Mercedes reveal all new Black Livery for 2023 Challenger.
Mercedes reveal the W14 on an online launch this morning with a return to black in a bid to reduce weight.
“We were overweight last year”,
“This year we have figured 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.
“Of course, when we changed the livery in 2020 the main driving factor was to support diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart.
“The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.”
Toto Wolff – Mercedes AMG Petronas Team Principal
Last year saw the 8-time constructors’ champions suffer their worst season in the turbo hybrid era as they picked up a single victory at the Brazilian Grand Prix.
The previous car suffered heavily from the aerodynamic phenomenon porpoising early in the season, and after an upgrade at the Spanish Grand Prix was shown to be ‘masking’ a ride problem relating to the rear suspension stiffness.
“Last year was difficult but it came with lots of learnings”,
“I hope 2023 will be proof that we have understood how to unravel the problems and improve the package of the car.”
said Wolff.
After last year’s issues, technical director Mike Elliott said that the team has done “all the things they wanted to do” with the W13 that they were not able to do last season due to certain restrictions.
“Last year once we had figured out what we needed to do, it took a huge amount of work to get ourselves moving forward”,
“Towards the end of the season, you could see the performance improving and the winter has been a reset.
“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 on fixing other issues.”
Technical Director – Mike Elliott.
Elliott also revealed some of the key iterations behind the design of the W14, which includes the front and rear suspension, advances in weight saving and “significant changes” to the bodywork, however reiterated that a lot of the important things on the car are not visible, like the underfloor.
The car shown so far was said to be in the early design phase however the true W14 will take to the track at Silverstone this afternoon with both George Russell and Lewis Hamilton.
The 7- time champion said that he “loves the new livery” and is impressed with what the team has done over the winter.
“To see the evolution of the car and the changes that have been made is fascinating.
“We’ve redesigned, optimised, and innovated so many parts of the car and that is impressive. And I love the new livery!”
Lewis Hamilton – 7 time World Champion
His teammate added: “Aesthetically it looks great! It’s bold, aggressive and stands out.”
After the shakedown the team will head off to Bahrain for pre-season testing which begins on February 23rd.
What did you think of the return to black for the Mercedes reveal, do you like the look of the 2023 challenger?