Mercedes and McLaren unveil F1 cars for 2016 season

While Mercedes are confident of making it three world titles in succession, McLaren are being cautious about making any predictions

The McLaren-Honda MP431 (TWITTER)

World champions Mercedes have unveiled the car they hope will fire them to a hat-trick of consecutive Formula One titles.

Lewis Hamilton, winner of the last two driver championships, is bidding to become the first Briton to claim four titles, while his team will aim to strengthen their stranglehold on the sport which has seen them triumph in 32 of the last 38 races.

And with few changes to the sport's technical regulations over the winter, the Silver Arrows will begin the season, which starts in Melbourne on March 20, as the favourites.

The W07, similar in appearance to its all-conquering predecessor, will be officially rolled out at the Circuit de Catalunya on Monday ahead of this week's four-day winter test.

Hamilton will take to the wheel first with team-mate Nico Rosberg taking up testing duties on Tuesday.

"While the car may look very similar to its predecessor from the outside - as is inherent within stable regulations - underneath there are quite a lot of mini revolutions that make up an overall evolution for the new season," technical director Paddy Lowe said.

"It's very tough to find performance under a stable set of regulations and we were particularly pleased with how the car turned out in 2015 when we had the same situation.

"The team did a fantastic job - digging very deep to find all sorts of innovations in areas that might have been considered static.

"2016 is another carry-over year from a regulatory point of view and potential gains inevitably become harder to find under these circumstances. It's far easier to find performance when you have a new set of rules, that's for sure."

Check out the Mercedes below...

McLaren, who last year endured a dreadful campaign, also lifted the lid on their challenger ahead of Monday's first winter test.

The famous British team cobbled together a paltry 27 points last term following their renewed relationship with Japanese manufacturer Honda.

And speaking on the eve of the first test, McLaren, sporting a moody black livery, noticeably steered clear of making any outlandish predictions for the new campaign.

Jenson Button, who put his retirement plans on hold to enter a 17th Formula One campaign, said: "Despite the ups and downs we saw last year, there were steady improvements all year long, and that gives us confidence in the design direction we're taking.

"There are a lot of positives we can build on, and a strong platform to take forward.

"I'm not about to make any over-optimistic predictions - Formula One is far too unpredictable for me to do that - but, from what I've seen so far, the aero detailing on the car looks fantastic."

Check out the McLaren below...

T-minus zero. Science and art converge. Introducing the McLaren-Honda #MP431: https://t.co/dRbocPVEP3 #TheF1Effecthttps://t.co/euv7rYCLWW

— McLaren (@McLarenF1) February 21, 2016

Ron Dennis, the team's chairman, added: "As we embark on the second year of our renewed McLaren-Honda partnership, all of us remain united in our purpose. That purpose is to develop our team towards our shared ambition: to win.

"We'll make no predictions as to when those wins will come, but I can say without fear of contradiction that every member of our team has worked with truly relentless dedication over the past few months."

PA