Mercedes launch ‘unbelievable machine’ to help Lewis Hamilton and George Russell topple Max Verstappen’s Red Bull, but admit new rule changes mean ‘we start again from zero’

Mercedes have launched their 2022 Formula One challenger - the W13 - labelled an ‘unbelievable machine’ by team boss Toto Wolff.

All but two of the 10-team grid have now revealed their cars for the upcoming season, which begins on March 20 when Bahrain kicks off a new era of F1.

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Sweeping aerodynamic changes and a cost cap have been introduced for the new campaign, aiming to shake up the grid and provide closer, more competitive racing.

The 2021 season saw title challengers Lewis Hamilton and Max Verstappen face each other wheel-to-wheel on an unprecedented number of occasions, and the new regulations are designed to improve racing even further.

The radical changes also mean no one knows which team will be prepared best for the start of the season, with Mercedes team principal, Toto Wolff admitting they are ‘starting from zero’.

“The hopes are that we have a competitive car, it’s not a given with the new regulations,” Wolff said. 

“People are saying are we going to win another title, and we don’t know if we’re even in the hunt for another title. What I know is this team is always able, through grit, to dig us out of disadvantage.

"Ever since work on W13 began, I have seen an excited enthusiasm in our team members like never before, thanks to the scale of opportunity that these technical regulations provide.

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"We did pretty well during the last big regulatory change into the hybrid era and performed well when we went from the narrow to the wide cars in 2017. 

“While we have a good track record, my message is clear: we can't rely on past success for this year's performance, but we can rely on our people, our culture, our structure, and our mindset to do the best possible job for 2022.”

Last season saw Mercedes win an eighth consecutive constructors title, although they missed out on the main prize when Hamilton was beaten to the drivers title by Verstappen.

The new regulations bring plenty of new opportunity though, with the returning seven-time champion Hamilton sounding just as excited as anyone.

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“It just takes you back to being a kid, with this new era of car we’ve never seen such a drastic change,” the 37-year-old said.

“It’s such a huge change in so many ways that it’s been really interesting seeing the designers and everyone come together to find the best ways of creating a masterpiece.

“We have no idea how it’s going to handle, we’ve driven laps on the simulator, making sure that we get the right correlation.

“Something that all us drivers have always wanted is closer wheel-to-wheel racing, you see more of that when you go lower down the ranks into go-karting 

“But as you get further up into the pinnacle of the sport it’s harder and harder to follow, so I really really do hope this delivers what they say it’s going to deliver.”