Mercedes has returned to a black livery for its upcoming 2023 F1 racer car – the W14. There’s a more practical reason behind the team not going for its traditional silver scheme this time around, with the exposed carbon fibre helping to shed extra weight.
- Mercedes says W14 incorporates bold solutions to 2022 problems
- Lewis Hamilton, George Russell to race the W14 in 2023
- Mick Schumacher will be reserve driver
Mercedes W14: what’s new?
The most obvious change on the W14 is the new livery. Mercedes had previously run a black livery in 2020 and 2021 to promote its anti-racism message. But, on the 2023 car, it helps reduce the overall weight, with the team taking inspiration from the creation of the original Silver Arrows.
“We were overweight last year,” explained team principal Toto Wolff. “This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. So now, history repeats itself. You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black.”
For now, Mercedes has released computer-generated images of what it calls an “earlier iteration” of the W14. But so far, it looks like the team has retained the narrow sidepods of its predecessor. Mercedes says it has made changes to better match “the aerodynamic characteristics to the demands of the aero regulations”. This includes a lighter chassis, revised suspension geometry, cooling system adjustments and a new gulley profiling on the engine cover.
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Mercedes promises ‘bold solutions’ from last year’s lessons
The W14 will be tasked with returning Mercedes to championship-winning form. After a rough start to the 2022 season where they struggled with porpoising, Mercedes did appear to bounce back towards the end of the season, with George Russell taking victory in Brazil, ahead of Lewis Hamilton.
“W13 certainly had performance, which we were never able to unlock, and put all its downforce on the ground. Our car performed very well at the end of the season. However, we still had the famous bouncing at some circuits and the car never gave the drivers good feedback, which limited them in being able to really push,” admits Wolff. “I hope 2023 will be proof that we have understood how to unravel the problems and improve the package of the car.”
With the W14, Mercedes says it has brought “bold solutions” after incorporating all of its learnings from 2022. “We have done all the things that we wanted to do with the W13 last year, but weren’t able to because of resource constraints or because our focus was elsewhere fixing other issues,” added Technical Director Mike Elliott.
“When you look at the W14, you will see the DNA of the W13, but also a lot of evolution and detail improvement.”
Mercedes is one of the teams to continue with an unchanged driver line-up this year, with Lewis Hamilton driving alongside George Russell. Both of them will be driving the W14 for an initial shakedown in Silverstone later today.
Official pre-season testing for the 2023 F1 season starts on February 23 in Bahrain. The first race will be on the same track on March 3-5.
Also see:
Aston Martin 2023 F1 challenger revealed: What’s new?
Ferrari SF-23 revealed for 2023 F1 season: What’s new?