It’s a scene that happens hundreds of thousands of times a day around the world: two people meet, greet each other and begin to chat about work and life. The twist in this particular story, though, is that the elevator is in Monte-Carlo; the two men are residents in the same apartment building, separated by little more than a few floors; and both have written their own chapters in the very exclusive grand prix racing history of Mercedes-Benz.

Mika Häkkinen was the first Mercedes-Benz world champion of the modern era, and a two-time title winner in 1998 and 1999 with McLaren Mercedes; Nico Rosberg is the first man to win a Grand Prix at the wheel of a Silver Arrow since the great Juan Manuel Fangio, in the third season of the return of the Silver Arrows. On the eve of the race around their home streets, the two men met to discuss their experiences as part of one of the most spectacular events in world sport.

The histories of Mika Häkkinen and Nico Rosberg have been intertwined for more than twenty years, when Nico was just a young boy and Mika worked with Keke Rosberg, who led his management team.

“I don’t remember when we first met – maybe Mika does!” laughs Nico when the question comes.

“Well, I started working with Keke at the end of 1987,” recalls Mika. “I think the first time we met must have been down here in Monaco in the early ’90s. I was visiting Keke, and you were playing in your room! It’s possible I was his first sponsor in karting – do you remember that?”

“Yeah, sure,” laughs Nico. “It was 1997, I was 11 years old and competing in the French go-karting championship. I had a poster in my room with all my sponsors on there, and one of them was you!”

“My son is eleven now,” says Mika, picking up the thread. “I’m sure I did a contract with Keke that one day, when Nico will win races and be world champion, he has to start supporting my son Hugo!”

If the early stages of Nico’s career were supported by Mika – who today himself is a partner with Didier Coton in Aces Management and has, among others, young Finn Valtteri Bottas under his wing – the parallels between the two have only grown stronger as time has passed. Both Mika and Nico had to wait until their seventh Formula One season before climbing the top step of the podium – Mika after 96 races, at the 1997 European Grand Prix in Jerez; Nico in his 111th start, at this year’s Chinese Grand Prix. And both in their third seasons driving Mercedes-Benz-powered cars.

“Your first victory in Formula One always feels like it is a long time coming,” explains Mika. “And especially in my case – but when it arrives, the feeling is just amazing. But problems are part of life, and winning or losing, they don’t disappear. You need to keep understanding the cause of disappointments and where you and the team can improve. There is no point having your face upside down for one week – it’s better to pick up the phone, travel, see people, talk, organise yourself. Then you know that at the next event, you will be stronger – and if not the car, then yourself; you can always be better. Because the day when you have a car to win, you have to be ready. If not, it’s too late. I knew that one day I was going to win, it just took a long time.”

“I had exactly the same feeling – Ross, all the guys, kept telling me that the win would come, I just needed to stay patient and take my opportunity,” agrees Nico. “Of course, you get frustrated if it doesn’t go perfectly, but time takes that away and you keep going, follow the development, communicate constantly with the team.”

“Nico did a perfect weekend in China and deserves full credit for that win,” emphasises Mika. “It was not depending on circumstances or luck, but purely on his hard work. As a Mercedes-Benz ambassador, it was great not only to watch his achievements, but to enjoy seeing Mercedes-Benz back on the top step of the podium.”

Inevitably, the conversation soon turns to the unique challenge of racing around the Monegasque streets, which have been home to both of them for more than 20 years. For Nico, the tunnel was once the route to school, in the passenger seat next to his Mum or on the school bus. And that ‘local’ feel is one that Mika says remains throughout the weekend.

“I had some great victories in my career, but Monaco was something special,” remembers Mika. “I have lived here for 20 years and the thing you realise is that the people who work on the race track are also the people who live and work in Monaco – the police, the pompiers. In everyday life, these are the guys you see in the street and they say ‘hi’ as you walk past. To win in Monaco is like winning in your home streets, and you recognise faces all through the weekend.”

