Mercedes, watchword: redemption. 2023 will have to be the season of a stable return to the upper echelons of Formula 1 and today the Brackley team has taken the first step towards this goal by presenting the W14 E-Performance, the new single-seater that will have to race in the Formula 1 World Championship which is just around the corner .
The team directed by Toto Wolff unveiled the shapes of the new car by following what was done in the past season: static presentation (last year, however, fake renderings were used…) and then immediately before the track on the British track of Silverstone.
In 2022 the W13 impressed with its shapes, with the concepts in antithesis from all its opponents. A tapering of the bellies to the extreme to reduce the overall dimensions and leave room for the work of the bottom. In retrospect, we know how it ended: a nervous single-seater, subject to porpoising and bouncing much more than all the others. A complicated set-up and a window of use so small as to be found only a few times and, above all, partially.
Yet Mercedes did not want to change its philosophy. Or, at least, not radically. The bellies are surprising, sliding down towards the edges of the bottom, forming two triangles with the two vertices on the bottom and the top one closed by the engine hood, remaining “size zero”. Confirming the philosophy of the bellies, which remains that of 2022, even the air inlets remain vertical and attached to the body, even if they have a different shape.
The vents of the bellies are now more vertical and wider and, looking at the W14 from the side, the bellies are slightly more accentuated than last season and with a sliding trend towards the rear.
The lateral anti-intrusion cones are incorporated in the section of the mouth of the bellies and seem to be able to act as wing appendages. In general, the whole area around the cockpit of the W14 seems to be quite different from that of the single-seater forefather.
Instead, change the bonnet. The step appears on each side which directs the air towards the beam wing, thus taking up the concept launched in 2022 by Red Bull. In the few oblique centimeters of the bellies there are slits that vent the air towards the rear.
Mercedes W14
Photo by: Mercedes AMG
The anti-intrusion cones then form a wing appendage that is closed off by a vertical profile that connects to the rear-view mirrors. Even the supports of these have been completely revised, forming also in this case two aerodynamic profiles perpendicular to those which, in fact, incorporate the anti-intrusion cone.
“In 2022 we struggled, but we worked hard to understand the problems we had and to try to fix our problems. But as a team we have all the tools to solve them and to try to get back to fighting for our goals already this season”. said AMG Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff.
The livery also changes radically, returning all black with a few Petronas green mustaches to interrupt the monotony of the neutral colour. The Mercedes stars return to the end of the bonnet, but only in a subtle, subtle way. The only touch of red, due to the presence of the sponsor Ineos, is a ring that surrounds the airscope.
“At the beginning of our story, we took off the paint to reduce weight and it remained aluminium. This year we did the same thing, also knowing what our problems were last season. We left it carbon black for that very reason, repeating what we did from Mercedes decades ago,” Wolff clarified about the livery.
The team has lost James Vowles, who became team principal of Williams, but one of the prides of the German team is knowing how to carefully plan its route to always have people ready to replace any departures.
On the other hand, those who will remain the cornerstone of a team that has absolutely valuable assets in the present and in the future are the riders. Lewis Hamilton has the clear intention of chasing the eighth world title of his career: if he were to succeed in his intent, he would become the most successful driver in history by detaching Michael Schumacher, stopped 7 behind him just like him.
The other fixed point for the present and, above all, for the future is George Russell. The English driver – who turns 25 today – could be in the year of his consecration. After the debut season that saw him win his first grand prix (Mercedes’ only one in the unfortunate 2022) the former Williams driver wants to enter the fight for the title right away.
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Presentation Mercedes W14
