Update: As of 1900 UTC on July 28, this is now available for F1 2020 across all platforms.
An update for F1 2020 is coming to all platforms this week, to address the remaining visual incongruity of the grid: the new official livery of the Mercedes-AMG F1 W11.
Thanks to the rather hefty delay to the start of the real-world F1 season, we’ve seen a number of changes that, in any ordinary year, simply wouldn’t have otherwise happened. The game won’t reflect the major ones, which center on cancelled, rearranged, duplicated, and substitute grands prix. That means that rather than players racing at the Red Bull Ring and Silverstone twice each, they’ll be able to drive the season as it would have been; you won’t get to drive Portimao or Imola, but you will race at Zandvoort and Hanoi.
However, minor changes to liveries will also take place in the game. It’s something we’d already seen at the game’s launch, with a day one patch swapping out the Williams livery from February with the one that has actually raced. This was due to a split with title sponsor ROKiT ahead of the rearranged first grand prix of the season.
Mercedes-AMG also changed its livery before the season got underway, though it was a conscious choice not forced by sponsor concerns. Instead, Mercedes moved to a largely black scheme from the previous “Silver Arrows” motif, to highlight its stance against racism.
The team’s lead driver, Lewis Hamilton, has endured racial abuse from the crowd at grands prix previously, but it’s an issue that has come to the fore in recent months, far beyond the F1 grid. Team principal Toto Wolff, speaking at the livery unveiling, stated:
“Racism and discrimination have no place in our society, our sport or our team. This is a core belief at Mercedes. But having the right beliefs and the right mindset isn’t enough if we remain silent.
“We wish to use our voice and our global platform to speak up for respect and equality, and the Silver Arrows will race in black for the entire 2020 season to show our commitment to greater diversity within our team and our sport. We will not shy away from our weaknesses in this area, nor from the progress we must still make. Our livery is our public pledge to take positive action.”
As well as replacing the old Mercedes livery, v1.06 brings a few minor changes. These include progression issues in My Team, fixing a sponsor payout problem, and making sure that the Racing Point drivers Sergio Perez and Lance Stroll wear the correct gloves.
The update is available now on PC, and will arrive on consoles later this week.
