FEBRUARY 13, 2019

Mercedes W10 takes to the track

World Championship winner Mercedes hit the track today with it's 2019 F1 challenger, the Mercedes W10, which it hopes will bring the team a sixth consecutive championship this season.

World Championship winner Mercedes hit the track today with it's 2019 F1 challenger, the Mercedes W10, which it hopes will bring the team a sixth consecutive championship this season.

Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton began shakedown tests at Silverstone today.

Team Principal Toto Wolff said, "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. 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," said Toto. "We will focus on ourselves, building up performance and hopefully be ready when the first really competitive session starts on Saturday in Melbourne."

"Both Lewis and Valtteri spent the winter taking their minds off Formula One for a while, which is important. Lewis spent some time travelling. When we met after the winter break, he was refreshed; he's extremely hungry and wants to start racing again. Valtteri spent some time with his family in Finland, but he was quickly back into racing cars as he competed in the Arctic Rally. We had a good chat after the break; he was in a good place and has been able to fully reset after a season that was not always easy for him. Valtteri knows he has the full backing of the team to succeed and he's excited to get back in the car and show his critics what he can do. I'm really looking forward to a strong competition between the two of them, racing each other hard and fighting hard against our rivals."

"We've come a long way since 2010 when we re-joined Formula One with a Mercedes works team. We had a steep learning curve in the first few years, building the long-term capability of the team and continuously improving our performance. We saw the first good season in 2013, when we finished second. After that we've been on a winning streak with five consecutive double championships - an incredible success that none of us in the team, even in our wildest dreams, would have believed possible, especially since we were up against formidable opponents."

Technical Director James Allison said, "Regulation changes are both opportunity and threat. They are an opportunity because all the old assumptions about what you need to have to be quick are swept away and, if you are fleet of foot and smart in dealing with that, you can do better than all the other teams that are tackling the same change. They are a threat because if you are not as smart and you didn't see how to make the most of these new regulations, then you'll certainly suffer in the coming season. But they are always exhilarating because you have that sharp sense of anxiety that you might not be doing enough but equally the thrill and excitement of looking forward to finding out."

"The handling of the W09 was a big improvement over the rather idiosyncratic W08. We managed to be competitive at tracks which had plagued us in recent years. However, notwithstanding this improvement, we were still not as good as some of our competitors at preserving the performance of the rear tyres. We have worked hard on the suspension and aerodynamic characteristics to deliver a car that will be much kinder to its tyres - enough, we hope, to allow us to be competitive at all phases of the race and at each track on the calendar."

"Even though the minimum weight limit was lifted by 10kg for 2019, weight reduction remains a real challenge on the current generation of F1 cars. Components that we felt were stripped to the bone in 2018 have been taken, one by one, and subjected to a further round of aggressive analysis to shave further weight from them. Some components surrender what feels like a giant step of half a kilo, others just a few grams, but collectively each of these victories add up to a handful of kilos that have been invested back in the car on aerodynamics, suspension and Power Unit to bring performance."

"A close inspection will reveal that the execution of this concept has been further refined. 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."

"Work on the W10 project began at the end of 2017. That's when the first meetings happened about how the chassis was going to be laid out, how the Power Unit was going to change from the previous season and what our rough objectives were for the project. That was when we set out the plans for our deployment of resources, developing and racing the car in 2018 and the right number of the right people to design, conceive and then create the new car for 2019."

"You've had a factory which had fallen silent for a few weeks, from the end of the last season to this moment, where an engine leaps into life in the factory again. Even if you're not down in the build shop, you can hear it, so is has a certain emotional impact on us because a motor is running and it is the living proof that all those components are not only assembled but they function. At the same time, you know that you're only about half way there through the about 90 planned test events."

Andy Cowell, Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains said, "We've made changes to the cooling architecture of the Power Unit, which hopefully provide aerodynamic benefit on the car and also provide efficiency benefit on the Power Unit - so, hopefully a win on both the chassis and on the Power Unit. Right at the heart of the Power Unit is the conversion of fuel into heat release in the combustion chamber and useful work out of the crankshaft. We have made steps on the combustion efficiency and on the ERS system. The marriage between the turbocharger assembly with the MGU-H, the inverter, the cells and the MGU-K: that whole system is now capable of operating more efficiently and helping with energy deployment through a race."

"If you have got an efficient engine with efficient aerodynamics and you are prepared to do a little bit of lift and coasting, then you have the opportunity to start the race at less than 110kg. For every 5kg of weight you save, it's about two tenths of a second a lap quicker, so there is a natural reward to starting the race a little bit lighter. There is still a competitive edge from making an efficient car - both Power Unit and aerodynamics - and racing smartly to make sure that you have good pace at the start of the race as well as through the race."

"There are hours and hours that go into each piece, each assembly, each system, each full element and then the final Power Unit. It is a huge moment when the Power Unit bursts into life and those countless hours are rewarded with fuel being converted into useful work. Yes, it is a machine, but it is part of people's lives and it's personal."

Lewis Hamilton said, "I had a great Christmas with my family and then I went snowmobiling, I went skiing, I went surfing with Kelly Slater, which was amazing. I completely switched off from racing for a while, trying to focus and re-centre myself and training hard for the new season. 2018 was a great year, but I feel like 2019 can be even better. I want to achieve more, I want to continue to keep pushing. I feel energised and I'm ready to attack."

"I'm really looking forward to the next step of our journey together with Mercedes and embarking on what's not been done before. This is my seventh year with the team and the energy and the determination within the team are really inspiring. The buzz really starts at the beginning of the year when you see the car coming together. And then you get to the shakedown and you get into the car - it just never gets old. It feels like a real privilege - so many people have worked together to form that car and you know how much hard work has gone into it. Driving the new car is like meeting someone new for the first time - you want to get to know them the best way as quick as possible as you embark on a journey together."

Valtteri Bottas said, "I had a really good winter; I'm full of energy and I'm looking forward to the new season. I started my first training camp in early January and have been on a good path ever since. I did most of my training in Finland, first in the south close to my home town, then further north in Lapland because that's where you get a proper winter. The conditions are quite harsh, it's freezing cold, snow is guaranteed, but it's a great environment to exercise and prepare your mind and your body for the upcoming fight."

"I am excited for the new season and that everyone starts with zero points. We are all on the same line and 2019 can bring anything; I'm going to go all in this year. There was quite a bit of criticism at some stages of 2018, but that's actually been a positive thing for me because it's given me an extra boost! I'm now looking forward to drive the new car for the first time. The car has changed quite a bit because of the aero regulations changes, so it will be interesting to get an idea of how the car feels and how it handles. You never know what to expect and so it's exciting to jump in the car and discover it, to try to get a feel of the balance of the car and its behaviour. We do already push the car in the shakedown to get a feel for it."