The black color is kept on the sides and silver returns in the center along with the turquoise and red areas of its sponsors. The new Mercedes W15 F1 surprises with a striking new color combination for the 2024 F1 season, where the black color they chose in 2020 to fight racism and discrimination will join the company’s iconic silver in F1. And although its appearance is not so important, since the important thing in F1 is knowing if the car is fast, its decoration is a good example of the massive change that the eye can see in a more relevant subject: the aerodynamic concept. .
Mercedes He stumbled upon the arrival of the new regulations in 2022 and did his own ‘Harakiri’, insisting ad nauseam on that idea, more than expected, with the concept of no pontoons that they ended up scrapping when they started last year . They wasted a year and a half on a car that they couldn’t get the performance out of. They took a step forward with the new pontoons from Monaco 2023, but not enough, and too inconsistent. So many times it was heard from the mouths of its main characters that “we have found the right path” after good performances, words that came to nothing in the next race when they saw how the car suffered again.
For this reason, in 2024 Mercedes opted for a radical change. Toto Wolff hopes to give Lewis Hamilton the chance to fight for wins in his final year at Mercedes.after 11 years together, before the Briton packs his bags to head to Ferrari in 2025.
A brand new car
“It’s a complete relaunch of the car. It’s very different, not only in the aerodynamic surfaces, but also because of the many mechanical changes we’ve made. “The aim is to increase performance in a more predictable car for our drivers, a car they can push, and we’ll see next week at the Bahrain tests.”The Austrian said, hopefully, that this time the wind tunnel data will have a good letter on the track and that this car will mark the return of Mercedes in the fight for everyone. Last year, they were able to correct some of their course, but they couldn’t fully rebuild their car to take the next step. And that’s what they want to do for 2024.
“We have worked hard to improve the weak areas and hope to have a solid foundation to build on,” said Mercedes technical director James Allison.
“A new car allows the team to make big changes that were not possible during the season. These are the decisions that were made last summer,” said James Allison about a car with a new chassis, new gearbox and aerodynamics focused on improving the car’s efficiency in a straight line and on finding more downforce that complements the performance of the suspension and tires.
“Most of the attention was focused on improving the unpredictable rear axle of the previous car. We worked hard to ensure that both axles, but especially the rear axle, maintained better wheel control than the W14. There was also some cleanup work in areas where we had room for improvement, including the DRS effect,” Allison added.
And of course, we must not forget the invisible: Mercedes also launches the floor, the most important part of the current F1 cars and gives the most aerodynamic load and performance to the cars. Crown jewel.
“We feel we’ve had a good winter, but F1 is a relative game and only time will tell how far we’ve come. We’re focused on making the most of the car we’ve launched, but we’re excited about the next racing in development, because the regulations are still new and there are many opportunities,” concluded James in the same sense as did Aston Martin’s technical director Dan Fallows. Mercedes won the evolutionary race against Aston Martin last year and starred in a good battle of novelties with Ferrari and McLaren.
Maybe this year is the second part of that fight, where Aston Martin wants to be more present, with all these teams trying to get closer and closer to Red Bull and challenge it on more tracks.
“We know how hard it is”
“It’s the best time of the year. We worked a lot in the winter, in the wind tunnel, and now is the first time you can see it in front of you. And the color combination is incredible. In the last 10 years, we finished first 8 times in a row and then third and last year second. We want to be part of that group of cars with Ferrari, McLaren and Aston Martin and at the same time try to be first. We know how difficult it is because of the steps ahead of other competitors, ” argued Wolff.
“We know we have a mountain to climb to fight on the front lines. There are no miracles in this sport. But our ambition and determination are strong. Since we charted this new course last year, it has been going well -development. We had a few elements on our priority list for this car. We’ll know if we’ve made the step we’re looking for.”
“The goal in 2024 is to do a good job. Try to have a car that is predictable, with a lot of downforce and a good engine. We want to give Lewis and George a better car. I hope that in Bahrain we will have more good feedback than bad,” he concluded before Lewis said he was “excited” to see what will be his last Mercedes before leaving for Ferrari.
“It’s very exciting to be here. I’ve been in the team since 2013, 11 years, it’s a privilege to work with all these guys and see the process with these guys and be part of it,” said the 7-time world champion. “We had two difficult year but I think we have grown. The important thing now is to understand the data and maximize the car,” he said, making it clear that he is very focused on getting the best out of this car, but without setting specific goals.
“I am very excited about the season. At Lewis, we’ve worked a lot over the winter and over the past two years on these new regulations. It was an exciting part of the year, with the simulator, many meetings with the engineers, all to create this car. We will see how it performs,” said George Russell on his part.
“Until the test and the first race you have no idea of your performance compared to your rivals. What we have to do is maximize what we do and continue working,” concluded George, who still does not know who will be his partner in 2025. Fernando Alonso, Carlos Sainz, Alex Albon and many others are in the running. Rumors will continue to chase Mercedes as they try to fight again for wins with this new W15, perhaps for that reason, different in other years, this Wednesday Mercedes chose not to hold an online press conference with the international media, a 10-minute presentation video where you don’t have to talk about the candidates and the future.
Source: La Verdad
I’m Rose Herman and I work as an author for Today Times Live. My expertise lies in writing about sports, a passion of mine that has been with me since childhood. As part of my job, I provide comprehensive coverage on everything from football to tennis to golf.
