© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Lewis Hamilton says “pretty much everyone in the team, or in the garage at least, preferred the black car from before”.
Everyone was surprised when Mercedes revealed their 2023 car would return to an all-black livery, which the team sported in 2020 and 2021, as a stand against racism and in support of diversity.
Back in 2020, it was Lewis Hamilton who suggested that the team make the switch from their traditional silver to all-black, and now he gives his comments on Mercedes’ 2023 livery change.
“Pretty much everyone in the team, or in the garage at least, preferred the black car from before,” Lewis said at the car’s launch.
“So everyone is with it, everyone likes it within the team.”
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff already explained that the switch to all-black was performance driven, as the team used a lot of bare carbon to decrease the weight of the car.
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Lewis also confirms the switch primarily had to do with performance.
“Weight is a key goal for us,” he explained.
“We were overweight all year last year and carried a weight penalty even into the last race.
“So that has been a heavy focus to make sure it is not the case this year. We will find out next week whether we have hit that mark.
“Even last year we thought we were going to be on weight and we were way over so I am glad that has been taken seriously and that we see not too much paint on the car.
“That, for me, is positive because we are all out for performance and it is not necessarily how it looks but how quick it goes,” Hamilton concluded.
