Mercedes unveil Lewis Hamilton’s incredible new car with six upgrades costing £1m and Brit is already impressed
LEWIS HAMILTON'S Mercedes team have unveiled the car they hope will allow him to fight Max Verstappen.
Since scrapping this year's design after the first 60-minute practice session in Bahrain, Merc chiefs have shuffled their design team and come up with a whole new package.
The radical changes have cost over £1million in parts alone - with the factory operating 24 hours a day, seven days a week, to get them ready in time.
And the British seven-time world champ is already delighted by the difference after the opening day of practice for the Monaco Grand Prix.
Hamilton, 38, briefly topped the time sheets in the opening session before eventually finishing third.
He said: "He said: "I've generally had an amazing day. I've really enjoyed driving.
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"I want to say a big, big thank you to everyone back in the factory, because to build and design and develop a car is not an easy thing, and everyone has put so much time in, so many hours of hard work to have us here.
"I'm glad we were able to keep it on-track for them, and I think we got a lot of data.
"It's not the place to ultimately test an upgrade, but the car was feeling good.
"It's a shame we weren't as close as I hoped at the end of the session. But I definitely felt the improvements, and I'm grateful for that.
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"We've just got to keep chipping away at it and see if we can squeeze any more juice out of the car."
Verstappen's Red Bull team have dominated this season winning all five of the opening races.
Here, SunSport takes a look at the changes Mercedes have made in the hope of tackling the Dutchman.
1. Sidepods
The most obvious design change to Hamilton's car. Perhaps almost smugly, Merc had thought they had come up with a revolutionary zero-side pod design in 2022.
They were the only team to do it - and blindly stuck with it for 15 months. Finally, they realised they were chasing a lost cause and reintroduced the bulbous parts of bodywork.
The extra surface area will increase downforce and the new design meant the team had to redesign the car's radiators that sit under the bodywork.
It does mean the car is now slightly heavier by around 500 grams but it means that the new Silver Arrow looks more like their rivals.
2. Front Suspension
The second big change is the top of the wishbone suspension has moved inward and upwards.
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The higher suspension has a number of benefits. Firstly, the improved airflow increases downforce but Merc also believe the change will improve the stability of the car under braking.
That will increase their drivers' confidence when stamping late on the brake pedal that the car will not skip out of line.
A final benefit will result in the air running over the suspension into the sidepod and into the radiator to help with cooling.
3. A New Floor
In the past, F1 cars have relied on downforce, wind rushing over bodywork to press the car into the ground allowing the drivers to take corners quicker.
This new generation of cars work in a different way where the primary aerodynamic principle is to suck the car to the ground.
As a result, the front and rear wings are less intricate, but the underside of the car's floor has become extremely crucial.
It means that Merc have redesigned the underside of the car to accommodate the wider bodywork, without causing the return of porpoising - the dreaded bouncing we saw last year.
4. Engine Cover
With the redesigned floor and sidepods, the team have also reshaped the engine cover.
This improves the downforce of air over the top of it, but also helps channel the air into the rear wing for more downforce.
5. Rear Wing
With the new volume of air passing over the car, the rear wing has been tweaked accordingly to take the increase.
Like the other, larger body panels, the larger surface area will help to create more downforce, ultimately allowing the cars to tackle corners faster.
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6. Rear Brakes
The final big change sees the redevelopment of the brakes. The cylindrical shape - known as a cake tin - has been redesigned to work with the new airflow directions.
The winglets channel air into the brake ducts to help with cooling them down and preserving brake wear.