The team performed well in the Belgian Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing fourth and George Russell securing a commendable sixth place. Starting from third position, Lewis skillfully maintained his position through the first corner chaos. However, George encountered trouble and dropped to eleventh due to a damaged car. Despite challenges, both drivers showed their racing prowess, with Lewis securing the fastest lap. The team’s performance enabled them to extend their lead in the Constructors’ Championship by 51 points as they head into the summer break. Though some technical issues were faced, the team is confident of making progress with a dedicated focus on improvement during the break. Looking ahead, they remain optimistic about their chances of achieving victory and closing the gap to the front in the upcoming races.

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Großer Preis von Belgien 2023. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, 2023 Belgian GP. Lewis Hamilton

Press Release
Spa-Francorchamps, July 30, 2023

The Team extends gap over P3 in the Constructors’ Championship ahead of summer break

• Lewis Hamilton finished fourth and George Russell sixth in today’s Belgian Grand Prix.
• Starting third on the soft tyre, Lewis avoided contact as the field squeezed into turn one to maintain his grid position.
• George, lining up eighth on the medium compound, lost out however as he was boxed in behind the damaged McLaren of Piastri and dropped to P11.
• As the race settled into its rhythm, Lewis dropped behind Verstappen to P4 before stopping for the Medium tyre on lap 12. George extended his stint until lap 24, switching to the Soft tyre.
• George dropped to P16 but quickly made his way back through the field and up to P6, managing the soft tyre to the end. Lewis boxed for a second set of soft tyres but was unable to undercut Leclerc ahead. He then took a new medium tyre on the penultimate lap and set the fastest lap of the race.
• As we head into the summer break, the Team has extended its advantage over P3 in the Constructors’ Championship to 51 points.
• Imagery of the day is available on our media site. All imagery is rights-free for editorial use.

Lewis Hamilton

It was a non-eventful race for me today with not a huge amount going on. I was unable to keep up with the cars ahead of me and was struggling in the beginning. We know the rear end is our biggest issue and then we had some bouncing this weekend. At the end, I was keeping the Ferrari of Charles Leclerc within a few seconds, but I couldn’t get any closer. It was nice to have the gap to the car behind and to attempt to go for the fastest lap. It was gusty out there today and difficult to keep it on the track, but my lap was decent.

We know we have more work to do to close the gap to the front. We’ll work with all the data we’ve accumulated and try to figure out what we can do for the next race after the summer break.

George Russell

I really felt that I could have been up there with Lewis fighting for a podium for the Team today. Unfortunately, I was boxed in on the opening lap behind Oscar when he picked up damage at the first corner. That cost me a couple of positions and compromised my Grand Prix. After that it was a good race for us, and we have opened the gap in the Constructors’ by 51 points to third place.

It has been an intense first half of the season for everyone in the Team, so we are looking forward to the break and the chance to switch off for a few weeks before we get back racing again at Zandvoort. We know our goal is to win races, and I still believe that we can do that this season.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

We struggled with the car at points today and experienced some bouncing. That was the main limiting factor this weekend, so we’ve got some work to do to understand that more. We’ve got the shutdown coming up, but we will get our heads down this week, review the data, and see what we can do to make progress.

Going into the summer break, I feel that we are on the right trajectory overall. There is so much hard work going across the Team to upgrade the car and help us to make those important steps forward. I believe we are making progress and the direction we are going in is the right one. We will go away, recharge over the summer break and come back refreshed and re-energised.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

With the everchanging weather and a sprint race thrown into the mix, it’s been a challenging weekend in Spa. At times, our pace has been good. However, on the slicks today, we needed another tenth to be able to challenge for a podium. On the run to Eau Rouge at the beginning of the race, George unfortunately got boxed in behind Piastri’s damaged McLaren. That meant that he was stuck in a pack for the first stint. Once he was clear, we made good progress, but we lost too much time to be able to challenge Alonso at the end. Lewis also couldn’t get close enough to place Leclerc under pressure, so our options were limited.

It was good to bring home a point for fastest lap, but we need to focus on bringing more performance. The first half of the season has been tough, and everyone in Brackley and Brixworth has been working incredibly hard. We’re looking forward to the break and will be back in Zandvoort ready to take on the final 10 races of the season.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 team had a frustrating afternoon in the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with Lewis Hamilton finishing sixth and George Russell in eighth place. Hamilton started from fifth and managed to hold his position in the early laps, while Russell moved up two places to run in P9. Both drivers struggled with tyre degradation, with Hamilton pitting one lap before the Safety Car was deployed and losing out to others around him. Russell took advantage of the Safety Car to pit for the hard tyre and moved up to P6, but struggled on the restart and ultimately landed in P8. Despite valiant efforts to pass cars ahead, neither driver could make further progress. Hamilton said, “I really enjoyed those battles with the cars around me. The Ferrari of Sainz was just a little bit quicker on the straight than us, even with the DRS open. I gave it everything I had to get past though.” Russell, however, was disappointed in himself, saying he made a mess of the restart and ran wide, ultimately losing positions. The team was not particularly quick during the race, with similar pace between themselves, Ferrari, and Aston Martin. Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director, said, “We’re hoping the car will be a bit better suited to the track in Miami and looking forward to being able to get back on track in just a few days.”

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Großer Preis von Aserbaidschan 2023. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, 2023 Azerbaijan GP. Lewis Hamilton

Press Relase
Apr 30, 2023 / Baku

A frustrating afternoon in Azerbaijan with the Team having to settle for minor points

• Lewis Hamilton finished sixth and George Russell eighth in the 2023 Azerbaijan Grand Prix.
• Following Qualifying on Friday, Lewis lined up fifth with George starting 11^th for Sunday’s race, both on the medium compound tyre.
• Lewis held position in the early laps with George gaining two places to run in P9. As both cars began to struggle with tyre degradation, Lewis was unfortunate to pit one lap before the Safety Car was deployed and lost out to others around him.
• George took advantage of the Safety Car to pit for the hard tyre as the order was shuffled; George moving up to P6 and Lewis dropping to P10. On the restart, George struggled however, and they switched positions once again; George ultimately landing in P8 and Lewis P6.
• Despite valiant efforts to pass cars ahead, Lewis and George could not make further progress; George taking the point for fastest lap after a free late race stop on to the soft tyre.
• Imagery of the day is available on our media site. All imagery is rights-free for editorial use.

Lewis Hamilton

The timing of the Safety Car wasn’t ideal! I couldn’t get bogged down in that frustration though. I had to keep my head down and get focused on attacking. That’s what I did, and I got right back in the race. I really enjoyed those battles with the cars around me. The Ferrari of Sainz was just a little bit quicker on the straight than us, even with the DRS open. I gave it everything I had to get past though.

I’m continuously proud of my team. We didn’t have the pace that we did in Melbourne, which is not the greatest, but there is no lack of motivation in this team. We’re all super hungry, and hopefully this is the beginning of something better in the coming races. Once I get that confidence in the car, the pace will come.

George Russell

I’m a little bit disappointed with myself today. I made a really good start and got in a decent position. I made a good move on Stroll to get past him into the pit lane but I then made a mess of the restart. I was defending from Lance and almost ran into the back of Fernando (Alonso). I then ran wide and got my tyres dirty. Ultimately that’s why both Lance and Lewis got past. From there, it was line astern.

I’ll take the extra point for fastest lap but the only reason we had that opportunity was because we were in a bad position. It was close pace-wise between ourselves, Ferrari and Aston Martin and small differences can make a big change in terms of results. Whether we finish P4 or P8 though, it’s far from first so we’ve got a lot of work to do.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Today was not a thriller. There was very little overtaking even with a big pace difference. We headed into a sub optimum set-up direction during FP1 and by the time we realised it was too late, and the car was in parc fermé conditions. It’s the same for everyone though under this format.

The pace in free air today looked similar between ourselves, the Ferraris and the Aston Martins. It was hard to tell who was ultimately quicker though, because with the difficulty of overtaking you are stuck where you are stuck. The Red Bulls meanwhile sailed away into the sunset on merit. If we can get the platform right though, I think we can close that gap this year. It’s not about adding points of downforce, more giving the drivers a car that they have confidence in.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We’re never going to get excited about sixth and eighth place, but it was a day where the car wasn’t particularly quick and neither driver had much luck during the race. Lewis had a decent opening lap; he’d started to get a bit of pressure from Alonso towards the end of the stint, so we came in to protect the position. Unfortunately, that was the lap before the Safety Car, so he lost out. A good restart helped the recovery, but he just couldn’t get past Sainz.

George had a really good opening lap, getting through some key cars early on. He was able to take the stop under the Safety Car but then struggled on the restart and lost a couple of places. Similarly to Lewis, he just couldn’t make a pass despite having a bit more pace so our only consolation was a point for fastest lap at the end. We haven’t got long to wait before we are bringing some more performance to the car and in the meantime, we just need to focus on collecting as many points as possible. We’re hoping the car will be a bit better suited to the track in Miami and looking forward to being able to get back on track in just a few days.

In the chaotic 2023 Australian Grand Prix, Lewis Hamilton secured the team’s first podium finish of the season, finishing in second place after a race that was interrupted by three red flags, a safety car, and a virtual safety car. Hamilton had a good start along with his teammate George Russell, with both drivers passing polesitter Max Verstappen and running one-two in the opening stages. However, Russell’s race was ruined by a red flag after his pit stop, which caused a power unit failure that forced him to retire on lap 17.

Despite the setback, Hamilton was able to manage his tyres and finish in second place, fighting with the Aston Martins despite the team’s lack of performance. The team’s Trackside Engineering Director, Andrew Shovlin, noted that the team had made progress with the car’s setup, and they hope to take some of that learning into the upcoming races. The race was a mixed bag for the team, but there were positive signs of improvement, and they remain optimistic about closing the gap with the leaders.

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Großer Preis von Australien 2023. Lewis Hamilton George Russell
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, 2023 Australian GP. Lewis Hamilton George Russell

Press Release
Apr 2, 2023 – Melbourne

A chaotic Australian Grand Prix saw Lewis Hamilton claim the Team’s first podium finish of the season

• Lewis Hamilton finished second whilst George Russell retired from the 2023 Australian Grand Prix.
• On a wild afternoon in Melbourne, the race was interrupted by three red flag periods, a new F1 record, one Safety Car and one Virtual Safety Car.
• A strong getaway at the initial start saw both George and Lewis pass polesitter Max Verstappen and running one-two in the opening stages.
• George pitted from the lead on lap 7 under the Safety Car; the red flag was thrown only a lap later though, comprising his strategy. Lewis therefore took the subsequent standing start in first having switched to the hard tyre under the red flag.
• George quickly began his recovery, making up three positions and running fourth when a Power Unit failure ended his race on lap 17. Lewis, having been passed by Verstappen, was running second ahead of Fernando Alonso and managing his tyres to the end.
• With a handful of laps remaining, a second red flag led to yet another standing start. Lewis kept out of trouble and, despite a third red flag and rolling start procedure after a crash-filled restart, took the chequered flag in second place.

