W12, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team’s 2021 challenger!

Focus on diversity, inclusion and sustainability

Last season, we raced with a black base livery as a public pledge for greater diversity and inclusion within both the team and our
sport. This was the start of a long journey and we’ve made some important initial steps in recent months, with much more still to come over the course of this season and beyond.

The black base livery remains for the 2021 season as a sign of the team’s continued commitment to becoming more diverse and inclusive as a company. Projects such as the partnership with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the development of the Accelerate 25 programme for the team and a new foundation that we will jointly create with Lewis mark the very start of this journey.

“We have rolled out training for our recruiters to sensitise them of unconscious bias and all our managers have completed our inclusive excellence programme,” added Toto. “At the same time, we’ve set ourselves the goal of at least 25 per cent of all new starters coming from under-represented groups for the next five years. The latest step is a joint foundation that we will create together with Lewis to improve all aspects of diversity in motorsport.

“All of these measures are encouraging, but we know that real change takes time and we’re at the start of a very long journey. So, this topic will very much remain in our focus for years to come as we build on the foundations we’ve laid over the past few months.”

Working to make the team more sustainable is also an important focus, after achieving a net-zero carbon footprint at the factories in 2020 and becoming just the second F1 team to be awarded FIA Three-Star Environmental Accreditation late last year.

“We’re continuing to push forward with our sustainability projects in 2021, with the aim of cutting our CO2 footprint by 50 per cent by 2022 compared to 2018,” Toto said. “A lot of work is also going into sustainable fuels for the future, particularly in Brixworth. Working alongside our title partner PETRONAS, the first step in the direction of sustainable fuel is the introduction of the E10 fuel for 2022, but all the Power Unit manufacturers and fuel manufacturers are also looking further down the line to a 100 per cent sustainable fuel. It’s a really intriguing challenge that we’re facing.”

Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance Launch – Valtteri Bottas

Driver line-up stability for a fifth consecutive season

While the world around us and the environment we are working in is constantly changing, we enjoy stability in the team’s driver line-up for the 2021 season with Lewis and Valtteri entering their fifth season as team-mates. Both are looking forward to getting back in the cockpit after the winter break, which included intense winter training programmes.

“The launch day of a new car is always a really exciting one,” said Lewis. “It’s great to reveal to the world the result of everyone’s hard work at the factories and to see some of my team-mates in person, which has been so rare during the past year. I’ve been in touch with the engineers through the winter, keeping track of their preparations as I prepare myself for the season ahead. The excitement has been building and building, so now I just can’t wait to get out on track in the W12.”

“Obviously we haven’t been able to visit the factory much in the past year, so firstly, I’m really happy to be back here and to see the new car in person for the first time,” said Valtteri. “I’ve been getting regular updates on how things are progressing, so it’s nice to now be able to see the end result in the flesh and that just gets me more fired up for the new season. The cars are pretty similar to last year but there are some interesting aero changes that will have an impact on how the car handles and performs, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it feels on track in Bahrain.”

“I think the consistency we’ve had within this team over the years has been a real strength and advantage of ours,” said Toto, on the driver line-up for 2021. “As we’ve seen in past seasons, it’s a line-up that works well for us, with two incredibly strong drivers who also have a very professional working relationship together. Both are hungry and fired-up to get back racing again soon and we’re all looking forward to seeing them drive our new car in anger for the first time in a few weeks.”

We also have a strong Reserve Driver line-up for the 2021 season, with Stoffel Vandoorne continuing in the role alongside his Mercedes team-mate in Formula E, Nyck de Vries.

Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance Launch – Renders

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