Welcome to our blog where we dive into the latest news and updates from the Mercedes Formula 1 team! Stay tuned for all the exciting developments happening on and off the track.
We start with a list of amusing incidents that the Mercedes F1 team have experienced in recent years:
Toto Wolff Parking Mishap
During a team celebration after a successful race weekend, Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff jokingly attempted to parallel park his car in a tight space. However, his parking skills left much to be desired as he ended up bumping into a curb, much to the amusement of the team members watching.
Lewis Hamilton Track Invasion
After winning the 2021 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix at Imola, Lewis Hamilton was so elated with his victory that he ran onto the track to celebrate with fans, unaware of the nearby safety car. He quickly realized his mistake and sheepishly retreated back to the pits, earning a few chuckles from the team.
Bottas' Pizza Delivery
During a team debrief session, Valtteri Bottas lightened the mood by jokingly suggesting that the team order pizza for everyone. To his surprise, the team took him up on the offer, and pizzas were indeed delivered to the garage, much to the delight of the hungry crew members.
Hamilton "Taxi Service" for Toto
In a playful moment caught on camera, Lewis Hamilton jokingly offered Team Principal Toto Wolff a ride on the back of his scooter during a team event. Toto, with a grin on his face, playfully accepted the offer, holding onto Hamilton as they zipped around the paddock to the amusement of onlookers.
Roscoe's Pit Lane Walk
Lewis Hamilton's pet bulldog, Roscoe, made a surprise appearance in the pit lane during a testing session. Roscoe, donning a miniature Mercedes team shirt, trotted alongside the mechanics, providing some light-hearted entertainment and a welcome distraction from the intense testing schedule.
Toto Wolff's Lost Bet
During a team dinner, Toto Wolff made a bet with the mechanics that if Lewis Hamilton won the next race, he would wear a silly costume to the following team briefing. True to his word, after Hamilton's victory, Wolff showed up wearing a comically oversized wig and sunglasses, much to the amusement of the team.
Mercedes Formula 1 Store: Explore the Latest Gear and Gifts.
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New Mercedes Formula 1 Car Unveiled
Mercedes became the penultimate team to launch for 2024 by revealing their new F1 car on Wednesday, joining McLaren in the unveiling excitement.
Shortly after McLaren’s own online presentation, Mercedes posted the first digital renders of the overhauled W15 on their social media channels ahead of an on-track shakedown.
Mercedes have joined McLaren on track at Silverstone for some initial running with their new car throughout the day before heading off to Bahrain for pre-season testing next week.
The team will be hoping to take a step forwards in 2024 in what will be Lewis Hamilton's final season with the squad prior to his switch to Ferrari in 2025.
He will again be joined by George Russell as his team mate, with the Briton entering into his third campaign as a Silver Arrows driver.
However, when their issues continued into the opening stages of the year, the team started on what they have called a "period of renewal", seeing them embark on a "new direction" for 2024.
Mercedes have changed the chassis design for 2024 and focused on developing a car which gives the drivers more consistent and predictable rear downforce in order to attack corners with confidence.
A new chassis, new front and rear suspension, new gearbox and honed aerodynamics and sidepods will be the most visual changes to its heavily revised challenger.
In Formula 1, though, the devil is in the detail, and it will be in areas nigh on impossible to spot – like the underfloor, its aero platform concept and its ride height – where the biggest revolution will have taken place.
For the true story of what Mercedes got wrong with its previous two ground effect cars was not about topics that become major talking points – like its infamous zeropods or the seating position of drivers.
It was far more related to concepts relating to ride height – something that you cannot really observe from the outside.
As Mercedes technical director James Allison explained: “We placed value on the wrong things.”
As Allison explained: “There was a big debate internally: should we cash in that 15mm and drop the car down, operate in a window that's 15mm smaller because the cars will be less bouncy inherently? Or should we do more of what has done us well over the course of the [previous] year, which is force ourselves to keep looking for downforce where it's difficult: high up?
“The debate raged internally for a while and the logic was sort of like this: it's very hard to predict, because the tools [F1 teams can use] are not especially good for this, where bouncing is going to be incurred.
“It's much harder to back yourself out of having driven off the end of a cliff and finding yourself bouncing, than it is to be too high, not bouncing, and then lower yourself towards it.”
Mercedes duly took the conservative approach and opted to chase downforce higher up, believing that rivals which opted for that extra 15mm would be at far greater risk of the dreaded purposing.
“As it turns out, it was too cautious,” added Allison. “It was possible to cash in the 15 millimetres. We would have been better placing our chips on that part of the roulette wheel and we would have got much sooner to the sort of performance we were at [at the end of the 2023 season]. But, you know, them's the breaks….”
With stable regulations into 2024, Mercedes will be targeting a Goldilocks aero platform for its W15: not too low, not too high, but just right.
Mercedes Formula 1 News: Keeping You Up to Speed
Stay tuned to our blog for the latest news and updates on Mercedes Formula 1, including insights into their new car, team dynamics, and performance on the track. We've got you covered with all things Mercedes F1!