On February 18, Beijing time, mercedes teams officially released the new car W13 for the 2022 season. The new car is painted in silver, which means that the iconic "Silver Arrow" is back again.
Mercedes have won the constructors' championship for eight consecutive seasons, but on the final lap of last season, Verstappen took the drivers' world championship from Hamilton.
Young driver Russell joined Mercedes this season to take Bottas' place. Russell's three years with Williams have been impressive and he reached the podium for the first time in his career at last year's Belgian Grand Prix.
Hamilton expressed his expectations for the new season at the press conference:
"It takes you back to your childhood. I think watching races is always exciting, and with the advent of a new era of F1 racing, we've never seen such a huge change, right? ”
"So in a lot of ways, it's a huge change. It's really interesting to see so many designers and everyone come together to find the best way to create great work. ”
Russell said: "It feels incredible, Lewis and I have driven it around a lot in the simulator. We've looked at the drawings, we've been to a lot of meetings, but suddenly we see everything put together, it's the hard work that everyone in the team has put in, and I think it looks really incredible. ”
'We've had an amazing black livery over the last few years, but when silver comes back to the track, I think it's going to look exciting as well.'
Mercedes' new W13 will make its maiden voyage at Silverstone later on Friday, two of the teams' annual filming events. Hamilton and Russell allocate driving time, and the road test mileage is limited to 100km.
Hamilton said: "I don't know what's going to happen next, we had some laps in the simulator but to make sure our design was the right match to the track, that's why we're going to be on the track next. I think George will come first, and then I'll get on the track behind him. ”
With Mercedes completing the new car launch, only the Alpine team and Alfa Romeo have not yet released a new car. Alpine will release its new car on Feb. 21, while Alfa Romeo's new car will feature in special edition liveries in the first round of winter testing, and they won't hold an official launch until Feb. 27.