Lewis Hamilton excited at the presentation of the Mercedes W15: what will be the car that will try to break Red Bull’s hegemony?

Lewis Hamilton It was pure emotion this Wednesday during the presentation of Mercedes W15 with which the 2024 season will take place Formula 1the last of the legendary English driver before making the leap Ferrariin an overtaking that no one had in his calculations and which shook the top category of world motorsport.

The seven-time champion of the category, 39 years old, announced two weeks ago that at the end of next season he will leave the brand with which he won six titles (between 2013 and 2023) to race from 2025 with the Stable.

In his first public appearance since the sensational announcement of his signing for the legendary Italian brand, Hamilton admitted that “these last two weeks have been very emotional and it’s surreal to be here”. But he reiterated that next season he will only think about Mercedes: “The goal of every training session is to get the team back to where it should be,” after being overtaken by Red Bull at the hands of an intractable Max Verstappen in the last three world championships.

“The team has had a couple of difficult years, but this has helped us a lot to come together and look at things head on,” he added.

The head of Mercedes, Toto Wolffwho appeared alongside Hamilton, added: “It’s been a very challenging winter (in the Northern Hemisphere). It will be the last season with Lewis, so we are interested in having a fast car.”

The presentation of the new Mercedes lasted just nine minutes and Hamilton limited himself to answering three questions from the moderator.

“I arrived in 2013, so I’ve been with the team for eleven years and I’ll be starting my twelfth season. It’s a privilege to work with this group of people who have worked all winter, so seeing the new car now is one of the most exciting moments of the season,” he underlined.

Hamilton, who has not won a race in the last two years, and his compatriot George Russell tested the new Mercedes for the first time this Wednesday, in the rain, at the Silverstone circuit. The official pre-season tests will take place from 21 to 23 February in Bahrain, before the start of the championship on 2 March in the same country.

The new Mercedes W15

The Mercedes W15 recovers the color of the silver arrows on the front and in the passenger compartment which “matches the aqua green color”, while the rest of the car will remain black “for weight saving reasons”.

“It’s not just an aerodynamic change, but a lot of mechanical changes to make the car faster and more predictable for the drivers. We’ll see in Bahrain if we can do that,” Wolff said.

The Austrian admitted he had “a mountain to climb to fight at the front” and added: “There are no miracles in this sport, but our ambition and determination are strong. Since this new course was charted, the development has progressed well” we had several priorities on our priority list for this car. We will soon see if we have taken the step we were looking for.”

Mercedes wants to return to winning titles in F1 after two “fair” years and with only one victory, that of George Russell in Brazil 2022, a situation which “has led to a complete reversal of trend” in terms of building a new car.

Source: agencies