![]() However, the Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions introduced in 2021 – aimed at levelling the playing field – mean teams have had varying amounts of development opportunity at their disposal, with aerodynamic testing allocated on a sliding scale based on a team’s finishing position in the 2021 Constructors’ Championship. All the teams have started from scratch with the model provided by F1 and you don’t get to carry over the benefits or fix the issues from last year’s car, so everyone began this journey at the same level.” “On the flip side, we’ve had a period of success, winning the last eight Constructors’ titles and this is a reset. In the aerodynamic world, normally you are chasing after little bits and pieces, but with such big regulation changes, the gains have been coming in big chunks which is quite satisfying,” Mike explained. “Engineers love a challenge and therefore it is a fantastic opportunity to do something fresh. ![]() ![]() Operating with a blank slate and such a steep development curve has been a stimulating experience for the engineers at the team’s Brackley base and something they’ve relished. The W13 is the product of a complete redesign from top to bottom, with the steering wheel the only carryover element from its predecessor. Third, this is the first time we will have attempted such a big change under a cost cap.” Second, what they are trying to achieve with aerodynamics means the cars are fundamentally a different shape. 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. “We haven’t had a change as big as this one in my career. “On the chassis side, the changes are huge,” said Mike Elliott, the team’s Technical Director. The technical regulation changes for 2022, whose introduction was delayed by a year as F1 negotiated the COVID-19 pandemic, represent a fundamental shift in design rules and one of the biggest regulatory changes the sport has ever seen. The ‘E Performance’ technology label signifies the continued close collaboration between the team and Mercedes-AMG, with the label featuring on all-new AMG performance hybrid cars. The team’s 2022 challenger will be named the ‘Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance’, with W13 representing the thirteenth car produced by the Mercedes-AMG works team since re-entering F1 in 2010. 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”, continued Toto. “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. “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”. “Ever since work on W13 began, I have seen an exciting enthusiasm in our team members like never before, thanks to the scale of opportunity that these technical regulations provide,” said Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. Behind the wheel of the W13 for the 2022 season will be a new driver partnership of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who graduates from the Mercedes Young Driver Programme to step up to the eight-time world champion Mercedes-AMG works team. With the sport’s most significant technical regulation change in a generation, the factories at Brackley and Brixworth have been bristling with activity to respond to the challenge and identify every possible opportunity to unlock performance.Ĭlick here to subscribe to our print edition!Īfter 18 months of hard work, the end result is the W13, a car that is 98% new and freshly designed from tip to toe with minimal carry-over from its predecessor. As dawn breaks on a brand-new era for Formula One, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team today launched its challenger for the 2022 season – the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance.
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