Mercedes unveil eagerly-anticipated, overhauled W15 F1 car

Mercedes have revealed their eagerly-anticipated 2024 F1 challenger, the W15.

The W15 - which will be driven by Lewis Hamilton and George Russell - represents a drastic change to its predecessor, the W14, which was effectively an evolution of Mercedes’ troubled 2022 machine.

It features a striking new silver and black livery combination. 

Mercedes have made expansive modifications to the architecture of the W15 for the 2024 season, which will be Hamilton’s last term with the German manufacturer before he makes the switch to Ferrari.

Part of Mercedes’ direction change with their new challenger sees a switch to a pushrod rear suspension, having been one of the few teams to favour a pull-rod layout in 2023.

"The design of any car is an iterative process. And a long one at that," Mercedes technical director James Allison explained. "It stretches back to last year. 

"A new car enables the team to make bigger alterations that are not possible during the season. These are decisions that are taken during the preceding summer.

"A big focus has been on improving the previous car's unpredictable rear axle. We have worked hard to ensure that both axles, but particularly the rear axle, retain better control of the tyre than on the W14. 

"There's also been some housekeeping on areas in which we had room for improvement, including the DRS effect, and pit stop performance."

Hamilton and Russell will shakedown the new W15 today at Silverstone. 

Mercedes edged Ferrari to second place in the constructors’ standings last year and will hope the W15 can bring them back into race and title-winning contention after suffering their first victory-less campaign in over a decade.

Whether the changes will be enough to bring Mercedes on a level par with Red Bull, who have dominated the last two F1 campaigns, remains to be seen.

Red Bull will be the 10th and final team to unveil their 2024 challenger - the RB20 - on Thursday.

Pre-season testing gets underway next week in Bahrain, before the season-opening grand prix on March 2.