Mercedes has finally revealed a revised livery for the 2021 F1 season abode the W12 as it looks ahead towards its eighth world title on the bounce.
After couple of teasers, Mercedes has finally showcased its revised livery for the 2021 F1 season abode the W12. The team dropped the renders before the launch was streamed online in the presence of Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas and Toto Wolff.
As the teasers showed, Mercedes is to stick with the black base but has got back silver in parts, while INEOS’ maroon finds its place too along with the blue of Petronas. In fact, its sticker finds a place on the engine cover which has host of AMG stickers too.
The idea of having AMG goes back to 2020 when Daimler AG and even Wolff explained about promoting their ‘performance’ brand extensively from 2021 onward. The W12 will be the first F1 car from Mercedes to be prepped up in their new race bays.
The 2021 car has been named ‘Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance’, where ‘E PERFORMANCE’ is the new technology label which will be used in product names and badges on all forthcoming Mercedes-AMG performance hybrid cars.
“Every year we reset our focus and define the right objectives,” said Wolff. “That may sound simple but it’s damn hard and is probably why there are no sports teams out there with seven consecutive titles. So many things can happen and it’s very natural to get used to success, and therefore not fight as hard for it.
“But this team has not shown any of that. I see the same fire, hunger and passion now as I did the first time I walked through the doors in 2013. Every season presents a new challenge and therefore, a new goal for us to achieve. 2021 brings changes to the regulations, which could impact our competitiveness, plus the cost cap and working on the major rule changes of 2022. These challenges excite us.”
Meanwhile, Hamilton stated: “The launch day of a new car is always a really exciting one,” said Lewis. “It’s great to reveal to the world the result of everyone’s hard work at the factories and to see some of my team-mates in person, which has been so rare during the past year. I’ve been in touch with the engineers through the winter, keeping track of their preparations as I prepare myself for the season ahead. The excitement has been building and building, so now I just can’t wait to get out on track in the W12.”
And Bottas added: “Obviously we haven’t been able to visit the factory much in the past year, so firstly, I’m really happy to be back here and to see the new car in person for the first time. I’ve been getting regular updates on how things are progressing, so it’s nice to now be able to see the end result in the flesh and that just gets me more fired up for the new season. The cars are pretty similar to last year but there are some interesting aero changes that will have an impact on how the car handles and performs, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it feels on track in Bahrain.”
Mercedes also confirmed that its Formula E drivers Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries will be their official reserve drivers for the 2021 F1 season. Although, there was no mention of Esteban Gutierrez, if the Mexican has been retained of dropped.
Here’s selection of photos and launch video from Mercedes:
Here’s video teaser a day ahead of launch
Here’s the teaser from Mercedes last week
Here’s news on Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes in Laureus 2021
Here’s James Allison on preparing a fast car for budget cap
Here’s Toto Wolff explaining about Lewis Hamilton contract
Here’s Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff on Mercedes team work and unusual methods
Here’s 2021 F1 launches so far:
Alpine – interim livery
More to come