Lewis Hamilton

To get a podium today is amazing; I definitely didn’t expect to be second this weekend, so I am super grateful. Considering we’re down on performance, to be fighting with the Aston Martins is amazing for us at this point in the season. We’ve just got to keep fighting. A big thank you to all the people back at the factory. We can close that gap; it’s going to be tough but not impossible.

It was very unlucky for George today. Our reliability has generally been pretty good so that was unfortunate. Finally, I want to say a huge thank you to everyone here in Melbourne and Australia. I’ve had the best week here and this town continues to put on a great show.

George Russell

We did everything right this weekend. We had a great Qualifying yesterday and today, the start was perfect. We managed the first stint well and I could have extended it quite a lot more. I’ve felt comfortable and strong in the car on all three days. I see no reason why we couldn’t have fought for victory today, so it’s disappointing. As soon as I came through the high-speed turn 10, I felt something go. Three corners later, I was stopped. When it’s not your day, it’s not your day.

We’ve still got a lot of work to do to catch Red Bull, but we can take the positives from this weekend. Every time we’ve taken to the track, we couldn’t have done any more. We maximised everything and I’m proud of the job that we have done.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

We had strong pace today and it was really close with the Aston Martins and the Ferraris. That is good news for us, and I think we have made a step forward this weekend, both on one-lap and race pace. We maximised what we have, and we need to now comb through the data and continue to learn about the car. This will help bring the upgrade packages and that will be the key in challenging the leaders more often.

It was unfortunate with George; he had a great stop from the lead and changed onto the hard tyre. It was absolutely the right call, and he would have been very much at the front. With the red flag his race was not so good anymore. He still could have made it to the front though, so he was unfortunate to have a Power Unit failure.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It’s great to get the first podium of the year with Lewis, but it was a day of mixed fortunes for the team. Lewis drove a difficult race well and had to find a fine balance between tyre management and defending. George had put together a strong weekend and was unfortunate that the Safety Car became a red flag. Things then got worse with the Power Unit issue. The pace of the car has been better than at the first two races; we’ve made some changes to the setup for the circuit but hopefully we can take some of that learning into the upcoming races.

Formula 1 enthusiasts are eagerly anticipating the start of the 2023 season, which will see some exciting changes in the sport. One of the most anticipated events in the lead-up to the season is pre-season testing, which is held in Bahrain this year. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas team is one of the leading teams in the sport, having won the Constructors’ Championship for eight consecutive years from 2014 to 2021. In this article, we will take a closer look at the team’s pre-season testing in Bahrain and what we can expect from them in the upcoming season.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Team’s First Impressions

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas team arrived in Bahrain with their new car, the W14, which has been the focus of intense development and testing over the last few months. The team was excited to get the car out on track and test its capabilities in real-world conditions. The first day of testing was challenging, with cold and greasy conditions making it difficult for the drivers to get a feel for the car.

George Russell, who will be driving for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team for the first time this season, was upbeat about the team’s progress. “It’s great to get on track with the W14. It was very cold and greasy out there today, but the car ran smoothly, and we completed all the laps we are permitted to do. We know pre-season testing in Bahrain will be the first real test of the car. Nevertheless, it looks great out on circuit and the feeling from within the car is so far, so good.”

Lewis Hamilton, the seven-time world champion and Mercedes-AMG Petronas team’s lead driver, was also positive about the team’s progress. “It has been great to get up and running with the W14. It is always a much-anticipated moment for everyone at the factory that has been working so hard; I’m incredibly grateful for all the effort that has gone in. The day has been smooth; we got through a good programme, and we’ve come away with some useful findings. I generally felt comfortable in the car and I’m excited to get going in Bahrain.”

Andrew Shovlin, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas team’s chief race engineer, was pleased with the team’s performance on the first day of testing. “We’ve had a solid start to the programme for W14. Conditions weren’t great for filming or running but we completed the permitted 100km without any issues, and both drivers have been able to give us a good assessment of their first impressions of the car. Bahrain will be very different to a cold, wet Silverstone but everything seems to be working well. Hopefully we can hit the ground running next week and maximise the three days of pre-season testing that we have.”

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Team’s Expectations for the Season

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas team is one of the most successful teams in Formula 1 history, having won numerous championships over the years. The team is expected to be a strong contender for the championship once again this season, with Lewis Hamilton and George Russell behind the wheel of the W14.

The team has undergone significant changes in the lead-up to the season, with the departure of team principal Toto Wolff and the arrival of new technical director James Allison. However, the team remains confident in their ability to compete at the highest level.

Lewis Hamilton, who has been with the team since 2013, is looking forward to the new season and is determined to add to his seven world championship titles.

Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, Launch, Silverstone, 2023, Mercedes-AMG F1 W14 E PERFORMANCE, Lewis Hamilton

The second race of the season had a tough act to follow after a brilliant battle in Bahrain last weekend, but Saudi Arabia more than lived up to the very high expectations set. While only landing in 5th position, this was one of Russell’s finest performances, the Briton doing the best with what he’s got right now. Russell drove a lonely race to fifth, five places ahead of his more decorated team mate Lewis Hamilton to secure another top-five finish and keep the points rolling in while the Silver Arrows find a way to unlock the W13’s potential.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, 2022 Saudi Arabian GP. George Russell

George Russell

It was a strong race in terms of maximising our potential points today, the car felt good but we’re just lacking downforce because we can’t get the car to run close to the ground. We got the car in a nice window and I was pushing as hard as I could, it was probably the most physical race I’ve experienced in F1, 50 laps at the limit on a fast street circuit – I just want to be doing it fighting for victory. Everybody is working as hard as they can to close the gap to Red Bull and Ferrari, every single person at Brackley and Brixworth wants more and we’ll continue to push until we close that gap. This first part of the season isn’t packed with races, the calendar isn’t too dense, so it gives us some time to find solutions. We aren’t here to fight for P5 but you’ve got to take the positives. The race was enjoyable to drive, this track is probably in the top five of the year, incredibly fast and with fantastic grip.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, 2022 Saudi Arabian GP. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

Balance-wise, the car felt good, but just not fast enough. The end result isn’t great but the race was going relatively well, I was struggling with tyre temperatures at the beginning but then I started to gain on the cars ahead on the Medium tyre, it was a really good stint. I was keeping up with George and putting in some decent lap times considering how old the Hard tyres at the end. We were unlucky with how the VSC played out at the end but I was giving it everything. Yesterday made the weekend so much harder and I take that on my shoulders. It’s gutting but we need to keep fighting, it’s all we can do – I know I’ve got a great team and we’ll just keep our heads down.

Toto Wolff

Today’s race was the reflection of where we currently stand. The performance gaps seemed to be similar in qualifying and the race, and clearly there is a lot of work for us to do in order to get into the fight at the front. George managed his race well and scored the maximum we could have hoped for today without any incidents ahead of him. For Lewis, it was always going to be a difficult afternoon from P15. The first Safety Car came too early to run to the end on Medium, so we stayed out like other cars that started on Hard; then we missed the opportunity to box just before the pit lane closed under the VSC, which cost us a couple of positions. The overall picture is sobering, and it’s clear that we need to continue working hard if we wish to deliver a stronger performance in Melbourne.

Andrew Shovlin

It’s been a tough weekend and we need to go back and regroup ahead of Melbourne. The circuit here has been more difficult for us than Bahrain and we’re under no illusions where we stand at the moment but we need to remain focused and effective. We have an enormous challenge ahead of us, but over the last eight years the team has been able to get on top of every performance issue that we have faced. We’ve been able to do that because we have so many talented and dedicated people in the team both in Brackley and Brixworth. We certainly have our work cut out over the next weeks and months but we are more determined than ever to get ourselves back fighting at the front.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, 2022 Saudi Arabian GP. George Russell

Lewis claims victory at the Qatar Grand Prix after a dominant performance under the lights at the Losail International Circuit.  It was a commanding win for Lewis in Qatar, taking the 102^nd victory of his F1 career and 81^st for the Mercedes F1 Team. This is also the 30^th different track he has won at.  As day turned to night, the first-ever Qatar Grand Prix got underway, with both drivers starting on the Medium tyre, Lewis in P1 and Valtteri in P6 after a three-place grid penalty for failing to respect yellow flags in qualifying.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Qatar GP 2021. Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas

• Lewis had a strong start and quickly established a healthy lead. Valtteri struggled off the start and lost ground, falling to P11, but he was quickly moving up the field and making progress.
• With Verstappen pitting on lap 17 for the Hard tyre, the Team reacted by changing Lewis’ tyres on the next lap, retaining his advantage. The gap between the two fluctuated as they negotiated traffic, but Lewis continued to control the pace.
• Valtteri was running a strong recovery back through the field and was running P3, yet to stop, when he suffered a front-left puncture on lap 33. He limped back to the pits, switching to the Hard tyre, but the car damage proved too significant, and he retired on lap 48.
• We reacted to Verstappen’s second stop, pitting Lewis for Mediums on lap 43. He was then able to stretch out his advantage, eventually finishing the race 25.7 seconds ahead of Verstappen after the Red Bull’s late third stop.
• The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (546.5 points) lead Red Bull (541.5 points) by 5 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Qatar GP 2021. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

It’s been a hell of a year so to be at this point of the season and have back-to-back wins is a great feeling. It was a pretty straight forward race for me, a little bit lonely but of course, we needed those points, so a really solid job by the team. A big thank you to everyone trackside and back at the factories for all their hard work. I’m really grateful for these points and it’s amazing to be able to close the gap so much in the last two weeks. We’ve still got our work cut out, but we’re loving such a close battle and the challenge that it brings. It was a real shame for Valtteri today, having to retire, but the pace was good this weekend and that puts us in good stead for the next two races. We’ll be bringing our triple a-game for those.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Qatar GP 2021

Valtteri Bottas

Obviously, that was a very disappointing day for me and a tough way to end the weekend, after it started so promisingly on Friday. I struggled on the formation lap to get temperature into the tyres and then being on the dirty side of the grid, I had no grip for the start, so I was just wheel spinning, and was skating around on the first lap. Then I got into a bit of a DRS train but once the gaps opened up, I could make progress, the pace was good, and I could go long on the stint. But then, all of a sudden, I had the puncture without any vibration or warning. We knew we were pushing the limit of the tyre, but I was still getting good grip, we still felt comfortable and staying out was our best shot at a podium. It failed just after the pit entry as well, so the most unlucky part of the track, and the car got so damaged on the lap back to the pits we felt it was safer to retire and save the mileage.

