Mercedes have shown off their new car for the 2024 F1 season for the first time as Lewis Hamilton looks to end his stint with the side on a high.
The 39-year-old confirmed at the start of the month that he'd be leaving the Silver Arrows for Ferrari at the end of the campaign.
Hamilton will be hoping to improve on last year's showings, having finished a distant third behind Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez.
And Mercedes have now shown off their W15 car at their launch event at Silverstone.
Introducing the Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE 🤍🖤 pic.twitter.com/xgvJkWVIph
— Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team (@MercedesAMGF1) February 14, 2024
The team have made numerous tweaks from the W14 as they look to boost Hamilton and George Russell's chances of glory.
The W15 features a predominantly black colour scheme, just like their vehicle from last year.
And Mercedes chief Toto Wolff say the W15 marks a 'complete relaunch' for the F1 side as they look to achieve success again.
"We know we have a mountain to climb to fight at the very front. There are no miracles in this sport," he said.
“But our ambition and determination are strong.
"Since charting this new course, development has progressed well.
"We had several items on our priority list for this car. We will soon see if we’ve made the step we’ve aimed for.”
Mercedes will run the W15 for the first time later today at Silverstone.
And they're seemingly hopeful of an improved campaign, with Hamilton eager to end his stint with the Silver Arrows on a positive note.
F1 fans on social media have reacted to the new car, with one saying: "W15 would you be my valentine?"
A second said: "Don't embarrass the goat in his last season with Mercedes W15."
A third stated: "Mercedes have decided to go the Redbull way... No Shame in that...... If you can't beat them,then join them."
A fourth weighed in by saying: "That looks super clean! Let's just make sure it's not a tractor on the track this year."
A fifth said: "Mercedes is back guys."
And a sixth stated: My people... You guys need to come back to the podium. F1 is boring for me without Merc on the podium."
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Meanwhile, Ferrari chief Fred Vasseur has opened up on the decision to sign Hamilton.
And he's confessed it was difficult informing Carlos Sainz Jnr that he was being replaced for 2025.
“As you can imagine, it was not the easiest call of my life,” Ferrari’s team principal said.
“I’m fully convinced that (Sainz) is a very professional driver, that he understands that we have a long season in front of us, that it’s a huge opportunity.
“And I think it’s also a dream to be in this situation, to have the team behind him.
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"I mean, we had a long discussion that as you can imagine, I will be fully supporting with Carlos.
“He is fully committed and we know that we have to do the job together. We are together, we are professional.”
He added: "You know that we have a good relationship [with Hamilton] for now a bit more than 20 years.
“We were always in contact to speak about different things and I think it came naturally.
"I don’t know what was this easy or what was not, but it came like this, step by step.”
