Mercedes F1 launch: Will the new W08 car help Lewis Hamilton regain the title?

Lewis Hamilton finds that his mind wanders sometimes to the vexed question of his long-term future in Formula One. As one of sport’s few global icons, he could easily lose himself in his other outlets, from fashion to music to riding the Pacific breakers on his surfboard. 

But then he has days like Thursday, when Mercedes present him with another exquisite piece of German engineering, and he is 13 years old again, his passion rekindled and his eyes fixed on nothing but the road ahead.

As the gleaming Mercedes W08, a car designed to sustain three years of Silvers Arrows supremacy, was wheeled out of its Silverstone garage, Hamilton’s eyes lit up at the sight. “I can understand the feeling of wanting to stop and do something different,” he said. “Now and again I have a thought about what I do afterwards. But then I see the car.” 

On first inspection, Mercedes’ latest creation was an aesthetic and technological marvel, rejecting the ugly shark-fin design showcased by rival teams in favour of a sleeker but no less aerodynamic look, comprising an elegantly complex front wing and long sidepods set up to counter the turbulence around the gigantic rear tyres.