Compare the new Mercedes W10 with last year’s W09

2019 F1 season

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The new Mercedes W10 has run for the first time at Silverstone today.

The winners of the past five world championships have presented an all-new car for the forthcoming season. Some of the changes, such as the wider front wing and taller, deeper rear wing, have come about due to changes in the regulations.

But other revisions to the car have come about in the team’s ongoing pursuit of performance which has seen it lead the way in Formula 1 since the current V6 hybrid turbo regulations were introduced five years ago.

While the front wing rules for 2019 have forced teams to use simpler designs here, the new W10 clearly features a high degree of aerodynamic sophistication in its launch specification. These changes aside, the new car bears a clear family resemblances to last year’s W09, which won 11 races in Lewis Hamilton’s hands.

As has been traditional for the team in recent seasons, Mercedes has had its car up and running well in advance of testing, when the team will expect its new car to continue its reputation for covering a formidable amount of pre-season mileage.

[smr2018test]

Use the slider below to transition between images of Mercedes’ new W10 and last year’s W09. Note some images may have been altered for ease of comparison and should not be used as a reference for measurements.

Front

Side

Three-quarter

Mercedes W10, 2019
Mercedes W10, 2019
Mercedes W09, 2018
Mercedes W09, 2018

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Video: Mercedes reveals its new W10 at Silverstone

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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15 comments on “Compare the new Mercedes W10 with last year’s W09”

  1. Ahhhh, was waiting for those interactive car comparisons!
    I am simple guy – I need to see them side by side to catch all differences :)

  2. Did they increase the wheelbase and rake-angle or is it just me?

    1. Wheelbase is the same…

    2. Not sure. Can’t tell from here if you’ve increased your wheel base or rake angle;)

    3. I was wondering the same thing. The rear wing is most obviously further back in the comparison, but it’s harder to tell if the wheels match up. I think the image of the ’19 car might actually be a tiny bit larger than the ’18 image. The rake is super hard to tell because of the shadow.

    4. @jesperfey13 it is most likely due to different camera angles. Keith usually resizes pictures a little so that they match in the slider. Dimensions are therefore hard to judge from this.

      Interesting to see that Mercedes favor sidepods width to sidepods undercut while most so far have followed Ferrari.

  3. With all respect but this comparison is totally pointless. Why you’re comparing Merc from February 2018 with current new car? Like there’s no progress of 2018 car at all. You should compare Abu Dhabi Merc with new one.

    1. Given every F1 car is unique for every race, I raise the counter point with the best comparison is the Testing spec vs Testing spec or Aussie spec vs Aussie Spec.

      1. Disagree, would you compare the new McLaren with Melbourne 2018 version or at least Spain 2018 (new nose) spec? Would you compare McLaren MP4/8 with MP4/7 or with Kyalami spec MP4/6?

        1. its the lauch spec because you won’t ever see the teams publishing studio pictures of cars that won’t be used anymore.

          OBVIOUSLY.

  4. Slider season!

  5. I too am curious about the side-pods. They seem to me much more similar to the 2017 arrangement that most teams have moved away from.

    Whether it means they are more aero efficient for Mercedes philosophy or whether they need to have larger openings (they seem larger) due to the new PU requirements….only time will tell.

    1. Side pods are definitely tighter, but have larger openings and really tuck in tight at the back. Airbox inlet looks a tad higher and larger as well.

  6. I thought f1 were cutting back on using shark fins, and this merc seems to have made that section bigger for this year.

  7. Impressive but I think the 2018 car looks better, sidepods are no smaller, they save space in some areas only to gain it elsewhere. I would be impressed if the years of the cars were swapped round but surely the 2019 car is better. Even if its not the best car it only needs to be close as they have the best driver.

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