Toto Wolff

That was a commanding win for Lewis. He controlled the pace from the front and did everything he needed to do, completely in the zone. The lion got woken up in Interlagos and we saw that today in Qatar! For Valtteri, it was a difficult day, the puncture came out of nowhere, with literally no indication, and unfortunately, he was the first one to pick up the puncture. But while we come away from the race result with mixed emotions, the pace of the car this weekend has been encouraging for the last two races. We know there are still many challenges to come but we’re enjoying the ride, when it is so tough, this is exactly why we are in this sport. It’s maximum attack for the last two rounds, we’ve got some points to make up, so this is what we’re aiming to do and we’re enjoying every minute of it.

Andrew Shovlin

A mixed bag today. On one hand, Lewis showed what he and the car can do over a Saturday and Sunday, his margin in qualifying was truly impressive and even in the race, he only had to do what was required to hold the gap. Valtteri on the other hand had a tough day; we thought he’d be P5 to start which meant the good side but as we were leaving to go to the grid, a second document came out that put us a place further back on the dirty side. That didn’t help him get off the line but a poor Turn 1 and 2 dropped him further and by the end of the lap one he was down in P11. From there he mounted a very strong recovery and was getting back into a position where a podium was looking likely. We then had the puncture, that came without warning and at the worst place on track, just coming into the final corner so he had to do the whole lap on three wheels. We couldn’t make any headway once we were back out on track as the car had been quite badly damaged, so in the end we decided to retire. We move into the final two rounds with a small margin in the Constructors’ and a small deficit in the Drivers’. It’s going to be tight, but we’ve got a car that is capable of doing the job and that’s giving us great encouragement. We’ll likely need to win both races, but we’ve got good reason to think our strong form from here can carry into the next two. It’s a big push to the finish from here but we’re looking forward to the fight and can’t wait to get back on track in Saudi Arabia.

Hamilton starts and finishes in P2 while Bottas starts in P9 and works his way up to finish in P6 for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team at the Circuit of the Americas.

• Scorching temperatures, sunny skies and packed grandstands at COTA created a spectacular atmosphere for an equally exciting 56-lap race, with Lewis narrowly missing out on victory and Valtteri recovering from his grid penalty to jump from ninth to sixth.
• A storming start moved Lewis into the lead of the race, diving down the inside of pole-sitter Max Verstappen for first place, before losing the lead at the first stop when Max completed the undercut.
• Lewis started to close the gap on his championship rival approaching the second round of stops, with the team opting to go long with Lewis and create an eight-lap tyre offset, setting us up for an intense finish.
• He emerged 8.7 seconds behind Max but was soon chipping away at the gap and had the Red Bull in his sights with just a handful of laps remaining.
• Despite the late charge, it just wasn’t enough, and Lewis crossed the line 1.3 seconds behind in P2. However, he did pick up an extra point for scoring the fastest lap.
• Valtteri also using an offset strategy, going longer on both his first and second stints to move up the field, passing Carlos Sainz on the penultimate lap to take P6.
• Max Verstappen (287.5 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 12 points from Lewis (275.5 points) with Valtteri (185 points) in P3.
• The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (460.5 points) lead Red Bull (437.5 points) by 23 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2021. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

Firstly, congratulations to Max, he did a brilliant job today. And also, a big thank you to the amazing crowd we’ve had in Austin all weekend, to perform in front of such packed grandstands and passionate fans has been a real honour. I really thought for a second we might be able to win, I gave it absolutely everything out there. It was such a tough race, but unfortunately, we couldn’t convert it. Red Bull just had the upper hand, and we couldn’t match them. It looked like they had a better and more stable rear end on their car, with less sliding. The start was obviously great and closing the gap towards the end, but I got into the dirty air and the tyres overheated in the last few laps. Thank you to the team for amazing pit stops and so much hard work over the weekend. We didn’t quite get it this time, but we’ll move onto the next one.

Valtteri Bottas

It was a pretty uneventful race for me, we tried the best we could, but it wasn’t easy to fight through the field. Making progress was difficult and we knew it would be, because of the temperatures here and the characteristics of the track. In the first stint I got stuck behind the Alpha Tauri’s and that cost me quite a lot of time. Once I was behind slower cars, the pace difference wasn’t quite big enough to make passes easily. There weren’t any Safety Cars or other situations for us to make the most of, but with the grid penalty and where we started, I’m not sure what more we could have done. Not the strongest weekend for us, but in free air the car felt good and there are plenty of learnings we can take forward as a team.

Toto Wolff

This really was a race of interesting strategic games and great battles. We thought we had a sniff at the victory with Lewis and he put in a brilliant charge in the final laps, but in the end it wasn’t enough. In the first stint, the car wasn’t quick enough on the Medium and then Red Bull went for a super-aggressive first stop, before covering it the second time. We thought our offset strategy, going longer, would be enough at the end to get them, but the moment you get within touching distance of the car in front, it makes it very difficult to make a move. In the end, we were close, but not close enough, so Red Bull deserved to win today. For Valtteri, he also struggled with overtaking and moving through the field, but we used the longer stints to make up some places and he put in a strong move on Sainz on the penultimate lap to take sixth. It’s not the weekend we hoped for, but we know there are still many opportunities to come. We are right there, we are in the fight and we’re enjoying the battle. So, let’s see what the next one brings.

Andrew Shovlin

A frustrating day but we’ve not been strong enough here and whilst the win wasn’t miles out of our reach, we weren’t good enough in qualifying on Saturday and we weren’t good enough on the Medium tyre in the first stint. Added to that, Valtteri’s penalty meant he wasn’t in the fight at the front and strategically that made our life more difficult. We understand a few of the issues that have cost us a bit of pace here, but there are others that we’ve not yet got to the bottom of, so that’s something we need to make progress with ahead of the remaining races. We can’t be anything other than disappointed when we’ve lost a chunk of points in both Championships but there is still a long way to go, and we’ve been in a worse position earlier in the Championship and pulled it back. We’ve got a bit of time to regroup before the triple header and prepare for the races ahead; getting the most out of the car over the next five tracks is going to be key to retaining the titles so we will be working hard in the next few days to do just that.

Lewis claims an historic 100^th F1 career victory for the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team in a pulsating Russian Grand Prix

• A hard-fought victory in Russia saw Lewis extend his F1 victory record to achieve the momentous milestone of 100 career victories in the highest echelon of motorsport.
• Lewis had dropped three places on the opening lap, keeping his nose clean to navigate a very bunched field before settling into the race and preserving his tyres for an extended stint on the Medium, eventually moving up to fourth.
• Lewis gained places after the first round of pit-stops and worked his way to a two-way battle for the lead with NOR. With rain forecast to arrive for the final few laps, Lewis found it difficult to pass the fellow Brit in the dry.
• When the rain finally arrived, the team pitted Valtteri for an early switch to the Intermediate tyres. Lewis joined him soon after, in contrast to NOR who stayed out and struggled badly in the worsening conditions.
• Valtteri took full advantage of the late rain and his early switch to Inters saw him make a number of solid passes to bring the W12 home in P5, securing vital points as the team extended its lead in the Constructors’ Championship.
• Lewis, meanwhile, safely guided the W12 home in increasingly heavy rain to take the chequered flag in P1.
• Today marks Lewis’s 79^th victory with the Mercedes works team, extending its100% win record in Russia which began with victories for Mercedes in 1913 and 1914.
• In claiming 25 points today, Lewis surpassed 4000 points in F1, the first driver to reach that milestone.
• Lewis Hamilton (246.5 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship from Max Verstappen (244.5), while Valtteri is in third position (151 points).
• The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (397.5 points) lead Red Bull (364.5 points) by 33 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

2021 Russian Grand Prix

Lewis Hamilton

Wow… 100! It’s taken a long time and I wasn’t even sure the 100th would come! Going to bed last night I wasn’t the happiest with the job I did yesterday. I watched the replay over and over again; they were subtle mistakes but I was so determined to put things right when I woke up this morning.

Today was tough – I lost a lot of ground at the start, just trying to stay out of trouble. I was patient and at the end, when the rain came, I didn’t want to let Lando go by boxing. Of course I didn’t know what the rain was doing, it was just my feeling but I’m incredibly grateful to the strategy team for the job they did today. Getting anywhere near 100 victories wouldn’t be possible without the hard work of the men and women here and back at the factory, I’m so grateful to them – it just feels so special.

Lando did an amazing job today, he had incredible pace and he’s doing such a great job for McLaren. It was bittersweet to see my old team ahead, they’re doing so well powered by Mercedes and it’s good to see them united again. Max did a good job to come up from second to last, the battle continues and we know we need to be on top form over the remaining races.

2021 Russian Grand Prix

Valtteri Bottas

Firstly, congrats to Lewis on the win and his 100th victory. From my side, it was a difficult race and not an easy day, but the situation at the end with the rain saved it for me. Before that, I was struggling to progress through the field. It was much more difficult than I thought it would be, because I just couldn’t follow through the corners – I was getting big understeer. I couldn’t carry the speed and get close enough to overtake, and other cars were finding it easier to follow closely. Then the rain arrived, I wanted to stop one lap earlier but the team wasn’t quite ready, but we were still one of the first cars to stop, which was good. I managed to climb up the order and score some good points, which is positive after a tricky day.

Toto Wolff

Those final few laps were so intense, but we managed to make the right calls and lead the field across the finish line. A big congratulations to Lewis on his 100th win. What we are witnessing is just mind-blowing. It’ll be talked about for the next few days, but it’ll only be years down the line when we realise that we’ve all been part of this journey. A journey no other driver in F1 history has done so far. That’s beyond race wins and championship victories, that is the very human part of all this.

In terms of the race, I think it would have been difficult to get past Norris in the dry, as Lewis struggled to overtake Ricciardo even with DRS. Norris managed the race very well, who knows what would have happened if the rain hadn’t arrived, but it did. This kind of decision is hugely difficult, it started to drizzle on half of the circuit, but we made the call and it paid off. We’d made the call a little bit earlier with Valtteri, and that brought him into contention after a challenging race and he did a great job to move up the field and into the top five. A big well done to the entire team for all their work and efforts, it’s been a little while since we had a race victory but I know results like this will fire everyone up even more to keep pushing until the end of the season.

2021 Russian Grand Prix

Andrew Shovlin

Congratulations to Lewis on his 100th win, it’s an incredible achievement and hopefully he can find time over the next few days to enjoy it. Obviously the end of the race was quite exciting, the team stayed calm and reacted well to the conditions and ultimately that’s what gave us the win. Prior to the rain it was quite a tough race, Lewis lost places at the start after getting boxed in at turn 2 and Valtteri had a good start but struggled to make progress through the traffic, especially when stuck in a DRS train. We’d managed to get Lewis up to second and it would have been a straight fight with Lando in the dry but we were actually hoping for the rain as it felt like that would be our best chance of making it to the top step. Valtteri was further back at the time it started so we decided to switch to intermediates early and that paid off, gaining some good points in the process. Overall, a solid team performance and it’s put us back in front in both championships so we’re happy with that but Max covered very well today from a PU penalty, finishing just one place behind, so we know we need to be at our very best in the coming races to have a chance of bringing the Championships home.

