Mercedes, the newest team to notice its 2023 challenger by making its debut in an all-black W14 at Silverstone the day before.
Unpainted carbon fiber is a feature of many cars this season, as the groups do their best to reduce weight. Mercedes raced cars painted black in 2020 and 2021 to show their diversity and equality, but this time the more functional reasoning of the selection dates to the time they acquired the nickname “Silver Arrows”.
“When you look at where the Silver Arrows story comes from,” said executive director and team principal Toto Wolff, “it’s that Mercedes got on the right track: the white, overweight race car, a little bit of our history last year. “And they scratched the paint, and ended up with the bare aluminum. And the car made the weight.
“So we came back here, tried to lighten the car at every moment and, on the paint side, we committed to gain grams leaving the car in matte color, and history repeats itself. Only in this case, it is a fashionable material, automobilebon and not aluminum, and it is black.
Mercedes had a difficult stage last season, according to its criteria with at least one win and 16 podiums, after its interpretation of the new regulations did not pass as its calculations had predicted. Despite this, they continued to expand and evolve this concept that began. from scratch
“Last year, once we understood what we had to do, we needed a lot of work to move forward,” technical director Mike Elliott said. “Towards the end of the season, we may only see the performances and winter was a reset. “.
“We did everything we wanted to do with the W13 last year, but we couldn’t do it because of resource constraints or because our purpose was elsewhere to fix other problems. We never managed to balance the car last year. All the general paintings we were doing at the beginning of the season were not carried out due to the disorders we were looking to correct.
In addition to having an effect on functionality and controllers, the marsouinage also had a big effect on the force units, so it was something that had to be checked during the break.
“By the end of the season, the engines were broken and bruised,” said Hywel Thomas, managing director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains. “We looked at the chassis design adjustments as well as the engine adjustments, and did the teamwork. The biggest adjustments to the power unit this year are the reliability elements to make us more physically powerful if we make the car hit the ground.
Mercedes will compete with the same driving force duo as last season: seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton alongside 2022 Sao Paulo race winner George Russell. And either will get their first W14 laps in a shakedown around Silverstone today.
“I’ve been a part of this team for over a decade and everyone’s efforts never cease to amaze me,” Hamilton said.
“Seeing the evolution of the car and the adjustments that have been made is fascinating. We’ve redesigned, optimized and innovated so many parts of the car and it’s impressive. And I love the new décor! He says, “We mean business. “I’m very happy to be racing again. I feel calm, full of power and concentrate more. I’m in a position to do whatever it takes to win. “
Russell echoed his teammate’s praise for the work done by members of Mercedes and is very happy to see how the W14 fares.
“I’ve been incredibly inspired by the way the team has evolved the car last season,” Russell added. “We’ve created momentum for 2022 and we’re excited to see how he’s progressed over the winter. “
“Aesthetically [the car] looks great! He is bold, competitive and stands out. It’s been a long winter and there’s plenty of anticipation to see if the W14 lives up to our expectations. I’m excited and there’s a lot of discussion at this stage of the season, now we have to see how we behave when the car goes out on track.
With last year’s reserve driving forces, Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne either locating new homes for 2023: de Vries as the driving force AlphaTauri, while Vandoorne will be the reserve for Aston Martin and the reserve for Peugeot in WEC and will drive for DS Penske in Formula E, where he is the reigning champion, so to update them, Mercedes brought in Mick Schumacher after the young German failed to re-sign after two years at Haas.
“I felt very close to Mercedes,” Schumacher said. I am very pleased to be part of the team and know how vital my role will be in helping the progression of the W14. I am committed to giving everything to make a contribution to our functionality in this competitive environment.
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