Mercedes presents their F1 W15 car for 2024 F1 season

Mercedes is the latest team to unveil a new F1 car for 2024 as they hope to return to winning ways after a winless season 2023, in the last year Lewis Hamilton will drive for them before switching to Ferrari in 2025.

After they fell out of the fight for the championship in the new era of Formula 1 in 2022, Mercedes also started in 2023 with a car whose concept did not meet expectations and they quickly rejected it and started developing an improved version.

Although the new, improved aerodynamics package for the F1 W14 introduced in Monaco was a step forward, it was a compromise solution as the major changes could only be made to the 2024 car.

The new F1 W15 is the first car of the new era designed under the leadership of technical director James Allison, who has regained his position after two years with Mike Elliot, who left Mercedes last October.

Mercedes hopes that with the new car they have laid a good foundation for development during the season, and although they kept the front push rod suspension, there was a change at the rear end as the push rod replaced the previous pull rod due to aerodynamic reasons, already seen on new Williams and Aston Martin cars which also use their rear suspension.

The front wing is perhaps the most interesting we have seen so far from the cars presented so far with variable geometry of the second element, similar to last year’s front wing on the Alfa Romeo car and fourth, uppermost element detached from the nose.

The sidepod intakes have also been thoroughly redesigned and are smaller in frontal area, with a longer lower edge as seen on the Red Bull RB19, but with a different shape than any we’ve seen so far, while the upper surface of the sidepods almost doesn’t have the channel we’ve seen on several cars last year and this year.

The car will make its track debut at Silverstone for the first time today, as will the new McLaren MCL38, and it will be tested by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who will make up the driver line-up for the third year in a row.

Hamilton will drive for Ferrari from 2025, so this year is his last chance to win an eighth championship with the team where he has won six of the seven titles.

In addition to numerous technical changes, Mercedes also introduced a change in the colors of its car, since they use a combination of black and silver with the characteristic turquoise that has been present since 2010 due to the main sponsor Petronas.

Mercedes used predominantly black in 2020, which they maintained in 2021 and 2023, and in 2022 they returned to the traditional silver in a very difficult season in which they fell to third place in the standings.

Last year, Mercedes managed to beat Ferrari in the battle for second place in the final race of the season, but the eight-time consecutive constructors’ champions are looking to return to the race for victories after failing to win a single race in 2023 for the first time since 2011.