The W13 was an all-new car in every respect save its drivetrain. It was officially unveiled at Silverstone Circuit on 18 February 2022, when Hamilton and Russell completed an inaugural shakedown. The car then undertook two pre-season tests: the first at Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya from 23 to 25 February, covering 392 laps and 1,832 km; the second at the Bahrain International Circuit from 10 to 12 March, covering 384 laps and 2,078 km.
Both tests exposed serious handling and balance problems, with excessive porpoising a dominant concern. Hamilton publicly wrote off the team's chances of winning the opening race of the season. The W13 adopted an almost sidepod-less concept during the Bahrain test, a distinctive design choice that became the car's defining visual identity for the year. Red Bull team principal Christian Horner initially suggested the design was not in the spirit of the regulations, though a Red Bull spokesperson subsequently stated that no official comment had been made. The new M13 E Performance power unit produced a maximum power output of 770 kW (1,030 hp), representing a gain of approximately 20 horsepower from improvements to the turbocharger and fuel management system.
The W13 marked a return to Mercedes' traditional silver livery after the W11 and W12 had been painted black in solidarity with the Black Lives Matter movement; the drivers, however, continued to race in black overalls. A planned special livery for the Belgian Grand Prix — a red-and-silver tribute to the 1971 Mercedes-AMG "Rote Sau" 300 SEL 6.8, celebrating 55 years of Mercedes-AMG — was ultimately abandoned due to weight concerns and the scheduling of three consecutive race weekends. Some elements, including AMG logos and driver numbers, did appear on the car.
The W13 was uncompetitive through the early portion of the season before significant development upgrades were introduced at the Spanish Grand Prix. Hamilton and Russell collected podium finishes when the leading Ferrari drivers encountered problems, though the car remained clearly behind Red Bull and Ferrari in outright pace.
Despite its limitations, the W13 proved reliable throughout most of the year. The exception came in the final race at Abu Dhabi, where Hamilton retired on lap 55 with a hydraulics failure. George Russell provided the season's landmark results: he scored his first Formula One pole position at the Hungarian Grand Prix and claimed his maiden victory at the São Paulo Grand Prix, which was also the team's first win since the 2021 Saudi Arabian Grand Prix and their first one-two finish since the 2020 Emilia Romagna Grand Prix. It was the first time since 2012 that Mercedes had won only one race and taken a single pole position in a season.
Russell's win in Brazil extended Mercedes' consecutive race-winning seasons to eleven — the third-longest such streak in the history of the sport at that point — stretching back to the Chinese Grand Prix in 2012. That streak ended the following season when Mercedes failed to win a race for the first time since 2011.
Team principal Toto Wolff stated his intention to display examples of the W13 at the Mercedes facilities in Brackley and Brixworth as a permanent reminder of how difficult the sport can be. The car is widely regarded as one of the weakest machines produced by the Mercedes-AMG Formula One programme.