Mercedes goes back to black with striking new W14!

Mercedes has unveiled its 2023 contender - the W14 - that it hopes will carry it back to the front of the grid this season.

Mercedes has opted to return to the black livery it previously ran on its cars in 2020 and 2021, although the team insisted that it was first and foremost a reflection of keeping the car's weight under control – a significant challenge for all teams – by relying on its nude carbon fibre.

While Mercedes has no doubt taken away many learnings from its troublesome W13 silver arrow, the Brackley squad's new car has retained its predecessor's innovative zero sidepod concept.

"Our hopes and expectations are always to be capable of fighting for a World Championship," commented Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

"However, our competitors were very strong last year, and we are playing catch-up. Racing at the front requires resilience, teamwork, and determination.

"We face up to every challenge, we put the Team first, and we will leave no stone unturned in the chase for every millisecond. This year, we are going all in to get back in front."

• Read also: Mercedes confident it's 'figured out what we needed to do'

Mercedes' engineers worked hard last year to mitigate the porpoising issues that heavily weighed on the W13's performance.

But more importantly was the necessity to understand how to evolve the design without carrying forward the problematic characteristics embedded in last year's car.

"Last year was difficult but it came with lots of learnings," Wolff added. "I hope 2023 will be proof that we have understood how to unravel the problems and improve the package of the car."

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and 2022 Brazilian Grand Prix winner George Russell are joined this season at Mercedes by Mick Schumacher who will act as the team's official reserve driver this season.

Hamilton and Russell will conduct a shakedown of their new machine on Wednesday at Silverstone.

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