Mercedes has returned to an all-black color scheme for the 2023 Formula 1 season as they look to get back in contention for the title.
The iconic black paint finish for 2020 and 2021 has been upgraded as part of an important project to reduce the car’s overall weight.
Mercedes retained the aggressive “no side pontoons” design that was unique among last year’s cars.
Following Thursday’s launch, seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell will drive the car at the Silverstone extortion event.
Dubbed the W14 to continue its naming conventions, Mercedes says it “brings bold decisions to the lessons” of last year as a team of eight straight championships came to an end.
Russell took the team’s only win of the season in Brazil, but Hamilton lost in 2022, the first time in his career he failed to win a season.
Hamilton hopes the W14 is good enough to challenge for a record-breaking eighth championship.
Wolf said he was happy to bring back the black look of previous seasons.
“We were overweight last year,” Wolf said. “This year we tried to figure out where we can squeeze every gram. So now history is repeating itself.
“You will see that there are some raw carbon elements in the car, and also some of them painted in matte black. Of course, when we changed color in 2020, the main driver was support for diversity and equality, which is always close to our hearts. At that moment, black became part of our DNA, so we are happy to return to it.”
The car retained one quirk from last year with multicolored numbers for its drivers. Hamilton’s number 44 will be painted yellow, while Russell’s number 63 will be green.
Source: www.espn.com
