An unexpected surprise at lunch time on New Years Day as Mercedes posts a darkened image of its 2022 Formula 1 car.

The caption above simply stating “New Year. New Me-rcedes.”

Mercedes’ ambition to frighten its opposition into submission began back in December with an incredibly early pre-season power unit start up video posted to social media.

Some questioned the legitimacy of this and whether it was actually their 2022 power unit, but the consensus from experts was that it was indeed at least a ‘pre-production’ version as it were of the latest 2022 unit.

Today’s ominous image of a 2022 machine on the surface at least suggests Mercedes are way ahead of the game. However this is quite obviously not going to be the finished product. Far from it in fact.

The image looks to possess a number of similarities to the mule car unveiled to the public earlier in 2021 at the British Grand Prix. The airbox, front wing, sidepods, mirrors and wheel covers are absolutely standard in comparison to the mule and certainly haven’t undergone a great deal of rigorous development.

F1 themselves stated there was plenty of scope for changes in these areas for teams to dig their teeth into – there is a clear absence of massive change here.

The unpainted car – featuring an off-centre Mercedes logo on the nose – positioned in a factory race bay is an ominous message to rivals, but seemingly nothing more than that.

No team would reveal their car this early, partly because no-one would in their wildest dreams reveal their hand this early, but mostly because it absolutely won’t be finished yet.

The aerodynamic infrastructure to be used in pre-season testing should be in its final stages of design and development, but absolutely won’t have been manufactured or fitted to a chassis yet.

Nevertheless the image is interesting technically and psychologically from a sporting perspective, and gives us another early look into the new era of Formula 1.