Everyone has their own opinion on the events of Silverstone, and it was a very polarising incident. However, the most important thing is that Max is OK. It’s never nice to see a car crashing, particularly at such high speeds and at a corner like that, so we’re glad he emerged from the accident unscathed.

The last race weekend was a very entertaining one for the fans and we had a full-capacity crowd in the stands, which hasn’t happened for quite some time. We could feel their energy. That made the weekend incredibly special, and obviously they had the chance to watch a very dramatic race, as did everyone else at home.

For us, it was an encouraging weekend with the pace of the car, the small upgrades we introduced worked well and we scored some big points, so we’re looking to keep that momentum going.

Lewis was on incredible form at Silverstone with a brilliant recovery drive in front of his home crowd after the penalty. It was also a strong weekend for Valtteri too with some great teamwork and good pace, which has closed the margin in both Championships.

We know how fine the margins are this season and how the advantage is swaying from one team to the other at each race. Us and Red Bull looked very closely matched at Silverstone and Ferrari were very quick, and now the battle moves onto the next round and a very different track.

The Hungaroring is a high-downforce, tight and twisty circuit. Almost like a large version of a go-kart track. Hungary will therefore be a different beast compared to the last race, and it is a track that will likely suit our competitors more, but we’ll give it all we’ve got.

It’s been a long and intense first half of the season and we’re almost at the summer break. We want to ensure we head into the shutdown on the right foot, before we get the chance to recharge, take stock of everything that’s happened so far and then come back fighting in the second half of the season.

Video Feature: F1 Car Development

This week, we’re diving into the topic of how to upgrade a Formula One car – whether that’s during a normal season, or the unusual 2021 season, where a number of important factors have changed the development race.

Our F1 Car Development video features interviews with John Owen (Chief Designer), Mike Elliott (Technical Director) and Lewis Hamilton (driver of Car No.44).

Featured: How Do Teams Develop an F1 Car?

How do teams decide what to upgrade on their cars?

As with most things in Formula One, planning and detail are everything. When developing a car and deciding what to update, teams first have to put together a plan of what needs to be worked on – where are the strengths we can maximise further and where are the weaknesses that we can improve?

When choosing an upgrade, you must focus on the areas that are going to produce the most performance in the quickest timeframe, and also find the balance between where you go looking and the size of the project you take on.

As a rule of thumb, the bigger the part, the longer it is going to take to design, manufacture and bring to the track. Teams also have to consider how critical a part is to the structure of the car. A crucial structural part such as the front and rear wings, which are highly loaded, have to be put through rigorous tests to meet strict safety regulations, so those components tend to be defined and decided on pretty early.

Next up, when looking at aerodynamics, teams focus their attention on the floor and diffuser, which are big downforce generators and have long lead times. And then it’s about looking into the components that are smaller and quicker to make but bring a lot of performance, such as brake ducts, bargeboards and engine covers.

Once the areas of focus have been defined, the general process of bringing an upgrade to the track will depend on the component, but whether it’s an internal or external part, they all need to be designed and tested, before the decision is made to move forward with the concept or find another solution.

If we take an aero part as an example, the Aerodynamics department will come up with a range of concepts and solutions, which will then be designed and tested in Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulations. The best options will be turned into components for the Wind Tunnel model, where they’ll be trialled in the Tunnel, before the final solution is given the green light to be manufactured and brought to the track. This entire process can take several weeks, which is why planning the upgrades and creating a solid development timeline is so important.

Many of the innovative designs can’t be seen on TV, but instead lie under the bodywork of the car, such as the gearbox or cooling systems. Often, what we find here are lots of small things, which are easy to implement and can be introduced between the main upgrades.

One of the most interesting internal areas to upgrade is the engine, as all the action happens in the combustion chambers. Engineers can create and bring numerous updates to the engine, but from the outside, it’s hardly noticeable.

That was true for the DAS steering system that we developed for 2020, which was only visible because the drivers moved the steering wheel backwards and forwards, bringing to life an innovation that would have otherwise been invisible to the outside world.

What happens to the concepts that don’t make the cut?

What everyone sees being brought to the track is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to upgrades. There can be hundreds and thousands of different solutions that are thought up in the design process, but not all of those will be put through testing – for example with aero components, going through CFD.

Once the virtual testing has taken place, only a handful of concepts will be brought to the Wind Tunnel to get a more realistic and accurate feel for how they will react to the airflow around the car. And from those designs, just one will be brought to the track as part of the upgrade package.

Every part has a hundred brothers and sisters that went with it, to try and find the best solution, with numerous people involved and hours and hours of work going into making every little detail count. Most of those brothers and sisters will never see the light of day, but that’s not to say they are completely wasted. Indeed, they create important learnings and bring inspiration for the next solutions – one of which will eventually make it to the track. Whether the part is internal or external, it’s all about trial and error, that’s how you improve and find the right direction.

How is upgrading a car different in 2021?

Upgrading a car in 2021 is not like any season that has come before, due to several factors. The first is the homologation regulations, which limit the parts of the car we can change. The COVID-19 pandemic caused the new regulations to be pushed back to 2022, and in a bid to save costs, the teams agreed to homologate – effectively carry over – large parts of the car.

Teams have only been able to change two tokens worth of structural parts, and the aerodynamic components – a considerable change from the usual rhythm of the development race across a normal season. On top of that, the Power Unit rules were also changed, with only one upgrade now permitted. Once that upgrade is introduced, the only changes to be made are for structural and reliability reasons.

The second reason why upgrading a car in 2021 is so different is the aero testing restrictions. Those restrictions are more severe the quicker the car you had in the previous season. As last year’s Championship winner, we get the fewest CFD and Wind Tunnel runs, so that is something we have to factor in, really ensuring we get the most out of every CFD or Tunnel session.

The third factor is the cost cap, which means we have to think even more carefully about where we use our resources to make the most of every opportunity we can. And all of this while trying to find the right balance between the 2021 car and the fourth reason… the 2022 regulation change.

This is a huge regulation change, not only in the rules themselves but also in how the rules are written. It’s a huge amount of work and careful decisions therefore need to be made to maximise the 2021 season while also giving the 2022 car the attention it deserves. Finding that balance is a familiar challenge from season to season but as we enter a whole new era of technical regulations, that challenge is much more intense.

What’s it like for the driver when an upgrade is brought to the car?

The drivers are constantly updated on the development progress of the car, so they know when things are coming, what to look out for and what feedback we’d like from them. Getting correlation between the Wind Tunnel and the real world is incredibly difficult, so the direct feedback we get from the driver is really useful for us to see how an upgrade has changed the car’s performance and balance.

“The first time you get on the track, it is really difficult to feel the differences in the car because you end up just going faster,” said Lewis Hamilton. “It can be disguised in the balance. The areas that you do often notice is if the rear is more stable, so if you get more rear downforce, that is often the one that you perhaps notice the most.

“It’s not always easy to feel it, but there is a huge amount of work that goes into bringing an upgrade to track – so much detail, so much design and then the build process. When you go to the factory and you see everyone at their workstations, head down, focussed, determined, staying overtime to get projects finished, it’s amazing. And then you see the ideas that get turned into CAD drawings, and then it becomes a physical piece – it is mind-blowing to see.

“The creative genius of all these individuals is super inspiring. It gets you excited, we’ve got new bits coming or there might be something that we’ve wanted for some time, but it takes months to build and when you finally get it, and you put it on the car, and you can feel the difference, it’s amazing.”

Stat Attack: Hungary and Beyond

-Valtteri completed a solid drive to take second place and maximise the points on offer for the second consecutive weekend.

-Lewis suffered damage at the Turn 10 kerbs and nursed the car home well for 30 laps lacking significant downforce.

-At the start of the race, Lewis and Valtteri had moved up to P3 and P4 respectively after a safety car restart on lap 4 saw PER drop 10 places when jostling with NOR for P2.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Austrian GP 2021. Valtteri Bottas

-NOR defended P2 well for 15 laps before Lewis could make the overtake. Valtteri then passed NOR at the pit stops and the team occupied P2 and P3 until Lewis suffered the effects of kerb damage at Turn 10, losing downforce. He was passed by Valtteri and NOR on lap 53.

-Lewis pitted soon after for fresh tyres and a wing adjustment to try and re-balance the car for the lost downforce but was forced to settle for P4.

-Max Verstappen (182 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 32 points from Lewis (150) and Sergio Perez in P3 (104), with Valtteri (92) in P5.

-Red Bull (286 points) lead the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team (242 points) by 44 points in the Constructors’ Championship.

Valtteri Bottas

For me personally, P2 one place better than last week and I started from fifth so not a bad afternoon. I think as a team we got some decent points considering the gap we have to Red Bull in terms of pure pace. For me it’s nice to be on the podium again in second place and I think we really maximised what we could get today. The tyres held on pretty well today which was a surprise. Next two weeks of hardwork and learning then Silverstone, it will be great to see the fans there and I hope we can pick up our pace to give it a real fight there.

Lewis Hamilton

It’s not the result I wanted but it’s still some decent points. I sustained some damage just before I overtook Lando – the rear of the car started to feel strange and it just got worse throughout the race. Otherwise it would have been a straightforward second place for me. Max is clear out front at the moment so we need improve our car and start performing better each weekend. The team are working incredibly hard and we need continue that so we can find performance.

Toto Wolff

I think the result probably looks worse in terms of pace than the reality. We were stuck behind the McLaren which cost us a lot of time, otherwise our pace was good, maybe not enough to win the race but right up there at the front which is a step forward. Lewis picked up some damage at turn 10 – I don’t think he was running particularly hard over the kerb, it was just a piece that fell away so we need to understand what happened. Overall, not a bad damage limitation weekend. Morale in the team is good, we could see the improvement in race pace was from last weekend so we are making progress and eventually we will be competing for the win again. We are one DNF away from being right there in the Constructors’ and Drivers’ Championships so this is far from over.

Andrew Shovlin

A solid day for Valtteri starting fifth and finishing second but a disappointing one for Lewis after he lost a lot of downforce with some bodywork damage before the stop. Our task today was made harder by our poor qualifying but second and third was realistically our best result and around half distance it looked like we were on track to achieve that. Lando’s five second penalty gave Valtteri a good opportunity to pass in the pits so we decided to follow him in. Lewis took a lot out of his tyres trying to pass in the first stint but once he’d got through on lap 20, Max was too far up the road for us to mount a challenge so we were just looking for any opportunities with safety cars.

It looks like the bodywork damage for Lewis was at the end of lap 29 just before we came in. The downforce loss was around six or seven tenths but as it was all from the rear, the balance become difficult and we were damaging the rears with sliding. That dropped Lewis from second to fourth but at least we had Valtteri up there to pick up the position. We know we’ve not been strong enough at this track over a range of conditions so we need to go away and work hard to understand that. For the British Grand Prix we’ll bring an update package and it’s also a track that has suited our car in recent years. We really missed the fans in 2020 but we’ll be working hard over the next few days to recover our form and hopefully can give them something to cheer about on race day.

