Mercedes has tried to play the game of confusion and, although the new W13 of the video presentation is the real one, the one that has been used for the studio photographs is a much more basic version.
The Formula 1 It has always been very conducive to deception. Or, at least, to hide the cards. And that is what Mercedes has done in a certain way, although in reality it is not something that is of much use. Teams often publish studio photos of their new cars, but these are often missing elements that have been digitally altered or removed.
On this occasion, Mercedes has gone a step further and has distributed some images in which the car that appears has little to do with the real one, which we have seen in the video presentation made this morning at Silverstone, where hours later the W13 will jump onto the track to complete a first contact.
Therefore, for this analysis we are going to leave aside the high-resolution images distributed by Mercedes and we will opt to use screenshots of the presentation, in which we will see what the new car actually looks like. W13 by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell.
long nose
The first thing that strikes us about the Mercedes W13 is that it follows the trend shown by Ferrari with its radical F1-75 and opts for a nose that is as long as possible. (1)which also serves as a support for the main plane that also incorporates the spoon shape in its center.
On the other hand, in the Aston Martin AMR22 and McLaren MCL36, the nose is much shorter and, as a result, the main plane is suspended above the nose and anchored in the background. In the case of the W13, the four wing elements converge on the sides of the nose (two).
In the front view it can also be seen that the planes of the front wing (3) they acquire a much higher curvature than those seen in the presentations, an unequivocal sign that it is a working version that, in any case, will evolve over time.
We also note that the front suspension is type push rod(4)so for the moment McLaren remains the only team that has opted for the pull rod in this area.
Pontoons very Mercedes
We reached the critical zone in this year’s cars, at least in this start of the season. The pontoons of the new Mercedes W13 maintain the philosophy of the previous German single-seaters, although adapted to the new regulations.
On the one hand, we see that the air intake of the same (5) it is square, like that of Aston Martin, while the shape of the pontoons combines a series of curvatures and depressions (8) which is very reminiscent of that of 2021. In this case we do not see a double bottom as in the case of the AMR22 or an upper bathtub as in the case of the F1-75.
Instead we can see the addition of a flow diverter to the top front of the pontoons. (6). Also the outer end of the corrugated floor (8) and, at the very back, a simple pillar for the front wing (9)while most rivals have opted for double.
The Mercedes W13 is not, therefore, an apparently groundbreaking car with the team’s past. But that doesn’t mean it won’t be fast, as the Anglo-German team knows well how to design and squeeze out a winning single-seater. Let the tests begin!