Force India pulled the covers off its VJM09 for the 2016 Formula 1 season half an hour before the start of pre-season testing at Barcelona.
Development driver Alfonso Celis Jr will be at the wheel for the car’s first run on Monday, before racers Sergio Perez and Nico Hulkenberg take their turns later in the week.
There are high hopes for the Mercedes-powered VJM09 after Force India’s performance surge in the second half of the 2015 campaign.
It had begun last year with a modified version of its 2014 machine following pre-season delays, but racked up points consistently even before its ‘B spec’ design appeared from the British Grand Prix.
The team went on to secure fifth in the constructors’ championship and to challenge Williams’s status as the leading customer Mercedes runner.
