Mercedes Pull Off a Masterstroke Innovation for Gaining Pace With Their 2023 Challenger

The stopwatch doesn’t lie in a sport like Formula 1. That being said, there are a few ways of influencing its tale on track. With the new era of Formula 1 coming into its sophomore year, there’s a lot that has been discovered by the teams that can give them that extra tenth of a second. All throughout last year, one of the main developmental talking points was how overweight some cars were. While it’s no secret that the carbon-fiber components act as very reliable weight reductants, Mercedes have taken it a step forward. The product of the hard work and the tireless nights spent by the boys and girls back at Brackley was finally showcased to the entire world today as the Silver Arrows revealed its 2023 challenger, the W14. While it’s a new car, it does have an ode to the past.

After a torrid 2022, the Silver Arrows have once again gone all black! Rolling down the years, they’ve once again gone with the all-black livery concept first introduced in 2020, after a short hiatus last year. But even though the team is paying homage to a dominant spell of their rich F1 history, the reason for this livery scheme has an even more developmental inspiration. As it turns out, given the all-black color scheme, the team was able to leave a considerable amount of their car paint-less. Less paint means less weight, which in turn means pace!

At the launch, Mercedes boss Toto Wolff gave the world an insight into the genius of the team. Wolff was quoted by SkySports as saying, “Of course, when we changed the livery in 2020 the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart. The color black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.”

But this is more than just a sentimental throwback. “We were overweight last year. This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. So now, history repeats itself,” explained Toto Wolff.

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The black livery was something that the fans were pining for. But now that they have it, what do they make of it all?

Fans give their verdict on the W14

Car launch season had been pretty disappointing for the fans this season. But Mercedes were committed to turning things around. As soon as the team from Brackley revealed their 2023 colors, fans swarmed to Instagram to share their reactions.

This fan understood the assignment, “Alexa, play Back in Black” It would appear that even before the W14 has hit the tracks, it’s become a cult classic. One fan commented, “one of the best looking f1 cars I’ve ever seen.” While another said, “think Mercedes might be back on top again”

One fan even took a Drive to Survive swipe on their arch-rivals Red Bull. “Best looking car on the grid by far. now let’s make sure it’s the fastest so we can wipe the smile of Horners face.” For the fans, this could mean only one thing, “Lewis history making, WDC car”

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Do you think Mercedes’ ingenuity will pay off in 2023?