Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE for 2024 season

“We know we have a mountain to climb to fight at the very front. There are no miracles in this sport,” said Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, during the unveiling of the team’s new car for 2024.

“But our ambition and determination are strong. Since charting this new course, development has progressed well. We had several items on our priority list for this car. We will soon see if we’ve made the step we’ve aimed for.”

Changes despite limitations
The new car for the 2024 Formula 1 World Championship is the Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE and builds on the learnings from the previous two seasons. Despite the limitations of the W14’s pre-existing architecture, there are changes which are expected to improve on areas of weakness.

The changes include a new chassis, and new gearbox casing. Aerodynamically, as ever, the focus has been on efficiency. The engineers have kept looking for ways to generate more downforce – with less drag – and delivering it to the track in a manner that complements the function of the suspension and tyres.

Improving rear axle behaviour
“A big focus has been on improving the previous car’s unpredictable rear axle,” said J Technical Director James Allison. “We have worked hard to ensure that both axles, but particularly the rear axle, retain better control of the tyre than on the W14. There’s also been some housekeeping on areas in which we had room for improvement, including the DRS effect, and pitstop performance.”

However, it is the underside of the car where the main differentiating factors lie. “With this current generation of cars, so much of the performance comes from how the floor interacts with the road. Whether or not a car is effective is down to how well that floor is permitted to behave aerodynamically,” explained Allison.

New livery for 90th anniversary
The livery around the W15 is also new and in a year when the iconic Silver Arrows mark their 90th anniversary, the famous silver returns to complement the iconic black of recent seasons.

“Performance was always at the forefront of our minds with the black livery last year,” Wolff explained. “Weight is a crucial factor in this current generation of cars. We knew that, once we were in position to do so, we would bring back the Mercedes silver to accompany the black that has become a pillar of our team identity. The livery truly reflects who we are as a team with the distinctive colours of INEOS and PETRONAS providing important highlights.”

The nose section therefore transforms to silver, with the iconic 3-pointed star pattern on the engine cover. The distinguished INEOS ‘Toto Rosso’ red features predominantly on the rear-wing and roll hoop in a reference to INEOS Sport, with PETRONAS green providing a dynamic flow across the car.