“It’s home for me too, of course,” picks up Nico. “I’ve grown up here, all my friends are here and my family, I know everybody and it’s very special to race here. Mentally, it’s quite a demanding weekend. You have a lot going on, a lot of PR events and appointments. Plus on track, too, it’s a bit more intense – but not so much. You need to be super concentrated at every circuit.”

“That’s true. But what changed for me was that, when I got a car that I would win races with, Monaco became more important for some reason. When you are hunting pole position in Monaco, your mind changes; you put yourself in a higher power, even though you think you are doing it already. When you are fighting for P11 or P12, you always think you are doing your maximum. But when I started fighting for pole, it just happened that I was working even harder to reach my goal – but not purposely. And of course, we changed the car, too: the steering lock, and the seating position to sit higher in the car, because the aero was not so important and we wanted to see the Armco properly.”

“That’s interesting, because we definitely make changes, too,” says Nico. “But I don’t think it’s common practice, even today.”

With that, the two men are off to inspect the circuit at the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Roadster. Over the years, Mercedes-Benz has been synonymous with success in Monaco – from the three consecutive victories in 1935, 36 and 37 for Fagioli, Caracciola and von Brauchitsch respectively; to the seven Formula One victories for Mercedes-Benz power, including three of the last five. And the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team will be working hard to add a new milestone to the company’s heritage this weekend.

Jenson Button and Mikä Häkkinen partner with Johnnie Walker in a new commercial to say “No” to drinking and driving. It’s a powerful statement, one that says that you’re committed to staying in control.

Watch the video below of two-time world champion and Johnnie Walker Responsible Drinking Ambassador, Mikä Häkkinen and Vodafone McLaren Mercedes driver Jenson Button, sign the pact as only they could do in a Mercedes C63 AMG.

You too can join the pact by going to jointhepact.com.

Fan favorite Mika Häkkinen, former F1 and DTM driver, is getting back behind the wheel of a Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 for the November 13th Intercontinental Le Mans Cup in Zhuhai, China. The season finale race is a six-hour long event that he will share with 2010 Mercedes-Benz DTM driver CongFu Cheng and Lance David Arnold of Germany. The Finn is making an appearance in his capacity as a Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador and this will be the first time the gullwing SLS has raced in China. The car has been entered by an independent team, Customer AMG Sports Team China.

October 14th, 2007 was Häkkinen’s most recent race appearance when he drove an AMG Mercedes C-Class in the DTM season finale at Hockenheim. Between 2005 and 2007, he competed in 31 DTM races for Mercedes-Benz, securing three wins, three pole positions and eight podium finishes.

In the period between 1991 and 2001, the Finn contested 161 Grands Prix, signing for McLaren-Mercedes in 1995. At the wheel of the Silver Arrow, Häkkinen claimed the Formula One world championship twice (1998 and 1999), won 20 Grand Prix races, secured 26 pole positions and posted 44 podium finishes (51 overall). Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard (who drives the Deutsche Post AMG Mercedes C-Class in the 2011 DTM season) hold the record for the longest team-mate partnership in the history of Formula One; they drove together from 1996 to 2001.

The Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 is the competition version of the legendary gullwing, designed for customer motorsport. The car contested its first full racing season in 2011, including the ADAC GT Masters, the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring and the FIA ​​GT3 European Championship. In its debut season, the SLS AMG GT3 scored victories in all three of these series; in the FIA ​​ GT3 European Championship, customer outfit Heico Motorsport won the team title, the first trophy for the gullwing.

Mika Häkkinen: “It’s a great honour for me to be able to contest the first SLS AMG GT3 race in China. Although I’ve visited China many times, I’ve never raced there, which is why I’m really looking forward to Zhuhai. It will be a tough race in a competitive field, but I’ll do my best for Customer Sports Team AMG. Of course, being a guest driver in such a line-up should be a lot of fun, especially in the SLS AMG GT3. It’s a great customer motorsport vehicle which is both fast and extremely good-looking.”

