As dawn breaks on a brand-new era for Formula One, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team today launched its challenger for the 2022 season – the Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance. With the sport’s most significant technical regulation change in a generation, the factories at Brackley and Brixworth have been bristling with activity to respond to the challenge and identify every possible opportunity to unlock performance.

After 18 months of hard work, the end result is the W13, a car which is 98% new and freshly designed from tip-to-toe with minimal carry-over from its predecessor. Behind the wheel of the W13 for the 2022 season will be a new driver partnership of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who graduates from the Mercedes Young Driver Programme to step up to the eight-time world champion Mercedes-AMG works team.

“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”, continued Toto.

The team’s 2022 challenger will be named the ‘Mercedes-AMG F1 W13 E Performance’, with W13 representing the thirteenth car produced by the Mercedes-AMG works team since re-entering F1 in 2010. The ‘E Performance’ technology label signifies the continued close collaboration between the team and Mercedes-AMG, with the label featuring on all new AMG performance hybrid cars.

Significant Technical Changes for 2022

The technical regulation changes for 2022, whose introduction was delayed by a year as F1 negotiated the COVID-19 pandemic, represent a fundamental shift in design rules and one of the biggest regulatory changes the sport has ever seen.

“On the chassis side, the changes are huge,” said Mike Elliott, the team’s Technical Director. “We haven’t had a change as big as this one in my career. I think there are three aspects to this: first, the way the regulations are constructed is very different, particularly for aerodynamics, and that has a big impact. Second, what they are trying to achieve with the aerodynamics means the cars are fundamentally a different shape. Third, this is the first time we will have attempted such a big change under a cost cap.”

The W13 is the product of a complete redesign from top to bottom, with the steering wheel the only carryover element from its predecessor. Operating with a blank slate and such a steep development curve has been a stimulating experience for the engineers at the team’s Brackley base and something they’ve relished.

“Engineers love a challenge and therefore it is a fantastic opportunity to do something fresh. In the aerodynamic world, normally you are chasing after little bits and pieces, but with such big regulation changes, the gains have been coming in big chunks which is quite satisfying,” Mike explained. “On the flipside, we’ve had a period of success, winning the last eight Constructors’ titles and this is a reset. All the teams have started from scratch with the model provided by F1 and you don’t get to carry over the benefits or fix the issues from last year’s car, so everyone began this journey at the same level.”

However, the Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions introduced in 2021 – aimed at levelling the playing field – mean teams have had varying amounts of development opportunity at their disposal, with aerodynamic testing allocated on a sliding scale based on a team’s finishing position in the 2021 Constructors’ Championship.

“The teams have started with different allocations of runs in the wind tunnel and hours of CFD (Computational Fluid Dynamics) so it has the potential to really mix up the order,” Mike adds. “That’s an exciting test as an engineer but there is obviously some risk in there too, in terms of our competitive position.”

Under previous technical regulations, the component detail on the cars was far greater and small pieces of aero furniture, working in unison, contributed a large amount of aerodynamic performance. For 2022, teams will find performance gains in more fundamental shape changes and bigger components than in previous years.

One striking difference on the 2022 cars will be new 18-inch wheels, replacing the previous 13-inch rims. Their impact on racing remains to be seen but the early signs are positive.

Another crucial element the engineers have had to contend with in the development of the 2022 car is the freezing of certain components which are now locked in for several years, including the gearbox and Power Unit. The stakes for getting both components as strong as can be, while maintaining reliability, have rarely been higher.

Powering into 2022 and Beyond

The 2022 Power Unit builds upon the generation of championship-winning PUs produced by the team at Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) since 2014 and while the PU regulation changes for 2022 haven’t been as significant or noticeable as the wholesale chassis changes, the challenge has been no less formidable.

More parts have been changed for the 2022 Power Unit than on any previous iterations since the introduction of the V6 Turbos in 2014, as the team fights to put itself in the strongest possible position for the freeze and sustain performance for the following seasons.

With a complete redesign on the chassis, the close collaboration between the chassis team at Brackley and HPP at Brixworth has been fundamental in exploiting performance opportunities.

The regulated introduction of E10 fuel for 2022, mixing 10% ethanol with 90% fossil fuel, has also placed considerable demands on the engineering team at Brixworth, as F1 takes an important step towards its goal of 100% sustainable fuel from 2026. Working closely with Title Partner PETRONAS, the team have tested more fuel candidates and plotted more development loops with the E10 fuel than in previous years.

A brand-new chassis, combined with an upgraded and repackaged PU, will change how the car behaves on track in the hands of the drivers. Learning and development through the season will be crucial.

A New Driver Partnership for a New Era

At the wheel of the W13 will be the sport’s most successful driver, seven-time World Champion Lewis Hamilton, partnered by fellow Briton and Mercedes Young Driver Programme graduate George Russell, making his debut for the Mercedes-AMG team in his fourth year in F1.

Lewis Hamilton enters the 2022 season with 103 wins, 103 pole positions and 182 podiums as he targets a record eighth World Drivers’ Championship.

George Russell joined the Mercedes Young Driver Programme at the start of 2017, following an impressive record in the junior categories, becoming GP3 champion the same year. Over the winter, he has been a regular at the team’s Brackley base, getting reacquainted with some familiar faces.

The team benefits from a strong Reserve Driver line-up with reigning Formula E World Champion, Nyck De Vries, continuing to join his Mercedes-EQ Formula E teammate, Stoffel Vandoorne, on the team’s support roster.

With George Russell graduating from the Mercedes junior programme to gain his opportunity as a Mercedes-AMG F1 driver, there is plenty of inspiration to be had for our seven junior programme drivers for 2022: Andrea Kimi Antonelli, Paul Aron, Yuanpu Cui, Luna Fluxa, Daniel Guinchard, Alex Powell and Frederik Vesti. Six of the seven were present at this morning’s W13 launch and all have an exciting challenge ahead of them this season in various categories.

A Return to Silver with Diversity and Inclusion Embedded in the Team’s DNA

With the move to a black livery at the start of the 2020 F1 season, the team made a visible commitment to promoting greater diversity and inclusion within our team and our sport. A considerable amount of study, research and work was subsequently undertaken, culminating later that year in the launch of Accelerate 25: a detailed five-year programme to become a more diverse and inclusive team.

While the black livery reverts to predominantly silver for 2022, the roots of our mission to become a more diverse team have been firmly planted and will continue to bear fruit in the years to come. Accelerate 25 committed the team to ensuring at least 25% of all new team members who joined the team were from under-represented groups until the end of 2025. In year one of the programme, that figure reached 38%. Female employees have risen from 12% to 14% of our workforce and employees from minority ethnic groups have risen from 3% to 6% during 2021. Important progress but with recognition of, and commitment to, a long way ahead. 

Over the past two years, the team has developed long-term partnerships with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the Stemettes and the Association of Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers UK to inspire and motivate people from under-represented groups towards technical careers, through STEM education with the hope they aspire to join Mercedes-AMG F1 in the future.