The Silver Arrow is actually well… silver!
I’ll own up, I overslept this morning. So much so that I actually missed the reveal of of the W10. All I can say is someone pinch me because I still must be dreaming. That 2019 Mercedes is beautiful. It’s not until Mercedes unveiled this masterpiece, that I realised how messy the 2017 and 2018 liveries were. I don’t think I would’ve said that until seeing the 2019 revision, maybe it just shows how tidy this livery is. Remember I’m no expert in graphic design, I mean have you seen my logo? But I remember when Chain Bear F1 released a livery design explainer video, he always said that design should always follow the shape of the chassis. While Merc did do this for the past two seasons, it’s only now that it has been perfected. Having one thicker, green line, rather than several thinner ones works better because the thicker line is so much stronger. The movement of grey to actual silver or chrome is also a big step up. Either that or the grey just pops more under light this year. The end result is still much better.
I haven’t even gotten to the fade on the engine cover yet. Personally, it’s much more effective from far away. But I still don’t know what to think about it up close, is it possible only to see the fade from afar? I don’t know, I can still be persuaded. Let me know what you think. At the current moment, the numbers are only white, not the usual red and blue for Lewis and Valtteri respectively. I hope this is only for the shakedown runs, this is the nearest F1 has gotten to personalised numbering.
When F1 first unveiled the new driver number system for 2014, I thought it would lead to MotoGP style development where the number became the drivers’ brand. I’m still very disappointed this hasn’t taken off, particularly in light of Liberty’s plan to make the drivers seem more like heroes and bringing them to the forefront. I seriously hope that this develops in the world of Formula 1 soon. I don’t think it would distract from MotoGP either, we’ve already heard that drivers’ won’t adopt Vale’s 46 because they think it’s sacred, and rightly so. When most of the premier class have their numbers above 30, and the top riders have numbers in the 90s, it’s clear to see that we wouldn’t distract from Marc Marquez or Jorge Lorenzo.
Anyway, back to Merc. Can we all just appreciate they didn’t reveal that camo livery today? Firstly because we wouldn’t have seen this sheer perfection on the W10, but also because let’s be honest, it was quite frankly hideous. I hope we get to understand why they teased 2019 this way, but right now the feeling of sheer relief is just too much to care about anything else.
Valtteri, it’s Esteban
Christ, did I really stoop that low just to use that God awful meme? Apparently Lewis wouldn’t re-sign unless Valtteri was his team mate, I hope this wasn’t true. No offence to Valtteri, but part of the pull of Formula 1 is seeing the best drivers battling the best cars. The difference between the Ferrari and Mercedes should’ve lent itself to a four-way title battle. If Charles Leclerc can keep performing like he has in his new team then I can’t help but feel it will be Mercedes’ Achilles’ heel. It saddens me that arguably the best driver of his generation didn’t fancy testing himself against a Danny Ric for example. I hope edgy beard Bottas, means we get an edgy driver Bottas. He was unlucky in the first half of the season, granted, but he was nowhere near the pace in the second half, Russia aside. There are thoughts that Bottas won’t make the end of the season, and who can blame them when you have Ocon in reserve. I hope Bottas ups his pace and can mount a serious title challenge this year, but it’s going to take a hell of amount of work.
Lewis will do what he’s always done. He’ll have a shaky first 5-10 rounds, sounding really unmotivated on the radio, then dupe me into thinking he’s had enough and will retire at the end of the season to concentrate on his music or his collection with Tommy Hilfiger. I can guarantee I will write something similar to this by China. I honestly thought he was gone at the end of last year, instead he put in a perfect summer and second half of the season to take a comfortable 5th title. If he’s under more pressure this year goodness knows he’ll do, but I know he’ll be fast.
If gap continues to close at the top like it has done the past couple of years then I’m going to be bold and say they’ll finish second in the constructors’. However I’d probably back Lewis for the drivers’. Hopefully it’s more than a two way battle this year, and with Leclerc in the scarlet car I’d say we have a strong chance of that being the case. We may end up with a feisty Bottas too, so it’ll be close at the top, but I have a feeling that experience and a tendency not to bottle may just prevail.
George Talks 