Norbert Haug, Vice-President Mercedes-Benz Motorsport: “Mika Häkkinen is one of the most successful, best-known and best-liked racing drivers in the world. He won back-to-back Formula One world championships in 1998 and 1999 with our McLaren-Mercedes Formula One team and later had a successful career in the DTM. For over fifteen years, he has been a prominent, world-famous member of the Mercedes family. Mika enjoys enormous popularity, especially in China, and that’s also why he was so willing to play an active role in the race debut of the Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 at Zhuhai. Lining up on the grid for us is more than just a great gesture by Mika – he still possesses the same competitive spirit as in the days of his great Formula One battles with Michael Schumacher in the late 90s and early 2000s.”

Ola Källenius, Chairman and CEO of Mercedes-AMG GmbH: “We are very proud that a fan favourite like Mika Häkkinen will be a guest driver in the SLS AMG GT3 at Zhuhai. His participation is unique, and we want to use his appearance to inspire race fans in China both for the vehicle and for the AMG customer sports programme. The GT3 version of the gullwing was designed for customer sport and will be raced in China – as in all other markets – by private teams. Experience gained from over 40 years of motor racing is encapsulated in that vehicle. As the first complete in-house development and production car from the AMG factory, the SLS AMG embodies all our expertise in developing high-performance vehicles.”

Klaus Meier, president and CEO of Mercedes-Benz China Ltd. “Although AMG first came to China in 2007, the brand has already proved to be a great success. By 2010, China had already become AMG’s third-largest market, and sales to August of this year are already 50% up on 2010. Chinese customers appreciate the incomparable blend of speed, handling, driving dynamics, exclusivity, design and exhaust note of the AMG. The commitment to customer motorsport with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3 as a style icon will further contribute to increasing Chinese enthusiasm for AMG.”

Mercedes-Benz is starting off the 2011 Formula 1 season with a new Silver Arrow as well as a new TV spot. Based around the motto “Racing is a state of mind”, the short film entitled “Compliments” depicts the passion of Mercedes-Benz for motorsport and competition. With a touch of humour and self-deprecation, Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher play on their internal rivalry within MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team. Former world champion Mika Häkkinen – an iconic figure who has appeared numerous times in humorous Mercedes-Benz TV spots over the past 15 years – highlights, with the aid of an energy drink, on which team the rivalry should be focused at the start of the season.

“The new Formula 1 season gets under way on Sunday with the race in Melbourne, and the deck has been shuffled again,” explained Anders Sundt Jensen, Vice President Brand Communication Mercedes-Benz Cars. “The spot makes it clear, in a rather fun way, that motorsport is a way of life for our brand. In addition, it shows that we don’t admit defeat if at first we don’t achieve the goals we have set ourselves, but rather that we take up the challenge – both within our team, as well as united against our competitors.”

The 45-second spot, created by Jung von Matt, will be shown by all major German broadcasters from tonight until Sunday to mark the start of the Formula 1 season.  For those of us in the U.S. that won’t be seeing the film on television, feel free to watch it below.

Mercedes-Benz officially returned to the pinnacle of motor sport, Formula One, in 1994, in a collaboration with Peter Sauber. The later McLaren Mercedes team was established in 1995, and won three drivers’ world championships (1998, 1999 and 2008), and the constructors’ championship in 1998. For the 2010 season Mercedes-Benz would once again be entering a works team – having sensationally engaged arguably the greatest star of recent Formula One history. In December 2009 Daimler AG announced that the new Mercedes Grand Prix Petronas racing stable would start the 2010 season with the driver line-up of Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

Daimler’s route to becoming a works team began with relatively small steps. The C 12 racing car used by the Sauber team in Formula One races in 1993 carried the wording ‘concept by Mercedes-Benz’. The company had yet to make the final decision on whether or not to return to the elite discipline of motor racing. However, Mercedes-Benz was happy to support its long-standing partner from Group C racing with its engine development know-how. Sauber drivers J. J. Letho and Karl Wendlinger were placed fifth and seventh, respectively, in the drivers’ championship that year, with the team finishing in seventh place for the constructors’ championship in its first Formula One season with 12 points.

