Mercedes' W10 finally breaks cover
- Farhan Khurram
- Feb 13, 2019
- 3 min read
Updated: Feb 14, 2019
This was a live event. The article was updated as the event progressed.
The defending constructors' world champion, Mercedes has finally revealed their W10, the successor to last year's title winning W09 EQ Power+.
Mercedes W10 carries a relatively new livery, with more silver color in use instead of black and dark grey gradient like the last 3 years. A camouflage liver, of which the team had been dropping hints for the past couple of weeks, might be used for testing purposes in reminiscence of Red Bull's 2015 black and white livery.
Mercedes team boss, Toto Wolff said: “Since 2017, it’s the second time that we’ve had a huge shake-up in the regulations,”
“It’s all been reset"
"Every team has a chance of producing a front-running car and I’m personally very excited to see how some of the teams come out and whether we’ve been able to maintain our position at the front."
Mercedes retains its current lineup of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, but Toto Wolff signaled last year that Bottas must perform on par with Hamilton to secure a seat for 2020. Former Racing Point driver, Esteban Ocon was signed as a Mercedes reserve last year, after he was left out without a seat in Formula 1.
5 times world champion, Lewis Hamilton will attempt to carve his way out towards a 6th F1 world title this year, meanwhile his teammate, Valtteri Bottas will be looking forward to impress his bosses by either racking up some race wins or even challenge for the title.
Wolff further added: “Five double championships is far more than we would have ever expected but every season starts with zero points."
"There is nothing, no credit that you can take from previous seasons into a new one,"
"And this is why we embrace every year with the same motivation and hunger as every season before.”
"The 2019 season will be a new challenge for all of us"
"The regulations have changed quite substantially. We have to start from scratch, we need to prove ourselves again - against our own expectations and against our competitors. he said.
"We start the season with zero points, so we're taking nothing for granted and there's absolutely no feeling of entitlement to be at the front.
"In fact, with the regulation change for the new season, every team can have a shot at the title and we're seeing all of them as a potential threat."
"We're eager to hit the ground running in Barcelona, to benchmark ourselves against our own simulations and see if our predictions materialise on track.
"We will focus on ourselves, building up performance and hopefully be ready when the first really competitive session starts on Saturday in Melbourne." concluded Toto Wolff.
The Silver Arrows had earlier released a fire-up video of the engine that will power the W10, as it roared to life.
The German giant can trace its roots in Formula 1 back to 1954, when it first entered the sport as a constructor, and dominated for two years straight, until it left F1 in 1955. Mercedes was then brought back to Formula 1 by McLaren's Ron Dennis as the two formed a highly successful partnership that spanned up to 20 years. Mercedes then fielded its own team and joined the grid in 2010.
"A close inspection will reveal that the execution of this concept has been further refined." said James Allison, Technical Director of Mercedes.
"Every item is pushed tighter, made more slender"
"Each change permitting us to improve the aerodynamic performance beyond what would have been possible had we accepted the physical limitations of the 2018 design."
The Brackley based squad currently has 5 constructors' titles, 7 drivers' titles, 87 wins, 101 pole positions and 119 podiums to its name. Mercedes is one of the most successful teams in F1 history and has currently been dominating the sport since 2014 to up until now.
Mercedes secured a consecutive 5th constructors' title in 2018, and the team will now be looking forward to extend that streak to a record equalling 6 championships. Only Ferrari has won 6 back to back constructors' titles from 1999 to 2004.
Haas, Toro Rosso, Williams, Renault and Mercedes have all launched their liveries or cars so far. The next livery reveal is by Racing Point, also known as Force India previously, on February 13th. It is also likely that the Racing Point will announce a new title sponsor, but for any certainties, that is yet to be seen.
Upcoming 2019 car launch dates:
February 13th | Racing Point
February 13th | Red Bull
February 14th | McLaren
February 15th | Ferrari
February 18th | Sauber
The official car launch can be followed on Mercedes' website. Click here
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