F1 2018: Ferrari, Mercedes and six other teams unveil cars for new season

The 2018 Formula 1 season is yet to start but the excitement is already building up following a plethora of car launches during the course of the last two weeks.

Haas Racing were the first team to release pictures of their 2018 challenger followed by Williams and Sauber. This week - starting 19 February - saw the top three teams from last year Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing unveil their cars to much excitement. They were joined by McLaren, who are also hoping to be among the front runners having ended their failed partnership with Honda and switched to Renault engines for the new campaign.

The cars for the 2018 campaign are more of an evolution from last year's cars with the only major change being the introduction of the Halo in order to provide more safety for the drivers.

The cars are below in the order of the launch - the only two teams yet to reveal their cars are Toro Rosso and Force India, who will launch on the morning of the first pre-season test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on 26 February.

The Haas VF-18

Haas Racing were the first team to launch their car with a new three-colour livery for the new season. The American-owned team will use Ferrari engines for the upcoming campaign and have an unchanged driver lineup in Romain Grosjean and Kevin Magnussen for the 2018 campaign.

The Williams FW41

The Williams car has undergone significant changes compared to their 2017 challenger and it can be described as more of a revolution than an evolution. The Grove-based team struggled for performance last season and are keen to get back to at least being the best of the rest behind Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull Racing.

The FW41 is the first car designed by Paddy Lowe, who joined the team as the technical director from reigning champions Mercedes just prior to the start of last season. Williams have made one change in their driver lineup from last season, with Sergey Sirotkin replacing Felipe Massa. They will have quite an inexperienced driver lineup as their second driver is Lance Stroll, who is beginning his second season in the sport.

The Alfa Romeo Sauber C37

The Sauber F1 team has been rebranded and renamed Alfa Romeo Sauber for the new season after the Italian car manufacturer re-entered the sport after 33 years. The Frederic Vasseur-led team unveiled a new red and white livery and will be powered by Ferrari engines for their upcoming campaign.

Sauber ran year-old power units in 2017, but will run new power units in 2018 as they look to get back to challenging for a spot in the midfield rather than trailing at the back end of the grid. Also as part of their tie up with Ferrari, one of their race seats will be occupied by the supremely talented Charles Leclerc, who is part of the Ferrari young drivers programme. The other will be occupied by Marcus Ericsson, who is starting his fourth year with the team.

The Red Bull RB14

Red Bull Racing launched their 2018 challenger with a special edition livery with the actual race livery set to be unveiled ahead of the first test at the Circuit de Catalunya in Barcelona on 26 February.

The Austrian-owned team are expected to be one of Mercedes' main challengers this season and they are keen to make a quick start unlike 2017 when they were left behind having produced an aerodynamically inefficient car for the first few races.

In Daniel Ricciardo and Max Verstappen the Enstone-based team have one of the most exciting and quickest driver pairings and they will be hoping to challenge for the drivers' title.

The Renault RS18

The Renault team will be hoping to continue their progress from last season as they enter their third season as a works team. The French manufacturer will be hoping that they have managed to upgrade their engines closer to that of Mercedes and Ferrari, who were clearly ahead last season.

Renault will be supplying engines to Red Bull and McLaren this season and it will be interesting to see their performance against the two teams who are expecting to be competing for race wins at the front.

The French team will be driven by Nico Hulkenburg, who completed his first season with the team in 2017 and Carlos Sainz, who joined midway through last season from Toro Rosso.

The Mercedes W09

The reigning champions. Since the hybrid era was introduced, the Silver Arrows team have been absolutely dominant. The 2017 season was the first time that they were challenged by another team as Ferrari challenged their dominance at least in the first-half of the season.

Mercedes will be looking for their fifth title double in as many seasons and they will enter the 2018 season as the favourites. Only Ferrari have won five back-to-back drivers' and constructors' titles - it was during the Michael Schumacher era between 2001 and 2005.

Lewis Hamilton is targeting his fifth drivers' championship title, while Valtteri Bottas, who impressed in his debut season for the team, will be hoping to put in more consistent performances and challenge his teammate, who is likely to be the bookies' favourite for the 2018 title.

The Ferrari SF-71H

The Italian team have again gone aggressive in their aerodynamic design in the hope that they can mount a title challenge in 2018. They are the closest any team have come to breaking the Mercedes dominance, with Sebastian Vettel winning five races last campaign.

Ferrari have not won a drivers' title since Kimi Raikkonen's triumph in 2007 and their last team title came in 2008. They were expecting to challenge Mercedes last season, but reliability issues scuppered their chances in the final seven races of the season.

They are touted to again be the main challengers, but Red Bull Racing did show that they can match up to the two big manufacturers and they will be among the contenders for race wins in 2018.

The McLaren MCL33

McLaren will be pinning a lot of hopes on this car going into the 2018 season after three seasons fighting at the back of the grid. The Woking-based team ended their failed partnership with Honda at the end of last season and have now switched to Renault power.

They always maintained that they had one of the best chassis on the grid but were being held back by Honda's lack of power compared to the other three manufacturers - Mercedes, Ferrari and Renault.

Fernando Alonso will be hoping to get back to challenging for pole positions and podium places rather than being overtaken by the midfield runners. They have reverted to the Papaya Orange colour scheme with a hint of blue - a colour reminiscent of McLaren's of old, and will be hoping to reclaim their place among the front runners.

Eight teams have so far launched their cars and they will all hit the track with a vengeance when the first pre-season test begins on 26 February in Barcelona. Testing is unlikely to reveal a clear pecking order, but it will show the strengths and weaknesses of the title contenders as we begin the journey towards the first race of the 2018 campaign at the Albert Park Circuit in Australia.

Force India and Toro Rosso are the only two teams yet to unveil their cars, but will do so on the morning of the official test.