The name of the Sauber-Mercedes C 13 of 1994 confirmed that the Stuttgart brand was definitely on the racetrack. The car was again powered by a ten-cylinder engine built by Ilmor. The 2175 B unit developed 563 kW at 14,000 rpm, propelling the car to a top speed of 340 km/h. In a season marked by several rule changes, drivers Heinz-Harald Frentzen (13th in the drivers’ championship), Karl Wendlinger (19th) and Andrea de Cesaris (20th) were able to secure eighth place in the constructors’ championship.

1995 saw the arrival of a new team on the Formula One stage: after the disappointing results of the collaboration with Sauber, Mercedes-Benz parted from the Swiss firm at the end of 1995, and now works with the McLaren International, a British racing stable with a long tradition behind it. Its owner, Ron Dennis, had set up some links with Mercedes-Benz at the end of the 1980s. In just four-and-a-half months, the completely new FO 110 engine was designed for the 1995 McLaren-Mercedes MP4-10. This monoposto was the first result of the partnership between McLaren, Mercedes-Benz and the engine specialists at Ilmor. The V10 with displacement of three litres reached speeds of up to 15,600 rpm.

Drivers Mika Häkkinen (seventh in the drivers’ championship) and Mark Blundell (tenth) secured fourth place in the 1995 team standings in this car. In the improved MP4-11 for the 1996 season (particularly with regard to driver safety), Häkkinen (fifth) and his new fellow-team member David Coulthard (seventh) again achieved fourth place in the constructors’ championship – a result replicated in 1997 in the MP 4-12 (with Coulthard third place and Häkkinen in sixth). McLaren-Mercedes did, however, win three races in the 1997 season: the Australian and Italian Grand Prix (Coulthard), and the European Grand Prix (Häkkinen) in Jerez, Spain.

The German-British partnership finally achieved its goal of a world championship in 1998, with a double triumph: with Mika Häkkinen taking the world championship in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-13, and Coulthard in third place in the drivers’ standings. McLaren-Mercedes also won the constructors’ championship. During that epic 1998 season, the Silver Arrow –back in its traditional livery since 1997 – was first across the line in Australia, Brazil, Spain, Monaco, Austria, Germany, Luxembourg and Japan (Häkkinen), and San Marino (Coulthard).

While the basic concept of the MP4-13 of the world championship car was derived from the MP4-12 from the previous year, substantial modifications to many details were required to comply with the changes to the regulations for the 1998 racing season. The track width and overall width were reduced by 20 centimetres, for example, which in turn required extensive modifications to the vehicle’s aerodynamics. A characteristic feature of the MP4-13 was the marked downward slope of the nose, ending just above the front wing. The cockpit – broader than before, in line with the regulations – was pushed further back to optimise weight distribution. This led to a longer wheelbase than in the MP4-12, along with a slight increase in overall length.

The outstanding reputation of Mercedes-Benz as an engine partner for international racing teams was not just limited to Formula One. In the 1994 season, for example, a legend was made when American Penske team won the CART IndyCar World Series with a Mercedes-Benz engine built at Ilmor. The Penske cars won twelve out of 16 races that season, including the Indianapolis 500. The Penske cars were equipped with Mercedes engines from 1994 to 1999.

Mika Häkkinen successfully defended his world championship title in 1999 in his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-14, with David Coulthard in fourth place. McLaren-Mercedes was runner-up in the constructors’ championship. That same year, Häkkinen won the Grand Prix races in Brazil, Spain, Canada, Hungary and Japan, and Coulthard won in the UK and Belgium.

The racing car for the 1999 season was externally similar to its predecessor, but was actually a completely new development project. Innovations included mechanical and aerodynamic boosting of the contact pressure on the front axle. The downward slope of the nose in the MP4-14 was still more pronounced, and the overall centre of gravity in the monoposto powered by the FO 110 H engine was lower than in the 1998 vehicle.

Häkkinen and Coulthard again secured runner-up positions for the team in the constructors’ championship in the following years. Mika Häkkinen drove his McLaren-Mercedes MP4-15 to second place in the drivers’ standings in 2000, with Coulthard in third place. The car had a flatter front nose and enhanced head guards on the sides of the cockpit, the engine, the three-litre V10 FO 110 J, was 2 centimetres shorter. An important innovation was the seven-speed gearbox, developed by McLaren itself. In the 2000 season, the Silver Arrow won races in Spain, Austria, Hungary and Belgium (Häkkinen), and in the United Kingdom and France (Coulthard).

