Home Single-Seaters FormulaE Mercedes presents 2022 Formula E livery as de Vries, Vandoorne stay on

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Mercedes presents 2022 Formula E livery as de Vries, Vandoorne stay on

28/11/2021

Mercedes has presented its 2021/22 Formula E livery for its final season as Nyck de Vries and Stoffel Vandoorne remaining in the cockpit.

Mercedes has finally shared its Formula E livery for the 2021/22 season which will be its final year in the championship. They have done so just the night before the official pre-season testing at Valencia which will take place on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

Along with the livery, Mercedes has also confirmed the line-up of Vandoorne and de Vries, with the latter returning to defend his Formula E title. The Dutchman was heavily linked with a F1 seat but it wasn’t to be, while the Belgian still has a IndyCar test to do.

“Continuity in Formula E is always a good thing, because the margins between drivers and teams are very small, so establishing a good relationship with your crew is paramount,” said Vandoorne. “You have to really understand each other, what you need from the car, what you require to improve it and be able to perform. All these factors are enormously helpful. We often discuss new ideas together, asking ourselves whether they make sense or whether we’re wasting too much time with them. Will they improve our lap times.

“We have an additional challenge facing us with our recent move to Brackley, so there’s going to be plenty of changes with a new simulator and lots of jobs to be done before the season kicks off. We’ve got a great deal to accomplish over the winter, perhaps even more than in the past, but let’s just wait and see how it all goes next season.”

At the same time, Formula E champion de Vries added: “I’m definitely looking forward to Season 8. A new season always brings fresh challenges and being the reigning champion will spice things up a bit, so I’m really excited at the prospect of going racing again and being able to defend our two championship titles.

“I’m really looking forward to competing at all the various circuits. It’s mega exciting that our championship can continue to grow with racing in all these fascinating cities. It’s great to be back in the cities. I’m fairly certain that the championship will be mega in many ways, both from a sporting point of view with the new qualifying format but also with the excitement that these new venues will generate.

“It looks like it’s going to be more equal and fairer to all concerned. And with that thought in mind, I would give it a big thumbs-up. We’ll have to wait and see how things go in the end and find out for ourselves, but it looks really good, and I welcome the changes whole-heartedly. I’m pretty certain that it will make for a more equal championship that everyone will enjoy following. Formula E is close enough and doesn’t need any unpredictable external factors to make it exciting,” summed up de Vries.

And finally, team boss Ian James stated: “We’re heading into Season 8 full of excitement and anticipation. We’re all champing at the bit, itching to get started again, but I don’t think our approach is about to change much now in terms of moving from being hunters to becoming the hunted. We still face the same challenges as in previous years and the fact that we won the World Championship last season doesn’t really mean anything as regards next season. We know how close this championship is and just how strong the opposition are. It’s going to be another tough battle to the bitter end.

“When I see the long hours everyone is currently working, it’s just terrific to note that there’s still a real hunger within the team to reach our full potential. We’ll approach the season with a degree of humility, which we must do, considering how strong our opponents are and how high the probability is that the championship will go to the wire. But pressure is always there, and that’s okay. Pressure makes us stronger. We even welcome it, so we’re really looking forward to the season starting up again soon.”