Mercedes fires up 2023 W14 Silver Arrow!

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It's hardly earth-shattering news but Mercedes has beaten its F1 rivals to become the first team to bring its 2023 contender to life.

As part of its preparations for next season, the Brackley squad fired up its new W14 this week, just days ahead of its staff headed off for the Christmas holiday.

The team posted a video on YouTube of the traditional pre-season event predictably offered no clues about the design of its 2023 silver arrow, a car that Mercedes hopes will return the former dominant team to its winning ways after a difficult 2022 campaign marked by the W13's chronic aero and porpoising issues.

Mercedes tireless efforts to understand its troubled car eventually led to significant progress in the back half of the 2022 season, and to the hope that the German outfit's engineers will have designed new car stripped of the whims and quirks that undermined this year's silver arrow.

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Hamilton: W13's issues like 'a ghost that kept coming back'

"I think we much better understand what the problems were," recently reflected Wolff.

"It’s multiple factors that contribute to a car that is simply just not good enough, and I think if we are able to sort that out over the winter, at least we can provide a stable platform to the drivers, we can develop it from there."

"The DNA of the car is going to change for next year, that’s clear,"

"It doesn’t necessarily mean that our bodywork is going to look very different. But certainly what is part of the DNA of the car, the architecture of the car, will change for next year."

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Phillip van Osten

Motor racing was a backdrop from the outset in Phillip van Osten's life. Born in Southern California, Phillip grew up with the sights and sounds of fast cars thanks to his father, Dick van Osten, an editor and writer for Auto Speed and Sport and Motor Trend. Phillip's passion for racing grew even more when his family moved to Europe and he became acquainted with the extraordinary world of Grand Prix racing. He was an early contributor to the monthly French F1i Magazine, often providing a historic or business perspective on Formula 1's affairs. In 2012, he co-authored along with fellow journalist Pierre Van Vliet the English-language adaptation of a limited edition book devoted to the great Belgian driver Jacky Ickx. He also authored "The American Legacy in Formula 1", a book which recounts the trials and tribulations of American drivers in Grand Prix racing. Phillip is also a commentator for Belgian broadcaster Be.TV for the US Indycar series.