Red Bull has released the first images of its 2016 car on the opening day of testing at the Circuit de Catalunya.
The new Red Bull RB12 hit the track with Daniel Ricciardo at the wheel just moments after the team released studio photos via its media channels. The car is powered by a TAG Heuer-badged Renault engine and appears to be an evolution of the RB11 that took the team to fourth in the constructors' championship last year.
The decision to stick with Renault power was made late last year after Red Bull approached the three other engine suppliers looking to switch for 2016, and team boss Christian Horner said the late decision will put the team on the back foot at the start of the year.
"Obviously the late engine decision last year was a challenge but we found a solution in time and the whole team has worked incredibly hard to recover over the winter," Horner said. "Therefore, we're looking to build on the significant progress we made in the second half of 2015 and to carry that momentum into the early races of this season.
"My hopes for this season are that we genuinely make progress from where we were last year; that we get our heads down and we really develop the car well and hopefully with some performance coming on the power unit side as well, that will allow us to get closer to some of our immediate rivals."
Chief technical officer Adrian Newey added: "I'm often asked what area of the car I'm most pleased with, but with the stable regulations we have at the moment it's difficult to find any major new areas to exploit. Therefore, what we've really tried to concentrate on with this car is getting a cohesive package for all the parts - the suspension, the chassis dynamics, aerodynamics - that they all work together in harmony. I think we've managed to build on the lessons of last year and all the indications from our simulations suggest that this year's chassis should be strong."
Chief engineering officer, Rob Marshall added: "With the RB12, we are optimistic that we have made some good gains, but the difficulty is the wind tunnel and CFD numbers we're seeing are our numbers and unless you can see everyone else's numbers you don't know where you are. We are happy that we are going in the right direction from our own point of view, but we won't know until Melbourne.
"As far as this car is concerned, I hope we can win some races. That might sound farfetched after last year, where we struggled at the beginning of the year, but I hope this year we can make a bit of a step power-wise and that will level the playing field a bit."
Red Bull keeps an unchanged line-up of Ricciardo and Daniil Kvyat this year.