Mercedes-Benz in motorsport
Encyclopedia
Throughout its long history, Mercedes-Benz
has been involved in a range of motorsport
activities, including sportscar racing and rallying, and is currently active in Formula Three
, DTM
and Formula One
.
The two companies which were merged to form the Mercedes-Benz brand in 1926 had both already enjoyed success in the new sport of motor racing throughout their separate histories. In fact both were entered into the very first automobile race Paris to Rouen 1894. The Mercedes Simplex
of 1902, built by DMG, was Mercedes' first purpose built race car — much lower than their usual designs — which were similar to horse carriages; that model dominated racing for years. In 1914, just before the beginning of the First World War, the DMG Mercedes 35 hp
won the French Grand Prix
, finishing 1-2-3.
Karl Benz
's company, Benz & Cie. built the "bird beaked", Blitzen Benz
that set land speed record
s several times, reaching 228.1 km/h (141.7 mph) in 1911. That record gained that model the reputation of being faster than any other automobile — as well as any train or plane. They constructed many aerodynamically designed race cars.
Benz was involved in Grand Prix motor racing
from 1923, when the Benz Tropfenwagen (described as having a teardrop shape) was introduced to motorsport
at the European Grand Prix
at Monza
. These, the brainchild of Benz chief engineer Hans Nibel, were inspired by the Rumpler Tropfenwagen and were intended to increase public acceptance of mid-engined cars. They resembled the later Auto Union
s (also built in part by Rumpler engineers), and used the virtually unchanged Rumpler chassis. They were fitted with a 1991 cc DOHC
inline
six producing 80 hp and demonstrated "impeccable roadholding" at 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and above.
Despite a promising start, with a fourth and a fifth (and one retirement) in their debut, they did no better in three years of Grands Prix and hillclimb
ing, and the expected public acceptance did not materialize. Financial difficulties led to a merger with Daimler.
In the 1930s, the new joint company, Daimler-Benz
, with their mighty Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows
, dominated Grand Prix
racing in Europe together with its rival, Auto Union
. In fact the colour of the cars, which was later to become legendary, was unintentional - they had initially been painted white as was traditional for German cars, but the paint was stripped away to reduce weight. The cars set speed records up to 435 km/h (270 mph). The team was guided by the great Rennleiter (racing team manager) Alfred Neubauer
until the company ceased racing at the start of WWII.
In 1954 Mercedes-Benz returned to what was now known as Formula One racing
(a World championship having been established in 1950), using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196
which was run in both open-wheeled and streamlined forms. Juan Manuel Fangio
, a previous champion (1951) transferred mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz for their debut at the French Grand Prix
on 4 July 1954. The team had immediate success and recorded a 1-2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling
, as well as the fastest lap (Hans Herrmann
). Fangio went on to win three more races in 1954, winning the Championship.
The success continued into the 1955 season
, where the same car was used again. The team's drivers, Fangio and the young Stirling Moss
, won 6 of the 9 rounds between them, and finished first and second in that year's championship.
Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster
, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from all factory-sponsored motorsport. Mercedes made its return to Formula One
in 1993 as an engine supplier to Sauber
, with whom they had already enjoyed success in sportscar racing, in its debut F1 season, with a V10 engine
manufactured by Ilmor
. The Sauber C12
made a good debut at the 1993 South African Grand Prix
, with drivers JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger
qualifying within the top ten and the team left South Africa with two points thanks to Lehto. Mercedes supplied Sauber for 2 years, scoring twenty-four points during their partnership.
saw the normally aspirated Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor F1-V10 moved to the Woking
based McLaren
team, replacing Peugeot
who moved to supplying their engines to the Jordan team
. In a season dominated by the Renault
powered Benetton B195
s and Williams FW17
s, the McLaren-Mercedes partnership produce thirty points with 2 podium finishes from Mika Häkkinen
. produced similar results to '95 with the team finishing behind the trio of Williams, Benetton and Ferrari
, but the team still scored three times as many podium positions in comparison to the previous year. Outside Formula One, Mercedes-Benz had increased its shareholding in the Ilmor company in 1996 and took full control nine years later. They have continued to design and build engines for McLaren.
