Mercedes have reverted to a black livery for the new Formula One season as they aim to return to the summit of Grand Prix racing in 2023. Lewis Hamilton and fellow driver George Russell unveiled the new car during Wednesday’s launch at the Silverstone circuit in Northamptonshire, central England.
Multiple world champion Hamilton, 38, finished a relatively lowly sixth last year – his worst position at the end of a Formula One championship – as Mercedes struggled to adapt to the sport’s new regulations. Now the team hopes a return to black – the colour that carried Hamilton to a record‑equalling seventh title in 2020 – will signal a change of fortune. Hamilton, one of the few leading people of colour in motorsport, encouraged Mercedes to paint their car black for the 2020 and 2021 seasons as part of an anti‑racism campaign.
Mercedes’ traditional racing colour has been silver, giving the Germany‑founded marque the nickname “Silver Arrows”. Team principal Toto Wolff said there was a performance reason behind this year’s change of colours: “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. The car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black.” He added that the 2020 livery change was primarily to support diversity and equality causes, and that the colour black had become part of the team’s DNA, making its return a point of pride.
Hamilton saw his record of winning at least one race in every season of his career – a streak dating back to his debut with McLaren in 2007 – end last year when he finished 214 points behind champion Max Verstappen and even behind teammate Russell, who placed fourth. Entering the final year of his current £40 million‑a‑season deal, Hamilton will hope Mercedes have now given him a machine capable of challenging Verstappen and Red Bull.
“I have been here a long time,” Hamilton said ahead of his 11th season with Mercedes and his 17th overall in Formula One. “I continue to love racing and that is never ever going to change. It is part of my DNA and I always believe I can get better. I love the challenge of the mental and the physical elements, of having to deep dive, and see how I can extract more performance from me, the people around me, and the car that is constantly evolving. There is always a new logbook and new tools that you have to get used to, and I love that so I am planning to stay a little bit longer.”
Hamilton and Russell – who claimed his first victory and Mercedes’ sole win of 2022 during the penultimate round in Brazil – will get their first run‑out with this year’s car during three days of testing in Bahrain next week, before the curtain‑raiser on March 5 in the same Gulf Kingdom. Russell, 25, said he knew what was expected as he prepared for his second season with Mercedes. “We are all here to win,” he said. “It is as simple as that. We need to go out there and see the challenges we are faced with, but the team has put so much hard work into this car.”
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