New Mercedes-F1 car: Russell and Antonelli in the title race!

The Mercedes racing Team revealed its new vehicle, the Mercedes-AMG F1 W16, for the 2025 Formula 1 season in an exciting presentation. After the departure of superstar Lewis Hamilton, the team is now under the pressure to go into points with George Russell and the emerging talent Kimi Antonelli. Technical chief James Allison explained that the main focus was on improving the gift behavior of the previous model W15 in slow curves and optimizing the unpredictable tire temperature. Team boss Toto Wolff expects a gripping World Cup fight: "The season will be fiercely fought; I expect it to be even narrower," said Wolff, and that opened the anticipation for an exciting race for the title (krone.at).

The new season comes with exciting rules of control, even if the comprehensive changes only come into force in 2026. For 2025, some old rules were abolished and some new ones were introduced. The driver constellations provide a remarkable change: Lewis Hamilton changes to Ferrari, while George Russell forms a new duo with Kimi Antonelli at Mercedes. At Red Bull, world champion Max Verstappen is supported by Liam Lawson, and in various teams there are numerous new combinations (Sky Sport).

rules and challenges

An important feature of the 2025 season is the increased obligation for the regular pilots to open their cockpits for junior drivers. From this year, experienced drivers have to hand in two free training sessions per season, while rookies like Antonelli are excluded from this regulation. In addition, the extra point for the fastest round in the race was canceled, which drastically changes the strategic considerations of the teams. This reduces the point pool by a total of 24 points, which presents the top teams with new challenges.

In addition, the minimum weight for the driver and their seat shells is increased from 82 kilograms to increase equal opportunities and to compensate for the influence of the body size on the overall performance. Both challenges and competitive pressure come with the innovations, and the teams have to adapt quickly (Sky Sport).