Mercedes has become the seventh team to announce the launch date of its 2023 contender... and it's on George Russell's birthday.

The wraps will come off the W14 on Wednesday 15 February, the day after Ferrari reveals all and a day before the McLaren and Alpine's unveilings.

Reacting to the news that the W14 will be revealed on his 25th birthday, Russell tweeted: "Thanks for the birthday present, team."

Much is expected of the new car in the wake of the disaster that was 2022 when the world champions managed just one win and one pole.

As has become the norm for the German team, it is likely that the reveal will be broadcast live to social media in the morning before the car takes to the track in the afternoon.

"Forged from the challenges of the testing 2022 campaign with the W13, which forced the team to confront and overcome numerous challenges, the W14 builds on the lessons learned last year," said the Brackley-based outfit in a statement.

"The progress enabled by the efforts and determination of everyone at Brackley and Brixworth helped achieve stronger results from mid-season onwards, culminating in a 1-2 finish at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix."

Indeed, having been plagued by various issues over the course of the season, most notably porpoising, it was only in the latter stages of the year that Mercedes appeared to get on top of its problems, and though unable to mount a challenge to Red Bull it certainly gave Ferrari a scare.

Having opted for a zero sidepod approach in 2022, in the bid to return to the top step of the podium Toto Wolff has said the W14's DNA will be different to its predecessor.

"It doesn't necessarily mean that the bodywork is going to look very different," he admitted later last year, "but certainly what is part of the DNA of the car, the architecture, will change for next year.

"With our car, it's just draggy overall," he added, "and it's something that we need to figure out for next year.

"The cost cap played a role," he insisted, "we can't just produce infinite amount of low-drag bits or spend a lot of time in the wind tunnel to come up with solutions, so it's for next year."