The 2001 season saw major changes to the Formula One rules. This meant that the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-16 was almost completely different from its predecessor. The front wing now had to be 50 millimetres higher – double the clearance from the track surface required previously. The position of the driver’s legs was raised, and the rules also required a substantially smaller rear spoiler. There were restrictions on the number of elements in the spoiler – a maximum of four, three at the top, one at the bottom. The Mercedes-Benz FO 110 K V10 engine, displacing three litres, was also a completely new development project.

David Coulthard was second in the drivers’ championship that year, with Häkkinen in fifth place. Victories in Brazil and Austria (Coulthard) and in the United Kingdom and the USA (Häkkinen) again gave McLaren-Mercedes the runner-up position in the constructors’ championship. Mika Häkkinen retired from Formula One racing at the end of the 2001 season, and was replaced by his compatriot Kimi Räikkönen.

At the starting line for the Melbourne Grand Prix at the beginning of the 2002 season, it was not just the driver in one of the McLaren-Mercedes MP4-17s who was making his debut – the racing car with the FO 110 M ten-cylinder engine was a new vehicle, and Michelin had also come on board as the tyre supplier. In the engine development sphere, Mercedes-Benz had decided to strengthen still further the relationship with the British specialists at Ilmor, and acquired a majority stake in the capital of the company, now known as Mercedes-Ilmor. The 2002 season ended with Coulthard and Räikkönen in fifth and sixth places, respectively, in the drivers’ standings, and McLaren-Mercedes was third in the brand championship. The sole victory during the season was Coulthard’s win at the Monaco Grand Prix.

For the 2003 season, McLaren-Mercedes developed a new monoposto, the MP4-18. Obvious differences from its predecessor included the short and lower nose and more compact rear, in a shape similar to a dorsal fin. The new Mercedes-Benz V10 engine, the FO 110 P, was placed lower than in the predecessor vehicle, which also further lowered the car’s centre of gravity.

However, the revolutionary vehicle saw no racing action: the team competed in the season’s grand prix races with a further improved variant of the previous year’s car called the MP4-17D, while development work on the MP4-18 continued. Kimi Räikkönen was runner-up in the drivers’ championship in his second season with McLaren-Mercedes, with Coulthard in seventh place. McLaren-Mercedes was third in the constructors’ standings. Coulthard won the Australian Grand Prix in the MP4-17D, and Räikkönen won his first race in a Silver Arrow in the Malaysian Grand Prix.

The team was unable to emulate these results in the 2004 season. Räikkönen drove the enhanced McLaren-Mercedes MP4-19 car, based on the MP4-18, to seventh place in the drivers’ championship, with Coulthard in tenth position. McLaren-Mercedes posted just one victory (Räikkönen’s win in the Belgian Grand Prix), and ended the season in fifth position in the constructors’ championship.

The McLaren-Mercedes MP4-20 for the 2005 racing season – now with a total of around 10,800 components – clearly reflected some major changes to the regulations. Engines now had to last for at least two races, and further changes were made to the aerodynamics requirements. Accordingly, the engineers spent around 3600 hours in the wind tunnel alone working on the new vehicle. The new Mercedes-Benz FO 110 R engine also had to be exhaustively tested and updated.

Because of the injuries suffered by Juan Pablo Montoya, four different drivers appeared at the wheel of a Silver Arrow during the season: Kimi Räikkönen was runner-up in the drivers’ championship and Montoya was fourth. The replacement drivers were Alexander Wurz (17th) and Pedro de la Rosa (19th). McLaren-Mercedes was runner-up in the constructors’ championship. The team won grand prix events in Spain, Monaco, Canada, Hungary, Turkey, Belgium and Japan (Räikkönen), and in the United Kingdom, Italy and Brazil (Montoya) – a total of ten victories in 19 races.

