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F1 team principal confirms 'complete relaunch' following car failure

His Mercedes team have ripped up their previous designs

Sam Cook Digital Journalist

Sports Journalist who has been covering motorsport since 2023

Thursday 15 February 2024 20:30 Updated: 18:38

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has revealed that the team's 2024 challenger is a 'complete relaunch' of their car from last season.

Having not managed to claim a single race victory in their W14 in 2023 following Red Bull's extremely dominant year, Wolff stated in the off-season that there would be dramatic changes to the team's car in order to make them more competitive.

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Although the Brackley-based outfit hope to make big gains on their competitors, a championship challenge is unlikely in the short-term, a fact that perhaps persuaded Lewis Hamilton to announce his shock move to Ferrari ahead of 2025.

That means that the upcoming season will be Hamilton's 12th and final season with the team with whom he has managed to claim six of his seven world championships.

Lewis Hamilton will replace Carlos Sainz at Ferrari in 2025

Toto Wolff is hoping to return the team to winning ways in 2024

Mercedes' 2024 challenger unveiled

Hamilton has vowed to try his best to return Mercedes to winning ways in 2024, with the Brit not having won a race since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix.

Now, Wolff has said that they have given themselves the best chance to make gains on Red Bull, by ripping up the previous design of their W14 from last season.

"This is a complete relaunch of a car," Wolff explained at the team's official season launch.

"This is very different. Not only on the aerodynamic surfaces but mainly underneath, there are so many mechanical changes that we have done which we hope are going to translate into more performance, more predictability and a car that the drivers can really push.

"We will see it next week in Bahrain," he concluded, hinting at pre-season testing, which takes place later in February.

Red Bull Mercedes Toto Wolff