Racing at the front requires resilience, teamwork, and determination. We face up to every challenge, we put the Team first, and we will leave no stone unturned in the chase for every millisecond.
Toto Wolff
F1 W14
F1 W14 E PERFORMANCE
A new season, new challenges, and a new car.
The Team unveils our 2023 contender, the Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E PERFORMANCE.
Forged in the learnings of a difficult 2022, the W14 is striking in its appearance. The underlying concept of the W13 has been retained and development focused on core performance areas. That has led to a car that retains the distinctive DNA of its predecessor and introduces a combination of notable changes that are visible on first inspection – such as the gulley bodywork on the engine cover - and others beneath the surface.
The car's arresting look isn’t limited to the architecture, either. The iconic black livery from 2020 and 2021 has been refined as part of a significant project to reduce overall weight. Driving the W14 will be Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who line up for their second season together, supported by Mick Schumacher in his role as third driver.
“Our hopes and expectations are always to be capable of fighting for a World Championship. However, our competitors were very strong last year, and we are playing catch-up,” Toto Wolff
- 2000mmOverall width
- 950mmOverall height
- 789kgOverall weight
A Refined Concept
“Last year was difficult but it came with lots of learnings,” Toto commented. “I hope 2023 will be proof that we have understood how to unravel the problems and improve the package of the car.”
“W13 certainly had performance which we never were able to unlock and put all its downforce on the ground. Our car performed very well at the end of the season. However, we still had the famous bouncing at some circuits and the car never gave the drivers good feedback, which limited them in being able to really push.
The challenge of unlocking the performance in last year’s car, while troubleshooting the problems that the team could address in-season, was met head on by both Brackley and Brixworth. Notably, the development over the year led to a memorable one-two finish at the São Paulo Grand Prix.
Areas targeted include reducing overall weight, giving the drivers a more consistent car balance across the speed range, and better matching the aerodynamic characteristics to the demands of the aero regulations. This is borne out in areas such as a significantly lighter chassis, revised front suspension geometry, cooling system adjustments and a refined aerodynamic concept based on last year’s learning.
With this generation of cars, the performance is all in the detail. When you look at the W14, you will see the DNA of the W13 but also a lot of evolution and detail improvement,
Mike Elliott
All in Performance
The Team returns to black in the name of performance. Hitting the weight limit is a significant challenge with this generation of cars, and the Team has taken inspiration from the legendary creation of the original Silver Arrows. However, instead of stripping back paint to shiny aluminium beneath, it will be sleek black carbon fibre on the W14.
“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. You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black. 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 colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it,” Toto commented.
The historical links don’t end there, however, with the black livery also echoing the 1993 Sauber C12. That car utilised ‘Concept by Mercedes’ power and signalled the three-pointed star’s return to the pinnacle of motorsport for the first time since 1955.
Incoming freeze and reliability fixes
“We’ve got the final performance software freeze of this regulation cycle ahead of the start of the season so that’s been a lot of work.” said Hywel Thomas, Managing Director of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP).
“We have found the most performance recently through the way we use the engine and that means software upgrades. Knowing that it is the final opportunity for development has ensured it’s been a real push to pack in as much work as possible.
We have looked at the design changes made on the chassis, along with those on the engine, and done the work as a team. The biggest changes on the Power Unit this year are the reliability items to make ourselves more robust if we find the car hitting the ground.”