we have been much more forward-thinking than we have in the past.
“When you’re changing characteristics of the car, if you make the front stronger it is going to take away from the rear, and if you go too far, that’s just as much of a problem as the opposite direction.
“It’s being thorough, saying: ‘These are the fundamental changes we’re going to make. We think it’s going to do X, is that going to be a problem at these races and if so how are we going to drive around it?'”
Wolff said Antonelli “has all the necessary talent to achieve great things at the pinnacle of the sport, but this is a rookie season and there will inevitably be ups and downs. We’re looking forward to that journey together though and helping him develop over the course of the year”.
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