The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team presents its new car for the 2022 season: the W13. The fresh car will in any case get quite a bit of pressure on its proverbial shoulders, because the top team is committed to giving star driver Lewis Hamilton his eighth world title and retaining the first position in the constructors’ championship.
Last year Mercedes-AMG became constructors’ champion in Formula 1 for the eighth time in a row. It is up to the W13 to continue that series. Like all other cars unveiled to date, the W13 looks quite different from its predecessor. That starts with the livery, which now consists of a combination of silver and black with turquoise details, with a touch of red from sponsor Ineos on top of the central air intake. Furthermore, the readers who follow Formula 1 know the trick by now: the front wing gets bigger endplatesthe floor of the car is a lot more compact, the rear wing is more rounded and the car rolls on 18-inch wheels with sealed wheel caps.
The design of the W13 resembles the approach that Red Bull is taking with the RB18, although it remains to be seen whether the cars presented are really the final designs with which the teams will soon take to the track. In any case, Mercedes-AMG is also going for a ‘smoother’ approach to the car, with the rear of the W13 more tapered and lacking the cooling fins that the AMR22 and Ferrari F1-75 do have, for example. It remains to be seen whether the new regulations are favorable to the team.
Mercedes-AMG W13
In Formula 1, Mercedes-AMG is known for the raw power it manages to squeeze out of its blown 1.6-litre V6. The engine and its related electrical components, the MGU-H and MGU-K, are basically the same as last year. The big difference is that the power source has to run on E10 fuel from now on. It has reportedly been a big job for the engine suppliers and teams to squeeze a comparable power from the engine with E10 fuel as last season.
Internal turmoil
The coming season is all in all quite a lot at stake at Mercedes-AMG. In addition to the changed car, there was also an important change in the driver composition: Valtteri Bottas went to Alfa Romeo and George Russell, who was already allowed to substitute for Lewis Hamilton in Bahrain in 2020, can take place in the W13. The Briton is seen as a great talent and it will be exciting to see how his performances will influence the internal ranking within the team. Currently Hamilton, who had been radio silence for almost the entire winter, is still the undisputed king within the team. The seven-time world champion will be chasing his eighth title this year, which he lost to Max Verstappen in Abu Dhabi last year. With the hot breath of the Dutchman and his teammate on his neck, he will most likely have a harder time than ever.
– Thanks for information from Autoweek.nl