Mercedes has denied the change to black overalls caused Valtteri Bottas' complaint of being too hot during the Spanish Grand Prix.
Before the start of the rebooted season back in July, the Brackley-based team changed their colours from the traditional silver to black as part of Formula 1's End Racism campaign and in solidarity with Lewis Hamilton, who is campaigning for equality with the Black Lives Matter movement.
But on what had been a baking weekend in Barcelona, the Finn initially blamed the dark overalls for absorbing the heat during the 91-minute race.
“It was really hot in the car,” he said post-race. “This year, it’s been even hotter in the car. Obviously, we had to change the colour of the overalls and it’s known that black colour takes more of the heat, especially when there’s direct sun.
“I don’t know any number or facts, how much actually black versus white is in terms of temperature difference, but this year, it’s been really hot in the car.”
Bottas though acknowledged the colour wasn't solely to blame.
“Also there’s a new homologation this year for the overalls, so they are thicker and the underwear is thicker, so I don’t know how much effect that has," he added.
“It was just so hot so I said, ‘Guys, you know that these overalls are way too hot.’ And for sure, white would be cooler in terms of temperature and today, for example, I lost three kilos in the race, which is quite a lot.
“And that’s where it can start to affect performance. I know that from all drivers I’m one of the fittest if not the fittest, so I can take it, but it’s never comfortable and there’s always things that we can improve.”
Later asked about Bottas' complaint by Motorsport-Total.com, team boss Toto Wolff also believes the thicker overalls were more of a factor.
"We just have a new material," he told the German publication. "Maybe we have to look again to see if we can find a compromise on how we can get it a little thinner."
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Back in Austria, Mercedes also played down whether the all-black livery risked creating cooling issues with the W11.
Inside the engine cover there’s actually a silver lining, a heat resistant lining, and that is in place irrespective of the outside colour,” chief strategist James Vowles explained.
“But we can’t see any difference on our radiator temperatures or other temperatures of core systems within the car as the result of the paint colour externally.”
