Mercedes revealed their bold new look for 2023 on Wednesday with the all-black W14 F1 car. Instead of painting their car black, however, the eight-time constructors' champions have let the carbon-fibre weave speak for itself...
The Silver Arrows first changed to an all-black paint scheme in 2020 to mark their commitment towards diversity and stand against racial hatred and discrimination. They continued with a similar look in 2021, but for the new era of F1 that kicked off last year they reverted back to their traditional silver. For the 2023 W14 though, black is back.
And Team Principal Toto Wolff is a big fan.
"It looks good, and I'm so happy that we've gone back also to the black livery... is she going to be as fast as she looks? I hope so, but definitely there is a lot of excitement in putting the car finally on the road," he said at the team's launch on Wednesday morning.
"When you look at where the story of the Silver Arrows came from, it's that the Mercedes was put on track – the race car it was white, overweight, a little bit of our story last year – and they scratched off the paint, and it ended up with bare aluminium, and the car made the weight.
"So we came back, we really tried to get the weight off the car in every single bit and therefore on the paint side we committed in gaining the grams by leaving the car matte carbon, and history repeats itself. Just in this case it's a modern material, carbon, and not aluminium, and it's black," said Wolff.
"And on top of that we knew why we had a black car two years ago and it just came together… the main driving factor was to support the 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."
Mercedes also pointed out that the black livery is reminiscent of the 1993 Sauber C12, which carried Mercedes branding and marked their first F1 involvement since 1955.
George Russell and Lewis Hamilton, who were set to shake down the W14 at Silverstone after the car launch, were also delighted with the livery. Russell said: "Aesthetically it looks great! It's bold, aggressive and stands out."
While seven-time champion Hamilton added: "I love the new livery! It says, 'we mean business'."
The Enemy's gate is down.
February 17, 2023, 08:07 AM
P250UA5
And, finally, the Alpine breaks cover, with 2 liveries. I actually don't think the all pink looks too bad with the bare carbon mixed in. Probably a temp livery for the first couple rounds, like last year. https://www.formula1.com/en/la...9wjhDWPkeuFPTvB.html
The Enemy's gate is down.
February 17, 2023, 11:21 AM
P250UA5
2 weeks to FP1 in Bahrain!
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February 21, 2023, 12:00 PM
P250UA5
2023 Pre-season Testing Primer
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February 22, 2023, 04:45 AM
monoblok
Hope it's not going to be a cakewalk for Red Bull again. Last year's season was a return to 'pretty boring' racing, even if there were moments of fleeting interest. But those were far between and oh so few.
This year I admit that I'm more interested with WEC, IMSA and the Hypercar classes. Porsche vs Ferrari vs Toyota vs Acura vs Cadillac vs Peugeot vs Aston Martin vs everyone else. Penske will compete. F1 oldies like Jacques Villeneuve will be back in competition. Admittedly endurance racing doesn't make for great television like a short F1 race does, but I'm ancient enough to remember the first Porsche vs Ferrari wars and Can-Am and Wide World of Sports, and it's great to see road car manufacturers getting serious about these series. Would love to see the Rolex 24 return to international prominence. Same with the Sebring 12 Hr. And a day's worth of intrigue and heartache at La Sarthe.
Especially if Red Bull and Y U Mad Max walks all over everyone else again in F1.
-MG
February 22, 2023, 06:30 AM
P250UA5
Hopefully Ferrari has the PU reliability sorted & Leclerc will be in the mix, and that puts Alfa in the midfield fight more consistently.
Remains to be seen if the porpoising is under control from the start.
The Enemy's gate is down.
February 22, 2023, 09:14 AM
Georgeair
Saw teams already questioning Ferrari's S-Duct design. That didn't take long.
Guessing that's a one-off & not his full-season lid. Pretty funny nonetheless.
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February 24, 2023, 01:06 PM
P250UA5
Preseason Testing Day 2 Highlights
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February 24, 2023, 03:55 PM
220-9er
Mclaren not looking too good right now and already making excuses. Although testing times are often meaningless, they've been trying to lower expectations since they arrived.
We'll see how it all shakes out next week, but looking like the usual at the front with Aston, Haas & Alfa looking promising in the midfield.
Bottas' time [on the M tire] today was good for 3rd & only 3 10ths off last year's pole position time.This message has been edited. Last edited by: P250UA5,
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February 25, 2023, 01:44 PM
9mmepiphany
With Aston's history of Pink Merc and Green Bull, I'm glad to see that they are showing up well and likely to move up into the mid-field with a car which seems to blend RB floor and Ferrari sidepod design philosophy. I'm not a fan of Stroll, but I really hope Alonzo has a good year.
Williams looks very promising in the early going...I'm thinking the extra windtunnel and CFD time helped. Must be nice to be able finally to reach the spending cap. It looks like Albon and Sargeant are going to be a good match and pushing each other
No, Daoism isn't a religion
February 25, 2023, 02:40 PM
220-9er
The real question to be answered next weekend is Alpine. They are all sorts of optimistic but the car looks like it's difficult to drive and hasn't been particularly fast. I hope the Aston and Haas speed holds up and they aren't just over-promising. No idea what's going on at McLaren. Riccardo may be better off not being there and collecting his check while waiting and hoping for a way back next year. I'd like to see him get a little seat time in testing at least.
Originally posted by 9mmepiphany: With Aston's history of Pink Merc and Green Bull, I'm glad to see that they are showing up well and likely to move up into the mid-field with a car which seems to blend RB floor and Ferrari sidepod design philosophy. I'm not a fan of Stroll, but I really hope Alonzo has a good year.
Williams looks very promising in the early going...I'm thinking the extra windtunnel and CFD time helped. Must be nice to be able finally to reach the spending cap. It looks like Albon and Sargeant are going to be a good match and pushing each other
I am an Alonso fan. I hope he has the car to do well.
The fish is mute, expressionless. The fish doesn't think because the fish knows everything.