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team is pleased to announce that the reigning Formula One World Constructors’ Champion and the reigning F1 World Drivers’ Champion will continue together in 2021. The Mercedes works team and Lewis agreed a new contract which will see one of the sport’s most successful ever collaborations continue for a ninth consecutive season.

Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff

A significant part of the new agreement builds upon the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that was made last year by Lewis and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsport.

Lewis made his F1 debut with Mercedes F1 engine customer team McLaren in 2007 and has been powered in all his 266 Grands Prix by Mercedes-Benz engines. He joined the Mercedes works team in 2013 and has since won 74 F1 races as well as six Drivers’ Championships with the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team. In 2020, he broke Michael Schumacher’s win record and is now all-time race win record holder in Formula One.

Lewis Hamilton

“I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates. Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track.

“I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I’m proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on the track in March.”

Toto Wolff, CEO & Team Principal

“We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process. Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport. Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners. The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it.”

Markus Schäfer, Non-Executive Chairman

“We’re very happy to keep the most successful F1 driver of the current era in the most successful F1 team of the current era. Lewis is not only an incredibly talented driver; he also works very hard for his achievements and is extremely hungry. He shares his passion for performance with the entire team which is why this collaboration has become so successful. But Lewis is also a warm-hearted personality who cares deeply about the world around him and wants to make an impact. As a company, Mercedes-Benz shares this sense of responsibility and is proud to commit to a new, joint foundation to improve diversity in motorsport. Opening the sport to under-represented groups will be important for its development in the future and we’re determined to make a positive impact.”

After the impressive anniversary celebrating 125 years of Motorsport at Mercedes-Benz last year, the brand continues to celebrate further outstanding racing moments from its history in 2020. The highlights include the triumph of Sauber-Mercedes in the World Sportscar Championship 30 years ago. Mercedes-Benz Classic also congratulates Brand Ambassador Roland Asch, one of the most popular racing drivers in German motorsport, on his 70th birthday in October 2020. Finally, the brand remembers Manfred von Brauchitsch: the racing driver of the first Silver Arrows era was born 125 years ago.

Die Sieger der ADAC GT Masters 2015 auf Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Sebastian Asch und Luca Ludwig, mit ihren Vätern. Foto auf dem Hockenheimring am 4. Oktober 2015. Von links: Roland Asch, Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig, Klaus Ludwig.
The winners of the ADAC GT Masters 2015 in a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3, Sebastian Asch and Luca Ludwig, with their fathers. Photo at the Hockenheimring on 4 October 2015. Left to right: Roland Asch, Sebastian Asch, Luca Ludwig, Klaus Ludwig.

30 years ago: Double world championship with the Mercedes-Benz C 11

Successful across the board: In 1990 the Sauber-Mercedes team won in eight out of nine races of the World Sportscar Championship in Group C. Jean-Louis Schlesser and Mauro Baldi won the drivers’ championship in the Mercedes-Benz Group C 11 sports car and became world champions. As in the previous year, Jochen Mass was runner-up. Sauber-Mercedes defended its title in the teams’ championship.

Return of the Silver Arrows: As they had already done in the first championship year with the Sauber-Mercedes C 9 in 1989 the German-Swiss team entered with a racing car painted silver. This return of the Silver Arrows to the circuit was down to the impetus of Professor Werner Niefer, who was the chairman of what was then Mercedes-Benz AG and deputy chairman of Daimler-Benz AG. It was on his initiative that the original dark blue racing cars were painted silver – just like their successful predecessors that had written racing history up until 1955.

Innovative technology: The C 11 is the logical progression of the successful C 9, which won the legendary 24-hour race in Le Mans in 1989. The Silver Arrow was also built at Sauber in Hinwil (Switzerland) under the management of head designer Leo Ress. It was the first time a carbon fibre chassis was used, which contributed towards the minimal kerb weight of 870 kilograms and also offered a high level of rigidity. The Mercedes-Benz engineers around Dr Hermann Hiereth optimised the Mercedes-Benz M 119 engine. The V8 turbo engine with four-valve-per-cylinder design had 4973 cubic centimetres of displacement and during the qualifying tuning generated up to 680 kW (924 hp) in the racing car. In normal racing conditions and with continuous stress it was 537 kW (730 hp). The drivers were inspired – they praised the drivability of the deep-rumbling eight-cylinder engine and the well-tempered handling of the C 11.

The Mercedes kids: For the 1990 World Sportscar Championship, Mercedes-Benz race director Jochen Neerpasch wanted the experienced drivers Jean-Louis Schlesser, Mauro Baldi and Jochen Mass to be accompanied by highly promising young drivers. The top three of the German Formula 3 Championship were chosen: Heinz-Harald Frentzen, Michael Schumacher and Karl Wendlinger. The youngsters were already impressing at the first test drives in Le Castellet at the end of 1989. Peter Sauber summed it up: “Frentzen was the fastest, Schumacher was hardly any slower, drove very consistently and was very interested in the technology even then. Wendlinger was the most cautious and really didn’t want to break anything.”

Successful races: In the 1990 seasons the three junior drivers started as partners with Jochen Mass. The pairings of Mass / Wendlinger and Mass / Schumacher each won a world championship race. All three young drivers had great careers ahead of them. Michael Schumacher won the Formula 1 World Championship seven times. Heinz-Harald Frentzen won three Grand Prix races and was the Formula 1 World Championship runner-up in 1997. Karl Wendlinger had his Formula 1 debut in 1993 with Sauber in Kyalami and today is an AMG Brand Ambassador and instructor at the AMG Driving Academy.

70th birthday of Roland Asch

Once a racing driver, always a racing driver: Roland Asch was also a success with the Star. On 12 October 2020 he will celebrate his 70th birthday. The “Schwabenpfeil” (Swabian Arrow), as his fans liked to call him, never officially ended his career as a racing driver. Together with his son, Sebastian, he even took part in the 2018 24-hour race in Dubai and only narrowly missed out on a class victory with a Mercedes-Benz AMG GT4.

DTM legend: “My best year in racing was 1988. We achieved a lot with only a little money: runners-up in the DTM!” says Roland Asch, enthused to this day. The Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.3-16 for that season was bought by the owner of a Ford dealership in Ammerbuch-Altingen near Tübingen, financed from their own resources. Friends supported him at the racetrack, and on some days after work the Mercedes-Benz engineers worked on preparations for the “16-valver”.

Test driver for Mercedes-Benz: Gerhard Lepler, head of internal development of racing touring cars, signed the highly promising racing driver Roland Asch as a test driver. Important experiences were gained, particularly at the racetrack in Rijeka (Yugoslavia), from which Asch also benefited for the use of his own DTM touring car. In 1988, with 242 points, he was runner-up behind Klaus Ludwig (Ford Sierra RS 500 Cosworth, 258 points) and won the championship title in the Porsche 944 Turbo Cup.

Works driver in the DTM: For the 1989 to 1994 seasons Roland Asch was the DTM works driver of Mercedes-Benz. In the Mass-Schons team he won the first race of a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution I in Mainz-Finthen. In 1990 he switched to the team of Dany Snobeck, which lead the way for Mercedes-Benz in touring car racing in the mid 1980s by taking part in the French production car championship. In 1991 and 1992 Asch competed for the Zakspeed team. He took part in the season finale in Kyalami, South Africa, with a 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II works racing car with a “camel” paint finish. This was made special by the fact that, for the first time, a racing car had an anti-lock braking system (ABS) developed especially for racing. Asch won one of the two races with this vehicle as well as the overall ranking. In 1993 and 1994 Roland Asch became team colleague of Bernd Schneider in the AMG team. In both years he finished ahead of the later record DTM champion. In 1993, in the final year of the 201 model series in the DTM as a 190 E class 1, Asch finished as runner-up for the second time behind Nicola Larini (Alfa Romeo).

Brand Ambassador: For many years, father of three Roland Asch has been a Brand Ambassador. “When Mercedes-Benz Classic calls me up and asks that I test an old racing car, I’m right there,” says Asch. He drives a broad range of racing cars from the Sauber-Mercedes in Group C to the Silver Arrows of the 1930s and takes part in events such as the 1000 Miglia and the Goodwood Festival of Speed. And, of course, he is always happy to sit behind the wheel in a Mercedes-Benz racing touring car from his DTM era. “I have always felt particularly happy in the ‘16-valver’,” he says. Logically, his private collection of classic cars also includes a Mercedes-Benz 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II from the homologation production of just 502 vehicles.

Manfred von Brauchitsch was born 125 years ago

Breakthrough with the SSKL: On 15 August 1905 Manfred von Brauchitsch, later to become a racing driver, was born in Hamburg. Initially he wanted to become an officer, but after a serious motorbike accident he was discharged as unfit for service by the army in 1927. In 1929 he began motor racing. His breakthrough followed in 1932 when with the Mercedes-Benz SSKL, featuring a pioneering streamlined body, he won the international Avus race in Berlin and even beat the great Rudolf Caracciola. This spectacular success provided the nobleman with a contract as a Mercedes-Benz works driver for the 1934 season.

Silver Arrow: In 2019, in the “125 years of Motorsport” anniversary year, Mercedes-Benz Classic rebuilt the SSKL streamlined racing car and assembled it with great authenticity to ensure it could be experienced – also on the track. Body, chassis and engine were produced as close to the original as possible in the complex project.

Master of many hundreds of horsepower: Manfred von Brauchitsch won many major races. In 1934 he won the international Eifelrennen race at Nürburgring on the race debut of the Mercedes-Benz W 25 and was victorious in both the 1937 Monaco (W 125) and 1938 French (W 154) Grands Prix. His driving style was spectacular, paying little attention to the state of the vehicle. Tyre damage and even accidents led to many failures or defeats. He was dogged by an image of notorious bad luck. Decades later the racing driver explained his motivation: “Of course it is nice to win. But it is glorious to sit in such a racing car, to command this complex machine and to be master of many hundreds of horsepower.”

Bon vivant: After the Second World War Manfred von Brauchitsch tried to make a comeback in motorsport, but he failed. In 1954, with the emphatic support of the government of the GDR, he emigrated to East Berlin where he found new popularity as a highly regarded peace activist and sports official. When it came to his somewhat unconventional life, he described himself as a “bon vivant”. His contact to Mercedes-Benz never fully broke off: for instance, in 1974 he was invited to attend the French Grand Prix as a guest, driving a demonstration lap at 280 km/h in the Mercedes-Benz W 154 dating back to 1939. In 1995, Manfred von Brauchitsch celebrated his 90th birthday at the Mercedes-Benz Museum in Stuttgart. He died at the age of 97 on 5 February 2003 in Gräfenwart, Schleiz.