For the first time since the return of Mercedes-Benz to Formula One racing, the Silver Arrows did not have a ten-cylinder engine. Instead the new regulations required a V8 engine, which impacted on the entire design of the MP4-21. As in 2005, the new engine had to be used on two consecutive Grand Prix weekends. The Mercedes-Benz FO 108S V8 engine was a completely new design and construction project, and was tested for the first time in 2005. The rules for the engines included a cylinder angle of 90 degrees, no more than two intake and exhaust valves, a minimum weight of 95 kilograms and other parameter requirements. The V8 monoposto again brought McLaren-Mercedes third place in the constructors’ championship, and the drivers placed fifth (Kimi Räikkönen), eighth (Juan Pablo Montoya) and 11th (Pedro de la Rosa).

2007 came close to being a year of triumph for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, as the team was called after the new main sponsor came on board. There were two new drivers at the wheel of the MP4-22: the young Briton Lewis Hamilton, a young talent nurtured by McLaren and Mercedes-Benz over many years, and the Spaniard Fernando Alonso. In his very first season, Hamilton achieved podium positions in each of his first three races – a record in the history of Formula One. During the season, he won grand prix in Canada, the USA, Hungary and Japan. Alonso won in Malaysia and Monaco, at the European Grand Prix and in Italy. Hamilton had a precarious lead in the drivers’ standing going into the last race of the season in Brazil, but had to admit defeat in the final by a narrow margin to Felipe Massa in a Ferrari.

In 2008, Lewis Hamilton turned his narrow defeat the previous year into an equally narrow victory, when an overtaking manoeuvre in his MP4-23 in the closing stages of the last race of the season brought him the world title. The Brazilian Grand Prix was raced in difficult conditions, with rain just before the start and again soon before the end of the event. But by overtaking Toyota driver Timo Glock on the last turn of the 71-lap race, Hamilton secured fifth position – enough to take the world championship with 98 points, just one more than the tally of Ferrari driver Felipe Massa.

At the age of 23 years, 9 months and 26 days, Lewis Hamilton became the youngest champion in Formula One history. This was the third driver’s title for Vodafone McLaren Mercedes in Formula One, following Häkkinen’s wins in 1998 and 1999. Vodafone McLaren Mercedes took second position in the constructors’ championship. The second Silver Arrow driver in 2008 was Heikki Kovalainen, who ended the season in seventh place in the drivers’ standings.

In the 2009 season, Vodafone McLaren Mercedes competed with the new MP4-24. At the wheel again were Lewis Hamilton and Heikki Kovalainen. But another team whose Formula One racing cars were powered by a Mercedes Benz FO 108W engine was doing the winning: Jenson Button from Brawn Mercedes, driving a BGP 001, won five out of the first six races and was finally crowned Formula One world champion, his team-mate Rubens Barrichello finishing 3rd. The McLaren-Mercedes drivers finished 5th (Lewis Hamilton) and 12th (Heikki Kovalainen). Team Force India F1 was a third team to use Mercedes-Benz engines.

For the 2010 season Daimler AG then revived a tradition unbroken since the end of the 1955 season and entered a Formula One works team. The new Team Mercedes Grand Prix was created from the takeover of the British racing stable Brawn GP. After concluding a long-term sponsorship deal with the Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas in late 2009, the new partners agreed on the team name Mercedes Grand Prix Petronas, or Mercedes GP Petronas for short.

In 2010 Mercedes-Benz and McLaren continued to work in partnership in spite of changes to cooperative arrangements, and Mercedes-Benz agreed to supply engines to Vodafone McLaren Mercedes potentially until 2015.

The signing of Michael Schumacher as a Mercedes-Benz driver for the new works team caused a sensation. One of the two Silver Arrows in 2010 is to be driven by the seven-time Formula One world champion. His team-mate is Nico Rosberg.

For Michael Schumacher and for Mercedes-Benz Motorsport the 2010 season means returning full circle. For as a Mercedes-Benz junior Schumacher drove in Group C and DTM in 1990 and 1991, and with Mercedes-Benz assistance he joined Formula One in 1991 – with Jordan on 25 August at Spa-Francorchamps.

