Lewis Hamilton recalls emotional moment Mercedes agreed to black livery switch

Lewis Hamilton has admitted he “couldn’t believe” Mercedes agreed to switch to a black livery for the 2020 F1 season.

Hamilton and team boss Toto Wolff took a trip down memory lane by looking at all of their championship-winning cars.

In a video released on the Mercedes YouTube channel, Hamilton and Wolff revisited the W05 - the car that won the 2014 title - all the way up to the iconic W11 from 2020.

For the COVID-hit 2020 campaign, Mercedes shocked the world by ditching their traditional silver livery for an all-black design.

The black livery was a nod towards F1’s initiative to improve diversity and equality in the sport - something that was being pushed by Hamilton at the time.

The fully black livery remained in 2021, while Mercedes now adopt a combination of black and silver.

When reflecting on the change in livery, Hamilton spoke candidly about the change and how surprised he was that Mercedes agreed to it.

“I couldn’t honestly believe it. I was at my dad’s house after I had spoken to you after changing the car to black. I couldn’t believe when you called me and said they all agreed,” Hamilton said.

“Quickly,” Wolff interjected.

“That was a really emotional call for me. I was at my dad’s house and I remember when I got off and I was like, ‘Oh my God, they’re changing the car to black, they’ve agreed,’” Hamilton added.

“It was a big, big step for Mercedes. The Silver Arrows racing in black,” Wolff replied.

“It looked the best in black. It looks like a nightrider, you know? It looked so cool. That’s why we stick,” Hamilton said.

“We’re going to continue,” Wolff added.

“Are you going to continue?” Hamilton replied.

“Yes, it’s what you brought,” Wolff concluded.

F1’s quickest car ever

Mercedes’ W11 from 2020 is widely regarded as the quickest car in F1 history.

While it wasn’t as successful as Red Bull’s RB19, which won 21 of 22 races, in terms of pure speed, it was perhaps the fastest.

The W11’s dominance was mostly seen in qualifying, often over 0.7s clear of the second-fastest team.

A shorter season due to the pandemic cost Mercedes more victories.

Operational errors in Monza and Bahrain (short) also meant the W11 didn’t win as many races as it should have.

While Max Verstappen brilliance for Red Bull saw him win the 70th Anniversary GP and Abu Dhabi GP.