The motorsport season is gradually starting to take shape: Formula 1 fans are eagerly awaiting the season opener, Formula E faces new challenges in Mexico, and the attention of the GT world is drawn “down under”.

• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
• Social media news: What’s new online?

Mercedes-AMG GT3 #999, Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing

News snippets

The countdown has started: There are only two and a half weeks to go until the 2020 Formula 1 Mercedes takes to the track. On February 14, the new car to be driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas will make its first outing during the shakedown at the Silverstone International Circuit, 30 days before Australia hosts the season opener of the premier class. From the shakedown, the team will proceed directly to the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya in Spain for the first of two test weeks, namely 19 – 21 February and 26 – 28 February, when all of the Formula 1 teams have the opportunity to gauge the performance of their new cars.

New track layout: It’s not long now to the fourth round of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. Ahead of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team’s departure for Mexico, the local officials announced the new track layout for the 2020 CBMM Niobium Mexico City E-Prix. The city, which is hosting the race for the fourth time this year, has extended the circuit by an additional 513 metres. The new configuration of the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez is 2.606 kilometres in length and features a mix of long straights with a tight section through a stadium-like arena. The changes involve the removal of two chicanes and the insertion of a new sector. At an altitude of 2,500 metres above sea level, Mexico City is the highest venue of the entire season.

Bathurst 12 Hour and the Australian debut of the Mercedes-AMG GT4: The twelve-hour IGTC curtain-raiser at Bathurst (31 January – 2 February) will mark a special occasion for Mercedes-AMG Motorsport as, for the first time in the history of the Customer Racing Programme, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 will be competing on the Australian continent. The car entered by Griffith Corporation (#19) will be driven by Mark Griffith (AUS), Dirk Müller (GER) and an interesting newcomer: Harrison Newey (GBR), the son of the highly respected veteran Formula 1 engineer Adrian Newey won the Asian Le Mans Series in the 2017/18 season and, despite his young age, already has a wealth of experience – only last weekend, the 21-year-old won the LMP2 class in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

The number 19 Mercedes-AMG GT4 joins the customary top-class Mercedes-AMG Motorsport IGTC line-up in this year’s Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour. There will be no fewer than three teams with extensive factory support fielding the new Mercedes-AMG GT3. The number 888 car of Mercedes-AMG Team Triple Eight Race Engineering will be driven by Jamie Whincup (AUS), Bathurst lap record holder Shane van Gisbergen (NZL) and last year’s IGTC runner-up Maximilian Götz (GER). Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo BLACK FALCON (#77) will be sending a no less distinguished trio out onto the track in the shape of Yelmer Buurman (NED), Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER). The third of the three Mercedes-AMG teams, GruppeM Racing, also have high hopes going into the race on the Mount Panorama circuit. Their number 999 car will be driven by Maximilian Buhk (GER) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA), who finished third and fourth in the drivers’ championship at the end of the last IGTC season, together with Felipe Fraga (BRA).

Also joining the line-up will be three GT3 Customer Racing cars. In the number 46 Black Falcon will be Patrick Assenheimer (GER), Sergey Afanasyev (RUS) and Michele Beretta (ITA) whose main focus will be on the Silver Cup. Going into action for SunEnergy1 Racing (#75) are Dominik Baumann, Martin Konrad (both AUT), David Reynolds (AUS) and 2018 IGTC Bronze Category Champion Kenny Habul (AUS). Meanwhile, Nick Foster, Anton de Pasquale, Sam Shahin and Yasser Shahin (all AUS) in the number 777 car fielded by Triple Eight Race Engineering will be competing in the Pro-Am category. Mercedes-AMG will also provide the official safety car for the endurance event for the sixth year in succession.

The Liqui-Moly Bathurst 12 Hour starts at 05:45 local time on Sunday 2 February (Saturday, 18:45 GMT) just before sunrise in New South Wales.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas driver Lewis Hamilton took home his sixth Formula 1 world title on Sunday by finishing second at the United States Grand Prix in Austin, Texas. The finish earned Hamilton enough points to block out the next closest driver, his teammate, Valtteri Bottas, from contesting the driver’s championship through the season finale at Yas Marina.

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2019. Lewis Hamilton Valtteri Bottas

• Lewis finished the race in P2 after starting from P5 on the grid, securing his sixth World Championship title and the team’s ninth 1-2 of the 2019 season
• Valtteri raced to his seventh victory in Formula One, his fourth of the 2019 season and first at the Circuit of the Americas
• Today’s result marks the eighth podium for Lewis at the United States Grand Prix, breaking Michael Schumacher’s record for most podiums at the race
• Today’s result also marks the 25^th race led for Valtteri
• Lewis (381 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 67 points from Valtteri (314 points) in P2 – an unassailable lead in the Drivers’ Championship
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (695 points) leads Ferrari (479 points) by 216 points in the Constructors’ Championship
• James Allison, Technical Director, accepted the Constructors’ trophy on behalf of the team

Valtteri Bottas

First of all huge congratulations to Lewis – six championships is an impressive achievement! He had a strong season and he deserves the title, he was better overall. Lewis is a tough opponent, he has very few weaknesses, makes almost no mistakes and drives very consistently. But I’ve been gaining some good momentum, so I’m looking forward to another close fight with him next year. It’s been a really good weekend for me and the team. I struggled at this track in previous years, so it was great to cross the line in first place. It was not an easy race; I had a strong start and a good first stint, but we had to switch to a two-stop to cover Max and I was a bit worried that Lewis on the one-stop might be on the better strategy. It was a proper fight and quite a bit of fun; I had to really push, but my pace was strong and I managed to catch Lewis towards the end. We had a good battle on track and I passed him to secure the win. It feels really good to win the race like that when you have to really fight for it.

Lewis Hamilton

It’s hard to explain what I’m feeling right now, to be honest. Cloud nine doesn’t even get close, it’s somewhere far above that. It’s been the hardest year I can remember; it’s been so challenging, going through the ups and downs, so right now I’m just so full of emotion, it’s overwhelming. I feel truly humbled, and really, really grateful to everyone back at the factories, the entire Daimler family and everyone at PETRONAS – everyone who has worked so hard to enable us to do what we do and achieve this. It’s such a privilege and honour to work for this team, to be able to go out there and have the platform to put in performances like today. And Niki, I miss him so much. Today, he’d have taken his cap off. I wouldn’t have been able to do this without Niki, he’s here with us in spirit. I saw my parents right after the race and seeing my dad’s smile, it says it all. My family have supported me since day one, they worked so hard for me to be here today. I’m so glad they could all come out here, together. Yesterday was a difficult day and today I just wanted to recover and deliver a one-two for the team. Valtteri did a fantastic job, so huge congratulations to him.

Toto Wolff

I’m so proud of everyone – what an incredible achievement! There’s a massive amount of work behind the scenes to secure a result like this, where one driver claims the Championship and the other one wins the race. A massive thank you to everyone who contributed to this – here at the track, back at home in Brackley and Brixworth, at Daimler in Stuttgart and at PETRONAS in Kuala Lumpur. Taking his sixth drivers’ title is a truly remarkable and special achievement. You can see how motivated Lewis still is, he wants to win every race and get the best result possible. It’s not been an easy year, with tough competition and the loss of Niki. I’d like to think Niki’s looking down on us, tipping his cap after today’s result. Valtteri drove an absolutely faultless race today, he has been on incredible form all weekend and he thoroughly deserved the victory. Lewis fought back in style and put in a great drive to go from P5 to P2.

James Allison

The amount of effort it takes to win a championship is huge, so when it all comes to the final fruition, you just swell up with great, great pleasure – and to have the cherry on the cake of standing on that podium looking out on our team and everybody in the crowd was fantastic. It’s brilliant to be part of this team – it makes you really keen to work, it takes you way above and beyond what you would normally give because you’re surrounded by all these people that you don’t want to let down and you enjoy being in an environment that is supporting you, letting you take risks, letting you screw up, but not slapping you in the face for it, just urging you on collectively as you go. It’s an exciting place to be and it tends to make people want to be in it. Today, we all think of Niki who was such an important part of our team. Losing him was quite a massive blow, particularly to Toto who spent so much of his working life with him, but for all of us as well, because Niki was someone with such a big personality, such a huge figure in our sport and such a friend to the team. I think he would have appreciated this – doing it in such fine style this year, he would have seen this as a team at the top of its game. He’d probably be telling us to work on next years car now, but I think we’ve done him proud this season.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport take a 1-2 victory at Silverstone

• Lewis claimed his 80^th victory in Formula One, his seventh of the 2019 season and sixth at the British Grand Prix, making him the most successful driver at this event
• Valtteri came home in P2 to complete the 1-2 for the team
• Today’s result marks the seventh win for Mercedes at the British Grand Prix, equalling the Italian Grand Prix as most successful race for the team
• Lewis (223 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 39 points from Valtteri (184 points)
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (407 points) lead Ferrari (243 points) by 164 points in the Constructors’ Championship
• John Owen, Chief Designer, accepted the Constructors’ trophy on behalf of the team

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis von Großbritannien 2019. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, British GP 2019. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Lewis Hamilton

I remember my first win here in 2008 and the feeling that I had coming out of Brooklands and going down the straight and seeing the crowd, it felt so reminiscent of that today – the excitement and happiness and joy that I felt were exactly the same as back then. I’ ve done so many races now, and you would think that after so many races you’d get used to it and the feeling would numb down, but it felt like it was the first win I ever had. Valtteri drove a very strong race and we had a really good fight in the beginning; I nearly got him going into Turn 7, but he was next to me and I couldn’t really close the door. After that I backed off a little and waited for the pit stops, hoping that I could maybe overtake him in the pits. I extended my first stint for a few more laps, then the Safety Car came out and that was perfect timing for me as I came back out in front of Valtteri. I’m really grateful to all of those people that have helped me achieve this today; I have this incredible team behind me and it’s really amazing to be a part of it, to be breaking down walls and records and pushing the limits and boundaries every weekend.

Valtteri Bottas

I had a good start of the line and then a good fight with Lewis in the first few laps, which was really enjoyable. After my pit stop, I was controlling the gap to Lewis, but then the Safety Car came out and he effectively got a free stop and came out ahead of me. I was hoping that there might be another opportunity in the race, but I knew the chances were slim because I had to do another stop to change to a different compound anyways. The tyre life was ultimately much better than we had thought, so a one-stop would have been possible, but our simulations before the race had predicted a two-stop to be the fastest option. I’m disappointed because the win was definitely possible for me today, but I can definitely take positives from this weekend – I had a strong Qualifying and my race pace also looked very good. It was also another strong weekend from the team, to take a 1-2 after a difficult race in Austria is a great result. Congratulations to Lewis for the win, he drove well and had massive support from the local fans. I’m looking forward to the next race in Hockenheim and will give it everything to fight back.