With Mercedes GP Petronas, Schumacher is now following in the footsteps of the latest Formula One works drivers for Mercedes-Benz, including five-times world champion Fangio, Karl Kling, Stirling Moss and Piero Taruffi. In addition, Schumacher also renews his collaboration with team boss Ross Brawn, with whom he won his seven world driver’s titles at Benetton and Ferrari.

It’s Friday ladies and gentlemen, and I must preface this article with a brief disclaimer:  if you’re at work reading this, your mood is almost certainly going to get a bit more somber, because right now, as we speak, a caravan of incredibly gorgeous historic Mercedes-Benz models are traversing the beautiful Italian countryside in the 2010 Mille Miglia, and you (we) are missing it.  All is not lost, however, because despite our unfortunate placement, we’ve still got firsthand coverage for you from the event, and believe me when I tell you, the Mercedes models on hand are truly a sight to behold.

The festivities for the 2010 Mille Miglia actually kicked off yesterday in Italy, after heavy rain finally gave way to sunny conditions.  A total of 15 classic Mercedes-Benz models made the journey to Italy – nine Mercedes 300SL Gullwings, three Mercedes SSK’s, one Mercedes SS, one Mercedes 220A and one W194 prototype I – the largest factory team turnout for the event.  Also on hand for Mercedes are ex-Forumla 1 drivers Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard.

The first leg saw the drivers get underway from the norther Italian city of Brescia, with the teams traveling a total of  193 kilometers through Sirmione, Castel D’Ario and Cento before reaching Bologna, thus ending the first stage.  Next up is the longer, second stage of the journey – one that will see drivers make their way from Bologna south through Repubblica Di San Marino and Rieti before they eventually conclude at the Italian capital of Roma.

We’ll keep you updated throughout the Mille Miglia 2010 with additional photos and details; but in the meantime, check out the first wave of photos from the Mille Miglia’s first stage in the gallery below.

With bright eyes, square jaw, striking face and a big grin – David Coulthard is an eye-catcher. The Scot has an aura that attracts everyone’s attention. As attractive as his success is and the fact that he drives in the 2010 DTM as an excellent racer is noteworthy, but as an individual, Coulthard is also a great addition to the human race.

Once addicted, always addicted

After only a year away and his F1 farewell in 2008 he is back in the racing world. In the DTM with Mercedes-Benz. Norbert Haug and his men can also be proud of this coup. “DC” is a star. Such types can bring a real racing series only forward. At least, humanly, morally and in terms of image.

Whether DC also sports an added value may be, will turn out. It starts in a 2008-spec C-Class mosquito teams – there, where Ralf Schumacher his “apprentice” year graduated. For a team that has a lot of experience and DTM Peter Mücke in a calm, serene as head teacher.

“I would like to try it by myself and make the challenge of DTM. I do not have a defined goal, but simply want to make with my friends again at Mercedes motorsport, “said Coulthard his motivation to compete with the world’s best touring car aces. There it is again: this radiation, this karma. It deprives them of their estimates from simple and wishes him that will be the DTM-entry more than a brief interlude. David Coulthard will be good for the DTM – just as it has done before, fetched from Mercedes Jean Alesi, Mika Hakkinen and Ralf Schumacher.

Held in Formula 1

Coulthard’s career in racing runs initially as textbook: As a child turns David Klein, the first laps in the kart, he shows great talent in dealing with the gas pedal and steering wheel. In Scottish championships in the 80’s he giving his competitor for many years no chance. The reward: 1989 is the now adult Coulthard honored with the “McLaren Autosport BRDC Award – the most prestigious award for young racers. The ticket simply for a successful career. Coulthard also gives the award a boost. It rises up in the Formula racing. In 1991, he travels in the team of Paul Stewart, son of former Formula 1 world champion Jackie Stewart, in the British Formula 3 Championship and won second place overall. In the same year he wins both the Formula 3 Grand Prix in Macau as well as the Formula 3 Masters, and thereby gains the two most prestigious races in the Formula 3 circus. Coulthard climbs logically the next stage of the career ladder: Formula 3000 Championship – the second division under the first formula Furthermore, for Paul Stewart. In 1993, the dream comes from Formula 1 in performance: The Williams-Renault team requires him as a test driver in the top class. ” Full-Coulthard remains in the Formula 3000 For the Pacific team, he occupied overall.

