The Monster Super Tour is fast coming to all corners of the globe like a howling dog straight out of hell, rabid for rails and hungry for the heshest spots known to mankind.

Forged in the fire of the challenging 2022 season, Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team’s new car - the 2023 Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E PERFORMANCE - is back in black with a range of new changes from aero to weight saving. At the wheel will be Sir Lewis Hamilton and George Russell, who line up for their second season together, supported by Mick Schumacher in his role as third driver.

“Last year was difficult but it came with lots of learnings,” said Team Principal & CEO of the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Toto Wolff. “I hope 2023 will be proof that we have understood how to unravel the problems and improve the package of the car.”

“W13 certainly had performance which we never were able to unlock and put all its downforce on the ground. Our car performed very well at the end of the season. However, we still had the famous bouncing at some circuits and the car never gave the drivers good feedback, which limited them in being able to really push. We have tried to keep all the goodness of the W13 and address its weaknesses,”

“We were overweight last year. This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram. 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,”

Technical Director, Mike Elliott further explains the W14’s detail: “Last year, once we had figured out what we needed to do, it took a huge amount of work to get ourselves moving forward. We have done all the things that we wanted to do with the W13 last year but weren’t able to because of resource constraints or because our focus was elsewhere fixing other issues,” 
 

“Areas targeted include reducing overall weight, giving the drivers a more consistent car balance across the speed range, and better matching the aerodynamic characteristics to the demands of the aero regulations. This is borne out in areas such as a significantly lighter chassis, revised front suspension geometry, cooling system adjustments and a refined aerodynamic concept based on last year’s learning. With this generation of cars, the performance is all in the detail. When you look at the W14, you will see the DNA of the W13 but also a lot of evolution and detail improvement,”

Seven time Formula One World Champion Sir Lewis Hamilton added: “I have been a part of this team for over a decade and the efforts of everyone never cease to amaze me. I find it inspiring how diligently and passionately each person approaches their work. “To see the evolution of the car and the changes that have been made is fascinating.  We’ve redesigned, optimised, and innovated so many parts of the car and that is impressive. And I love the new livery! It says, ‘we mean business’.”

George Russell added: “I have been incredibly impressed with how the Team developed the car throughout last season. We have been building momentum throughout 2022 and we’re excited to see how that has progressed over the winter. It’s been a long winter and there’s plenty of anticipation to see if the W14 lives up to our expectations. I’m excited and, while there’s a lot of talk at this point in the season, we now need to see how we perform when the car takes to the track.”

While Hamilton and Russell begin their second season together as team-mates there is a change in Reserve Driver for 2023. Mick Schumacher joins the team after two years spent as a race driver at the Haas F1 Team. The 23-year-old German said: “I’ve always felt very close to Mercedes. I am very happy to be a part of the Team and I know how important my role will be in aiding the development of the W14. I am committed to giving it my all to contribute to our performance in this competitive environment.”

Check out the full launch here: https://www.youtube.com/live/N__abV1TqBY?feature=share 

From being the fastest Rally2 driver at Rallye Monte-Carlo, to winning the Race of Champions Nations Cup, to now leading the WRC2 standings after a win in front of his home crowd - it’s been a hell of a few weeks for Oliver Solberg. 

The 21 year old scored his maiden WRC2 victory with a dominant performance at the 2023 Rally Sweden, rocketing to win eight of the event’s 18 stages. 

“This is such a nice result,” said Oliver. “I really feel we did a good job with this one. We were consistent, no mistakes, Elliott [Edmondson, co-driver] did a fantastic job and so did the team. I’m very, very happy. The route was really quick, and nice and wide in places, so we could make some margin and really push. But it definitely wasn’t so easy. There was some understeer in the car on some of the twisty sections and we were running as the first car on to the stage.”

Explaining the issue of following the Rally1 cars, Oliver added: “They are a little bit wider and they have more power, so they are making a set of lines and ruts in the road which we have to follow. 
 
“But in some places, because our car is a little bit more narrow, we have one set of wheels on the left or on the right side out of the ruts and jumping around. Basically, it makes the car a little bit unstable; this is no problem when you are in second or third gear, but when you have a lot of speed and you’re flat out in fifth then it’s not always making you smile!
 
“The main thing for me – the only thing for me – is that we came here, we took more experience from the car and we were able to win the event and take the maximum bonus points from the stage. I have to be very happy with that one.I think it’s fair to say I am happy with everything in my life, right now,” he said. “The win, to be joint leading the championship and to be with this team and this car… it’s all good right now!”

Check out Oliver in action in the Swedish snow by hitting play below…

En fylld arena med 50 000 skrikande fans I Warszawa’s PGE Narodowy Stadium bevittnade en fullspäckad uppgörelse på Orlen FIM Speedway Grand Prix i Polen den 14 maj 2022.