Toto Wolff

To bounce back from our worst weekend of the season with a 1-2 at our home race is a great feeling. It was exciting to see our drivers fight hard on the track; it was a tough battle, but there’s a lot of respect between the two of them and they always left each other enough space. I think both our drivers merited to win today. Valtteri had a really strong weekend; he outqualified Lewis at Silverstone, he led the race, he defended spectacularly, but the Safety Car came out in the wrong moment for him. Lewis was struggling a bit yesterday but drove a very strong race today and even managed to get the point for the fastest lap on 30 laps old Hard tyres; we’re still not quite sure how he managed that. It’s a great result for him in front of his home crowd. We’re now looking forward to our second home race in Hockenheim in two weeks.

James Allison

This was a fantastic result for the team and a brilliant performance from our drivers and car alike. As a team, we were very, very strong today but that didn’t make life easy on the pit wall: our two drivers were fighting hammer and tongs in the first stint, and likely would have been for the whole race but for the intervention of the Safety Car, which fell unfortunately for Valtteri. Nonetheless, it was a fantastic end result for Lewis in his home race and a really strong drive from Valtteri. After the close fight in qualifying, it was gratifying to see that our race pace was strong and that we were able to repeat the competitiveness we had seen on Friday during the long runs.

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport claim 25 points in a thrilling race in Austin

• Lewis came home in P3, racing to the 15th podium at a US Grand Prix for Mercedes-Benz Power
• Valtteri finished today’s race in P5, securing ten points for the Constructors’ Championship
• Lewis (346 points) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 70 points from Sebastian Vettel (276 points) with Valtteri (217 points) in P4 and with 75 points left to be scored in the season
• Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (563 points) lead Ferrari (497 points) by 66 points in the Constructors’ Championship with 129 points remaining to be scored in the 2018 season

Lewis Hamilton

It was actually a really fun race, to be close with Kimi and have a bit of a battle with him and Max. It was quite cool that it was Ferrari, Red Bull and us battling for positions and it must have been exciting to watch. Naturally, I’m a bit disappointed in our performance, to have started first but finished third, but I’m still grateful that I managed to finish up ahead of Seb. When you don’t have Friday practice you don’t get to work on the set-up and get the optimum out of the car. Everyone was in the same boat, but I think ultimately Ferrari came closer to us with the changes they made. In the race, we were lacking pace on the straights, but I gave it everything. I was still pushing like crazy and that’s what racing is all about. I had one little chance at the end, but I had to give Max a lot of space because it’s better to finish third than get taken out by someone who’s not fighting for the championship, so I didn’t want to take that risk. We were going for the win today, but it wasn’t meant to be. We’re going to Mexico next; it’s such a beautiful place, but I haven’t always had the best results there, so I definitely want to win that race.Valtteri Bottas

We knew going into the race that it was going to be a difficult afternoon. The Ferrari looked very quick yesterday and there were a lot of question marks because of the limited running in the dry, so making predictions on the set-up and the tyres was very tricky. We didn’t quite have the pace that we were hoping for, especially on the Soft tyres. We had planned for a one-stop race and that’s what we did, but in hindsight the second stint was just a little bit too long. My tyres started to go three or four laps before the Sebastian overtook me and they were just completely gone in the end, that’s why he managed to build such a big gap in only a few laps. But we couldn’t work the two-stop work with Lewis either, so overall we were just lacking pace today. We will now do our usual work of analysing and understanding why we weren’t quicker today, so we can come back stronger and hopefully win in Mexico. There’s only three more races left in the season and the fight is far from over, so we will give it everything to get the best results possible.

Toto Wolff

First of all, congratulations to Kimi on his win today – it has been a long time since we saw him on the top step and it was great for Formula One to have him up there. This was a day of fantastic racing, and a great show for the American fans with lots of wheel-to-wheel battles, but it wasn’t a good day for us at Mercedes. All week, we have heard people talking us up, talking Ferrari down and talking as if this season is a foregone conclusion; but that narrative doesn’t fit the reality of Formula One. We have been wary and respectful of Ferrari at every race this year and we knew they would come here to fight back hard – and so they did. It wasn’t a surprise against competitors of such strength. On our side, the story of the race wasn’t really one of strategy; we didn’t have the balance of speed and tyre management that we would have needed to win this afternoon. When we were running second with Lewis and the VSC came out, we took the opportunity to off-set ourselves in order to go for the win – because it was going to be very tough to win by mirroring Kimi ahead. This looked pretty good for a while but we knew it would mean coming back through other cars in the final laps – and it didn’t work out. He managed to close the gap but we gave him too big a mountain to climb, and the tyres no longer had the pace advantage he needed to pass in the final laps, in spite of giving it a pretty spectacular go against Max. For Valtteri, though, we tried a one-stop strategy like the top two – and couldn’t make the tyres last either. So we need to learn the lessons from today, take strength from the pain of having been out-performed here and move on to Mexico determined to get closer to our potential in terms of the race performance. Nothing can, and nothing will, be taken for granted by any single member of the team.

James Allison

That wasn’t the race we were hoping for, but I guess we always knew that we might face a tricky time at the start with Kimi on the softer compound and with a strong run up the hill as a result. However, we did think that we would have the pace one way or another to impose ourselves on the race. It didn’t work out that way. The absolute pace of the car remained strong, but we consumed our tyres quicker than the others and that left us with a weak hand to play over the distance of the race. You could see that both in the two-stop that Lewis did, aided by a Virtual Safety Car, and in the one-stop that we chose for Valtteri; both drivers started brightly enough in their stints but their challenge faded as the tyres went off. We normally get the car in a happier place than this, but with Friday being washed out we were blind to the problems we experienced today. They were cruelly exposed today and they led to the disappointing outcome. We look forward to Mexico next weekend, and we are determined to put on a better performance than we managed today.

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Valtteri Bottas

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Valtteri Bottas

Formel 1 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Großer Preis der USA 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas
Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, United States GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas

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Lewis comes home second as Valtteri fights back to P8

• Lewis Hamilton came home in P2 in Albert Park to claim his eighth Formula One podium finish in Australia and 118^th career podium
• Valtteri Bottas battled from P15 on the grid to claim P8 at the chequered flag
• Lewis (18) sits P2 in the Drivers’ Championship, seven points behind Sebastian Vettel (25), with Valtteri (4) in P8
• Ferrari (40) lead Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport (22) by 18 points in the Constructors’ Championship

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Formula One – Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Australian GP 2018. Lewis Hamilton

Lewis Hamilton

I did everything I could today, but it’s not what anyone expected to happen. I’m still in a little bit of disbelief as I don’ t really understand what happened yet. Once I get back with my engineers they’ll do a debrief and obviously I’ll find out why. This weekend there was so much talk about party mode or if Ferrari would be quick enough. I don’t think the gap was as big as it seemed yesterday, it’s just that I had a good lap and maybe Sebastian didn’t have a good lap. But today they were very, very quick. I put up a bit of a fight towards the end but they were within a tenth of us today. At least in my heart I know that I gave everything this weekend. I’m sure the team is feeling pain right now but we will regroup and we’ll work on it.

Valtteri Bottas

It was a bit of a frustrating day. I got some points, but not as many as I was hoping for, even starting 15^th on the grid. We had a good car, it felt just like in qualifying, the team did a really good job on that. Unfortunately, we just couldn’t make anything out of it because it is so difficult to overtake on this track. I also struggled a bit with overheating issues on the engine when I was following other cars, so I had to back off many times. It’s been a disappointing weekend and certainly not an ideal first race, but we still have 20 races to go. We need to learn from this weekend and try again in two weeks in Bahrain.

Toto Wolff

This was one that got away and it’s a bitter pill for us all to swallow. Following Lewis’ pit stop, we believed that we had the scenarios of both the Safety Car and the Virtual Safety Car covered, so that Sebastian could not pit and come out ahead of Lewis on track. We should have been several seconds safe, then suddenly saw on the TV screens that we were not. Of course, under the VSC sometimes you benefit and sometimes you lose out – but it was clearly a problem on our side and we need to analyse that to understand what happened and correct it. It’s all the more frustrating because we had the pace today to win. Lewis was in control through the opening stint, then after the pit stop as well, and looked on course for a strong victory but it wasn’t to be. On Valtteri’s side, we knew this would be a tough race to make up much ground. The margins between teams are closing up and this is one of the most difficult circuits to overtake on in the entire season. He made three passes on track, and benefited from the VSC too, but then was stuck in a DRS train in the final laps. Congratulations to Ferrari on their win today; for us, it’s a tough one to take, but there are lots of lessons to be learned so we can come back stronger next time.

James Allison

Having come to Melbourne with high hopes, it will be a long journey home for us, knowing that we under-delivered as a team. The pace we saw during the weekend was promising for the season ahead but it counts for nothing if you don’t handle correctly the cards that the race can deal to you – and, today, we didn’t. We need to analyse our mistakes, correct them and we look forward to getting to the next race and starting to put things right.

Formula One is very much a data driven sport. How much has it changed over the years?

Data is a huge part of how modern Formula One cars are developed and run. Thirty years ago, when extracting data was in a pioneering stage, the first data logger had only eight channels and could record a single lap at a low data rate. As the cars passed the pit wall, teams would have to try to glean as much as they could from just a few seconds of data transfer. Today, thousands of channels of data are streamed from hundreds of sensors within the Power Unit, gearbox, suspension and bodywork, with complete coverage around a lap of most circuits on the calendar. The overall image the team receives from the car on track has increased a thousand fold. Put into context, the data rate a team can now extract from pressure tappings on a small area of the floor alone is ten times that used in the Apollo space missions.

With restrictions on track testing, how important is collecting data during a race weekend?

In the past, teams would test for two or three days between every race. Today, track testing is restricted to just eight days before and four days during a season – forcing teams to use race weekends as part of their R&D programme. Track time is now not only used to get the best out of a car for that event – but also for future development. Much of modern Formula One engineering is carried out by simulation, with teams modelling a car in the virtual world before producing physical parts or systems. However, to be effective, these tools have to be based on the most realistic models possible – and the only way to accurately calibrate those models is via real track data.

How does the team approach the challenge of gathering data for both purposes in such a limited time frame?

Some data is sent back in real time through a high frequency telemetry system, which transmits data from the moving car to the pits. However, there is far more data available than can be extracted via that route. The excess has traditionally been transferred using a wired connection once the car has stopped – but even that is problematic, as crucial track time is lost waiting for the download to complete. This is where Technical Partner Qualcomm has helped the team optimise track time. Engineers are now able to download that balance of data – which can be very bulky – in the time between when the car stops in front of the garage and is wheeled back into the garage via an extremely powerful wireless connection.

From where is the greatest benefit of this system derived?

The most noticeable benefit comes in understanding tyres via the infra-red camera system – and more specifically the speed at which information from that feed can be processed. In the past, the crew would plug in the cameras when the driver returned to the box and have just a few seconds to extract as much data as possible before the car returned to the track. There simply wasn’t enough time to extract the full data set until after a session, so the real-time nature of that data was lost. Qualcomm’s technology allows the team to extract that information much more quickly. By the time the car pulls back into the garage, the engineers have now received that information wirelessly.

