Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 wants to reclaim driver’s championship

Mercedes has a new car and new driver for the 2022 F1 season

Mercedes-AMG may have won their 8th consecutive Formula 1 constructors’ championship last season, but the drivers’ title was snatched from Lewis Hamilton by Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen. This year, they want to reclaim it with the help of a new car and a new driver.

Mercedes is the 8th team to reveal their 2022 Formula 1 challenger, and it’s called the W13. Like all other teams, the car has been redesigned for the 2022 rule changes featuring a more aerodynamic body and larger 18-inch wheels.

What immediately stands out with the W13 is the livery. The Mercedes-AMG F1 team returns to its classic Silver Arrows colors for the 2022 season after racing for the past two years with a black design. Compared to the cars of other teams, the changes on the W13 aren’t as drastic compared to their 2021 car apart from the larger wings and wheels. However, the team says the car is 98% new with minimal carryover from its predecessor and took 18 months to develop.

“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”, said Toto Wolff, Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team Principal, and CEO.

Apart from the new car, there’s also a new driver for Mercedes this 2022 season – George Russell. Russell serves as Valterri Bottas' replacement and will be driving with 7-time champion Lewis Hamilton. Hopefully, we'll see some more action between the two British drivers compared to the Hamilton-Bottas era. 

Will Mercedes dominate the new era of Formula 1 as they did with the hybrid era? We will find out in a month as the first race is scheduled this March 2022.