The German team has debuted its contender for the 2024 season, sporting once again a sleek black look which had first been used in 2020 in order to raise awareness for the Black Lives Matter cause.
The iconic silver is making a stronger appearance on the new car, as it’s prominently featured on the front of the car.
Photo Credit: Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Mercedes are the last team to reveal their livery and car, which has been named W15, ahead of the first testing sessions of the year, set to take place in a week in Bahrain, on the 21st,22nd and 23rd of February.
Last season was a bit of a mixed bag for Mercedes, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton didn’t manage to achieve a race win throughout the whole season, unlike what had happened in Brazil 2022.
On the other hand, the British duo improved the team’s final position in the constructors ‘championship, with Mercedes ending the year as runner up behind championship winners Red Bull after a tight battle with Ferrari.
The Italian team ultimately had to settle for P3 but scored the only non-Red Bull race win of the year, whereas Russell and Hamilton showed more consistency throughout the whole season, scoring almost ten podiums between the two of them.
In a shocking turn of events, 2024 will be the last season of the historical and record-breaking partnership between Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes. In the ten years the seven times World Champion has been racing for the Silver Arrows, the extremely successful combination of driver, car and staff at all levels has brought back home six drivers ‘championships and eight constructors ‘titles.
The British driver, who has signed for Ferrari from 2025 onwards, was also the best performing driver for the Brackley-based team last season, with six podiums to his name and a seventh lost due to a post race disqualification.
Ultimately, the quiet season for the man who has equalled Michael Schumacher’s record for most titles in Formula 1, but hasn’t managed to win a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP resulted in an overall P3, with Hamilton “best of the rest” behind the unreachable Red Bull duo.
Mercedes’s Team Principal Toto Wolff
“We know we have a mountain to climb to fight at the very front. There are no miracles in this sport, but our ambition and determination are strong. Since charting this new course, development has progressed well. We had several items on our priority list for this car. We will soon see if we’ve made the step we’ve aimed for.”
Lewis Hamilton
“The learnings of the past two years have helped us find our direction. It’s enabled us to find our north star. It’s still going to be a work in progress, but we will face whatever challenges present themselves with our heads up, with open minds, and work through diligently.
“If you’re not comfortable with the car, you’re not able to extract the maximum performance. A more stable, more predictable car will enable us to extract the potential from not only the car, but ourselves as drivers.”
George Russell
“We’ve learnt and grown as a team over the past two seasons. It’s not been plain sailing, but I truly believe the journey we’ve been on will make us stronger in the long run. The whole team has been working incredibly hard and we hope to have made a step with the W15.
“We made progress with some of the nastier characteristics of the W14 throughout last year. But we still had a narrow operating window and, once we were outside of that, the car was difficult to drive. If we can continue to widen the operating window of the car, that will provide confidence for us as a drivers and from there, lap time is easier to find.”
