Game On In F1
When Lewis Hamilton appears in his 2021 race suit you know the grand prix world is nearly ready to roll.
The seven-times champion popped up at the preview of this year’s Mercedes-AMG W12, the car he will use to try and end the tie with Michael Schumacher for the most Formula One world championships.
The car has the same chassis as the W11 that Hamilton used to dominate last year’s F1 title fight, but with what his team is calling “considerable aerodynamic changes alongside improvements to areas as such as the suspension, cooling system and Power Unit”.
Benz is being open about its revisions, unlike some of its rivals – most notably Red Bull Racing – who are keeping their details secret until the pre-season testing in Bahrain, to prevent rivals potentially copying its update work.
The unveiling of the not-Silver Arrows, which continue in black “to underline the team’s commitment to improving diversity and inclusion within the team and our sport” comes as not-Renault reveals the final look of the Alpine A521 that returning world champion Fernando Alonso will drive in season 2021.
New-car reveals are always top heavy with bla-bla-bla talk about targets and ambitions for the coming season, but Hamilton has put a personal spin on the start of his year after the prolonged negotiations over a new contract with Mercedes-AMG.
“The launch day of a new car is always a really exciting one,” said Hamilton.
“It’s great to reveal to the world the result of everyone’s hard work at the factories and to see some of my team-mates in person, which has been so rare during the past year. The excitement has been building and building, so now I just can’t wait to get out on track in the W12.”
His boss and mate, Toto Wolff, was also upbeat about the minimal changes to last years winning combination.
“I think the consistency we’ve had within this team over the years has been a real strength and advantage of ours,” said Wolff on the driver line-up.
“As we’ve seen in past seasons, it’s a line-up that works well for us, with two incredibly strong drivers who also have a very professional working relationship together. Both are hungry and fired-up to get back racing again soon and we’re all looking forward to seeing them drive our new car in anger for the first time in a few weeks.”
Over at Ren… – whoops, Alpine – Alonso is predictably pumped.
“I’m very excited to be back in Formula 1. I’ve been working hard to prepare myself for racing back in Formula 1 and the target is to attack from the beginning,” he said.
“Driving the car for the first time is going to be a very exciting experience. We have a strong team and together with Esteban (Ocon) we must push on from last year and deliver results.
“We know it’s going to be a very competitive season, but we’re ready for the challenge. The car looks great and I have fond memories of racing with blue in Formula 1.”
