Mercedes hopes to add to record streak of eight consecutive Formula 1 Constructors’ Championships
- Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team unveiled its W13 car for the 2022 Formula 1 season.
- The team says the car is 98% new, with the only carryover from the 2021 car being the steering wheel.
- Seven-time champion Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will pilot the W13, as Mercedes goes for its ninth consecutive F1 Constructors’ Championships.
If you ask the techs over at the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 race team about what’s new with the 2022 Formula 1 car, their answer might surprise you.
Try just about everything.
The team took the covers off its 2022 W13 car today for a virtual launch. The team says the new car is just that—”98% new and freshly designed from tip-to-toe with minimal carry-over from its predecessor.”
The W13’s predecessors have been the standard in Formula 1 for the past eight years, as evidenced by their seven F1 Drivers’ Championships and eight consecutive F1 Constructors’ Championships. Team principal Toto Wolff says the team has been working 18 months on the W13 in an effort to keep adding to those win totals.
“Ever since work on W13 began, I have seen an excited enthusiasm in our team members like never before, thanks to the scale of opportunity that these technical regulations provide,” said Wolff, Team Principal and CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. “Towards the end of the year when the car build project truly came together, I felt a deep passion across the whole organisation, not only in the technical arena but across our bases at Brackley and Brixworth who were embracing a mindset of ‘we can do this.’”
“We did pretty well during the last big regulatory change into the hybrid era and performed well when we went from the narrow to the wide cars in 2017. While we have a good track record, my message is clear: we can’t rely on past success for this year’s performance, but we can rely on our people, our culture, our structure, and our mindset to do the best possible job for 2022.”
Mercedes F1 team technical director Mike Elliott said that the only carryover from the 2021 car to the new car is the steering wheel.
“On the chassis side, the changes are huge,” Elliott said. “We haven’t had a change as big as this one in my career. I think there are three aspects to this: first, the way the regulations are constructed is very different, particularly for aerodynamics, and that has a big impact. Second, what they are trying to achieve with the aerodynamics means the cars are fundamentally a different shape. Third, this is the first time we will have attempted such a big change under a cost cap.”
That cost cap has been reduced from $145 million to $140 million for 2022. Prior to 2021, it was believed that Mercedes has been operating with an annual team budget of close to $500 million.
“Getting to the desired aero shapes has meant a complete internal repackaging, right down to the electrical layout and where we fit things like the ECU (Electronic Control Unit).” Elliott said. “The suspension has been redesigned to account for the loss of hydraulics and remote springs, now banned in the new regulations. Hopefully, you will also see that we have taken another step with how tightly packaged the sidepods and engine cover are. To get to this is not just a shrink-wrapping exercise but requires a huge amount of redesign and simulation to make it work.”
The car features the new 18-inch wheels, which replace the 13-inch ones used last yaer.
“What we have seen in testing, particularly the Abu Dhabi test at the end of 2021, is that there are subtle differences,” Elliott said. “It is going to change what we want to do with set-up, but it is a step in the right direction as I think the tire will help improve the racing, won’t overheat as much and will be easier to manage.”
Seven-time F1 champion Lewis Hamilton returns to drive the W13, along with George Russell. Russell comes to Mercedes from Williams, where he was also listed as a reserve driver for Mercedes. Hamilton enters the season with all-time F1 records in wins (103), poles (103) and podiums (182).
“I have never seen him more determined,” team boss Wolff said. “Lewis is the best driver in the world, and he is joined by one of the brightest and most promising of their generation in George. I have no doubt that we can create an environment of partnership between the two, of productivity to develop this new car which will be essential, whilst maintaining a healthy competition that will motivate them and the wider team.”
Keyword: First Images of Mercedes F1 W13; Team Says Car Is '98% New' for 2022