On Thursday, Mercedes-AMG launched their automobile for the 2023 F1 season, the W14 E Efficiency, at a digital occasion at legendary Silverstone circuit. Drivers Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will take the W14 to the monitor later in the present day, which hosts the British Grand Prix.
After a tough season, which noticed the group battle with “porpoising” in the course of the early a part of the season, Mercedes hopes the W14 not solely solves the aerodynamic problems with 2022, however pushes them again to the highest of the Constructors’ desk within the season forward. “I see a lot effort, motivation and power within the organisation to launch a automobile that can finally be aggressive sufficient to battle on the very entrance of the grid,” mentioned Workforce Principal Toto Wolff in a press release supplied to the media, together with SB Nation.
There are two notable options of the W14 at first look: The bodywork, and the considerably distinctive black livery that Mercedes utilized in each 2020 and 2021.
The group leaned into the change from silver to black on social media:
You thought it was going to be silver did not you, admit it…
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Workforce (@MercedesAMGF1) February 15, 2023
The return to the black livery was made with weight in thoughts. “We have been chubby final yr. This yr we now have tried to determine the place we are able to squeeze out each single gram. So now, historical past repeats itself. You will note that the automobile has some uncooked carbon bits, together with some which can be painted matte black. In fact, after we modified the livery in 2020 the principle driving issue was to help the variety and equality causes that are all the time near our coronary heart. The color black turned a part of our DNA at that time, so we’re happy to return to it,” mentioned Wolff.
Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott addressed problems with stability that the W13 struggled with final season, points that the group hopes the W14 can rectify within the season forward. “We by no means actually received on high of the automobile stability final yr. All the conventional work we do in the beginning of the season didn’t occur due to the issues we have been making an attempt to rectify. We’ve received to be taught as a lot as we are able to, to work out how one can get probably the most efficiency out of the automobile and what we are able to be taught to feed into the subsequent developments.”
As you would possibly count on, drivers Lewis Hamilton, George Russell, and reserve driver Mick Schumacher all sang the W14’s praises. Russell referred to as the design “daring” and “aggressive,” whereas Hamilton had this to say: “To see the evolution of the automobile and the adjustments which have been made is fascinating. We’ve redesigned, optimised, and innovated so many components of the automobile and that’s spectacular. And I really like the brand new livery! It says, ‘we imply enterprise’.”
Mercedes is now the ninth group to showcase their search for the 2023 F1 season, following Haas, Pink Bull, Alfa Romeo, AlphaTauri, Williams, Aston Martin, Ferrari and McLaren. Just one group is left, which is Alpine slated for Thursday.
Then it is going to be time to cease speaking about liveries, and time to start out racing.
