Team Principal Toto Wolff claimed that the W14 would have "different DNA" from the W14's predecessor, the Mercedes W13, after a challenging 2022 campaign that had seen them out of the World Championship battle. The W14 was designed with a higher ride height with the aim to reduce porpoising. The car, however, proved to be less competitive than expected at the start of the season, causing key figures in the Mercedes team to question the effectiveness of the car's concept.
At the launch, held on 15 February 2023, the W14 was revealed to have a black livery, much like its predecessors, the Mercedes F1 W11 of 2020 and the W12 of 2021, but unlike those aforementioned cars, the black livery on the car is not being primarily used to promote diversity, but to save weight after the team admitted to struggling with excess weight with its 2022 car, the W13, which had a traditional silver-painted livery. The black colour was created by leaving some parts as unpainted raw carbon whilst others are painted matte black.
In Bahrain, the season opener of 2023, Russell out-qualified teammate Hamilton by starting 6th, while the latter qualified 7th. In the opening laps, Hamilton was already in 5th place and would finish the race in that position, while Russell inherited Hamilton's starting position with the Aston Martin car of Lance Stroll separating them. In Saudi Arabia, Mercedes had a mixed qualifying session with Russell qualified 4th, while Hamilton qualified in a frustrating 8th place. During the race, Hamilton would finish in 5th, while Russell finished 4th. In Australia, the W14 looked to be competitive around Albert Park with Russell and Hamilton achieving 2nd and 3rd in qualifying. During the race, Russell made an excellent start and inherits the lead from Verstappen, hanging on to it until lap 6 until he pitted with teammate Hamilton inheriting the lead. Verstappen would eventually overtake Hamilton for the lead on lap 12. Russell's race was cut short with a powertrain problem as he retired from the race on lap 18. Hamilton eventually finished the race in 2nd place, achieving W14 and the team's first podium finish of the season. Both Mercedes drivers would finish on the points for the next two races in Azerbaijan and Miami. But neither of the drivers finished on the podium in the aforementioned races.