Mercedes have finally revealed their car for 2019 in a launch that took place at Silverstone. After which they took to the Silverstone circuit for a few 'shakedown' laps completed by Valtteri Bottas.
The reigning championship leaders are on the hunt to be the first team to secure both the Drivers and Constructors Championship six times in a row, becoming the first team in the entire history of Formula 1.
Mercedes launched their championship contender today complete with an exciting new livery, albeit based on the previous cars. But the 2019 contender does have some interesting features such as the rear being patterned with the Mercedes logo of the three point star. This feature adds a fresh new look to the W10.
James Allison, Mercedes technical director, stated in a feature video before the launch of the W10 that the new car has been a work in progress since 2017. However he also admitted to keeping some of the same features of the W09, last years car. James admitted to retaining the same wheelbase lengths as well as the general architecture. The technical director continued further stating the new car is just a refined, more improved version of previous cars, which has allowed for further improvements aerodynamically. Will this be the best car yet? Or could the Mercedes domination be on the verge of collapse?
Sadly, this means the teases of a camouflaged car which Mercedes set about on their social media feeds were all a hoax to get people talking...
The two drivers are ready for this season. With the current reigning champion, Lewis Hamilton, stating "2018 was a great year, but I feel like 2019 can be even better. I want to achieve more, I want to continue to keep pushing. I feel energised and I'm ready to attack." Will Hamilton defend his title or will the Ferrari finally make the leap?
Hamilton's teammate, Valtteri Bottas, received a hard time last season having not secured the top step of the podium despite being in a clearly winnable car. Although, Valtteri was struck by bad luck in Azerbaijan when he was leading the race until he received a puncture in his front tire. Moreover, in Russia, team orders took over and Valtteri was asked to give way for the championship leader, Lewis Hamilton. Therefore, Valtteri lacked the two races he was 'entitled' to win. Furthermore, although Valtteri finished fifth, he was only lacking a mere four points to finish in third. In this case, if he'd have won either of the two races, he would have finished in third rather than fifth. So did Valtteri really deserve such harsh criticisms?
Either way, Valtteri has stated, "I'm going to go all in this year, there was quite a bit of criticism at some stages of 2018, but that's actually been a positive thing for me because it's given me an extra boost!"
Who will come out on top? Can Valtteri prove he's got what it takes to retain his Mercedes drive, there's always Esteban Ocon eager to jump in at any moment, especially since the Finn's contract is expiring this year...?
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