Mercedes has launched its 2022 Formula 1 car with a return to its traditional livery and the final confirmation that Lewis Hamilton is indeed returning to fight for an eighth title.
The W13 was revealed in an online launch prior to a shakedown run at Silverstone, where seven-time world champion Hamilton and new team-mate George Russell are present.
Hamilton returns for another season despite his 2021 championship bid ending in agonising circumstances, when he dominated the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and was set to become world champion again before a late-race safety car changed the outcome of the race and championship.
Part of the fallout from the way that was handled by FIA race director Michael Masi has been the open question over Hamilton’s F1 future, as his and Mercedes’ faith in F1 to be policed fairly was badly shaken.
But Hamilton’s gradual re-emergence into the public eye in recent weeks, a return to training and the Mercedes factory were all indicators that Hamilton intended to race again this season.
And on Thursday, ahead of the Mercedes launch, the FIA announced major changes to the way it would manage F1 races in the future – including removing Masi from the race director role.
While Hamilton never lobbied for that specific outcome and Mercedes never demanded it publicly, it does represent the sort of substantial change and commitment to a more robust way of regulating F1 that Mercedes had demanded from the FIA.
At the launch, Wolff said: “It’s very encouraging to see action has been taken. There’s a much more robust structure now and a support structure now for the race director. The right steps.”
With that matter as settled as it is ever likely to be, Hamilton and Mercedes turn their attention to the 2022 season – and getting to grips with the W13.
Hamilton said he is “excited” for the new era of F1 and remarked it’s very “surreal” to be starting his 10th season with Mercedes, in his first public appearance since Abu Dhabi last year.
The first images of the W13, which returns to a predominantly silver colour scheme following two years running a black anti-racism livery, are expected to follow the shakedown.
Last year the low-rake Mercedes concept was hamstrung by FIA rule changes that helped Red Bull take the fight to the dominant force of the V6 turbo-hybrid era.
But a brand new set of technical regulations for 2022 reset the competitive balance.
Mercedes did not actively develop its 2021 car as much as Red Bull during last season because it wanted to prioritise the new rules.
There has also been a major effort from Mercedes’ Brixworth division to understand and address the reliability issues suffered last season, as well as re-optimise the combustion engine to suit a mandated new fuel with a 10% ethanol mix – all while pursuing maximum performance ahead of this year’s homologation freeze, which will ban any performance-based upgrades until the end of 2025.
Mercedes’ traditional pre-testing launch and shakedown at Silverstone will be the first opportunity for the team, Hamilton and new signing Russell to blow off the winter cobwebs and get the most basic systems checks out of the way before their preparations begin in earnest at Barcelona next week.
“The hopes are we have a competitive car,” said Wolff. “It’s not a given with the new regulations.
“We don’t know if we’re even in the hunt for another title. My hope is the car goes fast and Lewis and George are happy with how it drives. That would be a good starting point.”