Then the year that he will never forget. 1994 Grand Prix of San Marino. Formula 1 experienced one of its saddest days. Williams superstar Ayrton Senna fatal accident. Team boss Frank Williams has to make a difficult decision. He gives his inexperienced replacement driver Coulthard a chance – and using them. In eight operations to the end of the season he runs five times in the points, including once on the podium in Portugal. Coulthard in 1995, celebrates his first victory. Back in Portugal. The McLaren-Mercedes team is aware of the young Scot and obliged him to season 1996. In 1997 the big break: In the very first race in Australia Coulthard wins. It is the first victory in a “silver arrow” since the 1950s.

McLaren-Mercedes is developing a titeltauglichen team again. However, it is not Coulthard, who is reaping the laurels of the British. Rather, he takes the role of the solid number two behind the Finn Mika Hakkinen, who is a world champion in 1998 and 1999. 2001: F1 last year by Hakkinen. It is no longer good, overall five. Coulthard uses his chance and comes out of the shadows: two overall. His best end result in Formula 1 2002 – another Finn DC makes life difficult. Initially developed at eye level to Kimi Raikkonen for Ohata number one. Three average from 2002 to 2004 are cause for a team move to Red Bull Racing, which celebrates in 2005 its F1 debut. The former Jaguar team, bought by Red Bull boss Dietrich Mateschitz, turns out to be a mediocre team. Coulthard comes in spite of his experience in four years does not go beyond the tenth place overall. A victory is denied him, but he makes 2006 in Monaco as a third party for the much acclaimed first Red Bull podium place.

With the Brazilian GP in 2008 Coulthard ends racing career. For the time being. “I will certainly not hang his helmet on the nail. I’m staying in motor sports receive different, “he reassured his fans. The F1 record of 15 years is impressive. In the eternal rankings of the race started, the collected championship points and landed podium finishes he romped in the Top Ten. After Michael Schumacher (180 races for Ferrari) no driver stayed longer with a team (150 races for McLaren-Mercedes). He keeps his promise to the fans. In the background, in 2009 he worked as a consultant and representative for Red Bull, in the foreground, and hear it as a Formula 1 expert for the British TV channel BBC. And as an ambassador for “Wings for Life”, a foundation of former motorcycle star Heinz Kinigadner and Red Bull founder Mateschitz, which supports research to cure paralysis.

Disaster Strikes

May 2, 2000. An ordinary Tuesday. David Coulthard, his then-fiancee Heidi Wichlinski and personal fitness trainer, Andrew Matthews, were in a privately rented Lear jet on the way to the Spanish Grand Prix. Then a shock for all occupants: Around the Lyon region in France, pilot and co-pilot realize there are problems with both engines and put on the emergency landing. The quintet will be diverted to the airport of Lyon-Satolas. Then the disaster takes its course: According to official data, the pilots lose control of landing the plane. The chassis and the left wing touching the ground, the plane bounces up again breaks into two parts, and goes up in flames. Coulthard and Matthews can save themselves, Coulthard is believe to have saved his fiancee from the blazing wreck. A real feat. For the pilots, however, help comes too late. “I thought I would die,” said Coulthard, who incurs in the disaster, only a few scrapes and bruised ribs.

Women Held in everyday life

“I admit that women are on me,” says David Coulthard in his very entertaining autobiography, “It is what it is”. It was during his time in Formula 1, many unique properties. Time he assumed that once he refused. This Playboy life is history. He has found his true love: Karen Minier, a former television presenter from Belgium. Coulthard puts her engagement ring befitting the Formula 1 race in Hockenheim in 2006 on the grid to. Two years later, the couple is happy about the birth of their son, Dayton. Coulthard’s everyday life: remove children, change diapers, get up at night, when the boy cries. Only for Karen, he is a womanizer. And in the DTM, it can quickly become one.