Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has explained why the team has reverted to a black livery for the 2023 season.

Ahead of the 2020 campaign, which did not start until early July due to Covid-19, Mercedes unveiled a black livery for its W11.

CLICK HERE for more images of the Mercedes F1 W14

At the time, that was done to make a stand against racism and discrimination, and a pledge to improve the diversity of the team.

Mercedes continued with the colour scheme through 2021 before switching back to silver last year.

On this occasion, however, the decision to return to black is on more technical grounds, with the majority of the car raw carbon fibre.

“We were overweight last year,” said Wolff. “This year we have tried to figure out where we can squeeze out every single gramme. So now, history repeats itself.

“You will see that the car has some raw carbon bits, along with some that are painted matte black, and we have gained the grammes.

“Of course, when we changed the livery in 2020 the main driving factor was to support the diversity and equality causes which are always close to our heart.

“The colour black became part of our DNA at that point, so we are pleased to return to it.

“We had a black car two years ago and it just came together. It’s wonderful.”

As to how the W14 E Performance will perform, Wolff added: “Is she going to be as fast as she looks? I hope so but definitely there is a lot of excitement in putting the car on the road.”

Other weight-saving modifications include a lighter chassis, while other notable revisions to the car relate to the front suspension geometry, cooling system and aerodynamics.