The myths and truths of Mercedes’ Silver Arrows past

Black is back, and in a big way. The coming Formula 1 season is hardly shaping up to be a vintage year for eye-catching liveries. As the name of the MCL60 alludes to, McLaren is celebrating its diamond anniversary this year. But its latest creation doesn’t pay tribute to an illustrious history by wearing a predominantly papaya paintjob. There’s just as much exposed carbon fibre weave as there is bright orange. 

Mercedes has gone even further. The eight-time constructors’ champion will be defined overall this term by its winter powers of resurrection to take the fight to Red Bull and Ferrari. The W13 must eliminate the excessive levels of drag and bouncing that dogged the outfit so severely in 2022 upon the return of ground-effects to F1. However, the main talking point in the immediate aftermath of Merc’s launch on Wednesday was the return of the ‘Black Arrows’. 

The primary reason for ditching the synonymous silver scheme is for a saving on the scales. Even though the FIA has ditched a proposed 2kg cut to the minimum car weight limit for 2023, teams are still far from comfortably making the 798kg threshold. As a result, each squad’s commercial and marketing department has largely lost the argument to the engineers. Forget a scheme that stands out boldly on TV to appease sponsors, there can be zero excess fat. 

As such, Mercedes has ditched its synonymous silver and now returned to the black palette that adorned its cars during the 2020 and 2021 seasons. Take a closer look and, although the surfaces above the halo and around the rollover hoop and intake are indeed painted or wrapped, around the sidepods there’s exposed carbon fibre.  

Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff said of the return to a largely black livery: “We were overweight last year. This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gram… You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black.” 

Happily, however, the drastic weight saving neatly replicates a 90-year-old slice of Merc’s own racing history. According to the official W14 bumf, “the team has taken inspiration from the legendary creation of the original Silver Arrows” in stripping back the paint. 

Ostensibly, the archives read that Mercedes unveiled its new W25 to Adolf Hitler in January 1934, with the supercharged machine resplendent in white – the national…