By Tom Cary
One of the most notable aspects of the 2023 Formula 1 car launches being held around the world is that nearly all the cars feature predominantly liveries.
This is not a fashion statement. At least not in Mercedes’ case. The real reason, as Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff explained on Wednesday, is because they are desperately trying to save weight.
While Mercedes have chosen to go back to an all-black livery, they are far from the only to do so. Alfa Romeo, who launched their C43 last week, have abandoned their traditional white and red paint job for a black and red look. Haas, McLaren, AlphaTauri and even Ferrari have all included large patches of black into their 2023 looks – although it must be stressed that the cars unveiled this month and deployed at testing in Bahrain next weekend are never guaranteed to match what rolls up on the start line for the opening race of the season.
Why are so many cars black this season?
As Wolff explained, one of the simplest ways to cut weight is simply not to paint the car and run it instead with exposed carbon fibre wherever possible.
How much can paint cost? On the whole, we’re talking in grams, but it’s not how much a good paint job weighs that is the big question, rather how much do the key components weigh. The answer is a lot, and by saving weight on the outside, teams are able to allow for more weight in key areas such as power unit, suspension and aerodynamics, which can also help with reliability when more robust structures can be utilised.
The Mercedes W14 Formula 1 car.
The team battled all last year to get down to Formula 1’s 798kg weight limit – which had been increased from the season before from 795kg – but frequently exceeded it. The inconsistent W13 claimed just a single race win via George Russell in Brazil, with excess weight deemed to be a significant factor in the poor handling and performance.
Therefore, it’s hoped that having large areas of the W14 unpainted will help save on total weight. Mercedes’s engineers have also designed a significantly lighter chassis, revised front suspension geometry, cooling system adjustments and refined aerodynamics. Every little helps.
The fact that the colour scheme marks a return to their 2020 and 2021 liveries – when the car went all-black to raise awareness of racial injustice before returning to classic silver last year – is an added bonus.
‘We were overweight last year, and this year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram’
Toto Wolff
“We were overweight last year, and this year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram,” Wolff admitted at the W14 launch. “So now history repeats itself. You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits along with some that are painted matte black.
“Of course when we changed the livery in 2020, the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart. The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.”
The weight of F1 cars has risen sharply in recent years, with nearly all teams grappling to get down to size. Heading into 2023, there had been plans to reduce the weight still further, to 796kg, but this has been abandoned following discussions with teams and the FIA.
Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton said he was delighted with the new livery, both from an aesthetic and a performance point of view.
“Everyone in the garage preferred the black car [anyway],“| he said. “So everyone is with it and everyone likes it within the team.
Ferrari’s 2023 car – now featuring black.
“Weight is a key goal for us. We were overweight all year last year so we were carrying a weight penalty even into the last race, so that has been a heavy focus to make sure that is not the case this year.
“We will find out next week [at testing in Bahrain] whether we have hit the mark. Last year they thought we were going to be on weight and we were well over so I am glad that has been taken seriously and that is what we see on the car, a lot of carbon and not too much paint on the car – the bare minimum – and that is positive because it means we are all out for performance and not how it looks but how quick it goes.”