How does this technology affect the driver out on track?

Aside from significantly faster data transfer in the pit box, the on-board SnapDragon processor can extract information and stream it live to the pit wall via the telemetry system – allowing the engineers to seeing what the driver is doing through each corner before he gets to the next one. With this information, the team is then better placed to fine-tune car setup and provide the driver with more information at the beginning of each run. This reduces the need for a driver to adjust the balance of the car around a lap, allowing him to focus on getting the most from the car.

How relevant is this to the everyday motorist?

Formula One is becoming increasingly road relevant. Technology developed within the paddock has been trickling down into consumer vehicles for a number of years – but has reached a whole new level under the Hybrid Power Unit era, where Formula One has set the benchmark in terms of efficiency potential from an internal combustion engine based power plant. Today, the sport is reliant on data to analyse performance and diagnose problems – something which will also feed down to the everyday motorist. Qualcomm are a big player in the automotive world – and the pioneering technology they are now applying to the Silver Arrows will undoubtedly support their work also in the consumer automotive arena.

Silver Arrows seal Sochi one-two in high tension Russian Grand Prix

• Nico took his 18th career victory today – his first at the Sochi Autodrom and fourth of the 2016 season
• Lewis completed a second Silver Arrows 1-2 finish of the 2016 season in P2 with a battling performance from P10 on the grid
• Nico set the fastest lap of the race – beating the previous best of 1:40.071 (VET, 2015) by just under a second (0.977s)
• Lewis produced a superbly controlled drive to manage a water pressure problem in the closing stages of the race and retain second position from Räikkönen
• Nico (100) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 43 points from Lewis (57) in P2
• MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS (157) lead Ferrari (76) by 81 points in the Constructors’ Championship

Formula One – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, Russian GP 2016

Nico Rosberg

This weekend really went really perfectly for me. Already in Qualifying I had found a perfect balance and that continued throughout the race, which was fantastic. I had a great start and from there was able to control the pace at the front. Thank you so much to everybody at the factories for building such an amazing car. If you have a car like this, you are really able to push to the limits and that’s an awesome feeling. Lewis drove really well to come back up to second so quickly, so well done to him too. The only down side to the weekend was to see that reliability is becoming a bit of a concern, as Lewis obviously has a problem yesterday and both cars had issues during the race today. But we have a great team behind us and I’m fully confident that we will sort this out. It´s unbelievable to go into the European races with four wins and I really look forward to Barcelona now. Thanks, Russia – you were very good to me!

Lewis Hamilton

Firstly, I would like to thank the guys who came together to get the new parts over here from the factory last night – and then to the mechanics who worked all through the night to get everything prepared for me to go out there and race today. The guys on my side of the garage are having a really hard time of it at the moment – but I have every faith and confidence in them. We’ve swapped things round in the garage a bit this season but that is absolutely not the reason we’ve been having issues. It hasn’t been the case for the past three years and I have no reason to believe it would be now. Without their hard work I wouldn’t even have got to this point, so a big thank you to them once again. The first corner was pretty hectic. I don’t know what happened – but I saw something happening in the corner of my eye and just thought “I’m not getting caught again!” I managed to get out of the way and avoid it – but if I’d turned in I would have collected them. It was pure instinct and I’m glad I was able to come out without any contact this time. From there I had good pace and I felt like I could challenge for the win – but then there was the water pressure problem which ended that chance. It was tough to hang on at the end but I handled it as best I could. I had to really nurse the car home and I’m just relieved to have made it to the flag after how this weekend has been. I’ve got a long way to go yet this season with not many healthy engine parts left, so we need to do a better job on reliability.

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

That race was anything but plain sailing today – it was a pretty stressful experience to get both cars home, and there was a point when we thought neither of them might make it to the flag. First of all, congratulations to Nico, he did a perfect job all weekend and controlled the race from the front once again. He didn’t put a foot wrong and, when we faced an issue on the MGU-K during the middle part of the race, he was able to do all the necessary steps to keep it under control and bring it home. As for Lewis, he drove brilliantly. Some really good, aggressive passing manoeuvres and clever racing brought him to P2 – and he was just getting his head down to charge when we saw a water leak and he was losing water pressure. The only thing to do was ask him to back off to bring the car home and fortunately that meant the situation stabilised but cost him the chance of racing Nico. No doubt he will be thinking about what could have been today – but it was a fantastic recovery after such a tough moment in qualifying yesterday. A one-two finish is always something special and to be savoured, especially with the performance advantage we enjoyed this weekend. We are pushing hard this year and finding the limits of our car – but we need to get on top of our issues so the drivers can battle it out on track themselves. That’s what we all want to see and what we will be working hard to achieve in the coming days before Barcelona.

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)

Coming into the race, the team did a fantastic job to get Lewis’ car back into shape for the race in the right specification and preserving his tenth place on the grid under parc ferme restrictions. It was quite a dramatic start, from which our drivers fortunately emerged unscathed. The result, in fact, worked in their favour, with Nico comfortable at the front and Lewis moving up to fifth. After the re-start, Lewis made some fantastic overtaking moves on Massa and Räikkönen, then once again on Bottas following the first round of stops. This proved critical to his result. After Nico’s stop, his car developed an MGU-K problem which we were able to manage to some extent but remained a concern to the end of the race. Then, shortly afterwards, Lewis’ water pressure started to progressively drop. We encouraged him to ease off, which helped to a degree. But, in reality, this appeared to be a terminal situation and we were sitting for about 20 laps with our fingers crossed hoping the car would make it to the flag. By some miracle it did just that, which came as a huge relief after the difficulties of the weekend. Overall, it’s great to get another one-two finish. But it’s clear that we have more work to do in the days leading up to the next race to understand the series of problems experienced over the past two weekends.

Nico Rosberg dominates while Lewis Hamilton does his best to battle back on in a dramatic race at the 2016 Chinese Grand Prix in Shanghai.

• Nico took his 17th career victory today – his second at the Shanghai International Circuit, four years after sealing his first Formula One win at the same venue
• Lewis produced a battling drive to finish P7 from the back of the grid – despite incurring significant damage to his car in a first lap incident
• Today’s result marks the 100th podium finish for the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows in Formula One
• Nico (75) leads the Drivers’ Championship by 36 points from Lewis (39) in P2
• MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS (114) lead Ferrari (61) by 53 points in the Constructors’ Championship

Nico Rosberg

Nico Rosberg

It’s been a fantastic few days for me here in China. First of all, the fans have been amazing from the moment I arrived. They’re so enthusiastic, which gives us drivers a very special feeling. Then, racing wise, it was an almost perfect weekend. Only the start could have been better – but luckily I was able to pass Daniel later on the straight and from then on I could build up a gap. I must say, I’ve never had a better balance in my car than I had today. It was really perfect, so a big thanks to everyone who helped me achieve that. I also want to thank all the women in my life – my wife, my daughter and my mother. Their support is unbelievable and that’s really what makes it possible for me to be doing what I’m doing. I’m a very happy man today and, after three races I can be really pleased about how my season has gone so far. But it’s a very long year ahead and there’s a lot of points still on the table, so I’m not losing my focus. Now I look forward to Russia, where I started my good run of qualifying results last year. Hopefully I can get on a nice run like that again.

Lewis Hamilton

That was definitely a difficult weekend. I got a good start – but it’s always tricky being at the back and trying not to get caught up in the domino effect of any contact at the first corner. I tried to avoid whatever happened in front of me but I just got tangled up in it. It was just a bit unfortunate, really. From there it was always going to be a battle – but I had a lot of fun fighting back through! There were plenty of overtakes, from what I can remember! I gave it everything I had and P7 was about the limit. There was nothing left in the tyres at the end and, although it’s pretty good for overtaking here, I had quite a lot of damage to the car which made it difficult to get close on the brakes. From what I could feel there was definitely some aero loss and possible suspension damage too, as the car seemed to be flexing all over the place. But that’s racing – it happens sometimes and at least I still managed to get a few points on the board. It’s a pretty big hit points-wise today – but I’ll just have to do what I can to make it up over the next few races. Onwards and upwards…

Toto Wolff, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport

That was a rollercoaster race today. Nico enjoyed the perfect weekend: he was totally dominant this afternoon, always in control of his performance and did really a flawless job. For Lewis, the circumstances couldn’t have been more different. He got a great start, tried to stay out of trouble in the first corners and still got collected by a Sauber, who was avoiding another car coming back on track. His front wing was lodged under the car for a while, which damaged the leading edge of the floor and cost him a chunk of downforce for the rest of the race – though it was hard to know exactly how much during the race. We did something different with him under the Safety Car, cycling through the SuperSoft tyre with no loss of position, in order to open up some strategic options later in the race. He put in a great recovery drive and pulled off some great overtakes – but the damage to the car meant the tyres didn’t last as long as we had hoped and made it hard to catch cars through Turn 13 before the back straight. He still did a great job and kept charging to the end – but it was damage limitation again for him this afternoon. We are just three races into the longest season in Formula One history, so this isn’t the time to be looking at Championship tables or points gaps. We just need to keep scoring points right now, continue to work on our reliability after some wobbles this weekend and keep working very hard to bring more performance to the car and Power Unit. Today looked like it could have been a three-way fight with Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull if our rivals had a cleaner race – so there is no margin for us to relax.

Paddy Lowe, Executive Director (Technical)

Starting on Lewis’ side, one of the debates we actually had overnight was whether to do a bit more work to the car and start him from the pit lane, which ironically would have been a better decision in hindsight given what happened at the first corner. Equally, Lewis had by far his best start of the season, which ironically contributed to him being caught up in the cascade of collisions ahead of him. So, a perfect storm of unfortunate circumstances all round put him on the back foot straight away. We could see that there were problems with the car – both aerodynamic and mechanical – affecting him through the low-speed corners in particular. Under the safety car, we chose to perform consecutive pit stops with Lewis to get rid of the SuperSoft and enable us to run the rest of the race on the Soft, which was the stronger race tyre. As it transpired, his first set of softs were cut from the first corner incident – something we were unaware of at the time – which meant we were then forced to run the medium at the end of the race, rendering our SuperSoft eliminating tactic redundant. So, overall, Lewis did a great job to recover what he could with a car that was significantly underperforming. On Nico’s side, he actually had a less good start, losing a place into the first corner – although he was obviously running a less grippy tyre compound than the cars around him. He was, however, able to re-pass Daniel quite quickly once DRS became available and went on to have a straightforward race from there – running a soft / soft / medium strategy as intended from the beginning. An uneventful race from his perspective – but that’s not to underestimate the top job he did to manage the car safely within its limits and claim a well-deserved third victory of the season – and the 100th Formula One podium for the Silver Arrows in the process. We now look forward to Russia – targeting a clean and successful weekend on both sides of the garage.