In the opening race of the 1997 Formula One season
, David Coulthard
produced victory for McLaren and ushered in a new era of success for the British
based squad. Coincidentally this was the first race in which McLaren had competed with a silver livery due to West
replacing Marlboro, who moved to Ferrari, as title sponsor. The colour drew inevitable comparisons to the Silver Arrows
of a previous era, and the nickname was applied to the McLarens. This was a significant result in F1 racing, McLaren's first victory for three seasons and the first win for Mercedes-Benz since Juan Manuel Fangio
's success at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
. McLaren and Mercedes-Benz still, however, finished fourth in the Contructors' Championship behind the same three teams as the previous two seasons, but they had collected more than twice as many points in '97 as they had in '95.
With an Adrian Newey
designed MP4/13
for , McLaren went onto win both the Drivers' Championship with Häkkinen and the Contructors' title, their first in seven years, by twenty-three points to their nearest rivals Ferrari. Häkkinen went onto win the title for the second time in succession the following season
, however, the team failed to retain their Contructors' title, losing it to Ferrari by four points.
and saw McLaren and their drivers play second fiddle to the dominant partnership of Michael Schumacher
and Ferrari, as the Italian-German partnership won nineteen of a possible thirty-four races. Häkkinen retired from Formula One before the season, although he would later represent Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
series. Fellow Finn
Kimi Räikkönen
replaced him. McLaren dropped down the in order in terms of Constructors' Championship position, losing its second place position to the BMW
-Williams
team, with the season still being dominated overall by Schumacher and Ferrari. For the following four years McLaren proved to be one of the fastest cars in the field but lacked in reliability, most notably in and ; the 2006 season marked the first since 1996 in which McLaren had failed to win a race. In McLaren's drivers finished second and third in the Drivers' Championship, only 1 point behind Champion Kimi Räikkönen. In Lewis Hamilton
won the Drivers' Championship by 1 point from Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
In 2003, this partnership was extended into the production of a Mercedes-McLaren roadcar, the SLR
. Mercedes also supplies the cars to the FIA for use as safety car
s and other race official roles, such as the medical car, at Formula One races.
, and instead purchase a 75% controlling stake in the 2009 championship-winning
team Brawn GP
. The team, reimagined as Mercedes GP
debuted at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
, with an all-German driver line-up of Nico Rosberg
and Michael Schumacher
.
It was in 1952 that Mercedes-Benz returned to racing after the war, again with Alfred Neubauer as team manager. Their small and underpowered gull-winged Mercedes-Benz 300SL
, won several races in 1952 including the 24 Hours of Le Mans
, the Carrera Panamericana
, and did well in other important races such as the Mille Miglia
.
Mercedes-Benz was also dominant in sports car racing
during the 1950s. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was derived from the W196 Formula One car for use in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
. At Le Mans that year, a disaster
occurred in which a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
collided with another car, killing more than eighty spectators. The team went on to win the two remaining races of the season, and won the Manufacturer's championship, but it had already been planned at the beginning of that year that the company would retire its teams at the end of the 1955 season. In fact in the aftermath of the Le Mans disaster, it would be several decades until Mercedes-Benz returned to front line motorsport.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mercedes returned to competition through the tuning company AMG
(later to become a Mercedes-Benz subsidiary), which entered the big Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
V8 sedan in the Spa 24 Hours
and the European Touring Car Championship
.
In 1985 Mercedes-Benz returned to the World Sportscar Championship
as an engine supplier for the privateer Sauber
team. The first cars produced by this relationship, the Sauber C8
and C9 were not particularly successful.
After the Sauber team parted company with their sponsor Kouros at the end of 1987, Mercedes-Benz increased their involvement with Sauber for the 1988 season to become a factory entrant under the Sauber-Mercedes name. Still using the C9 the team won 5 races but came 2nd to the TWR Jaguar team in the championship. However, 1989 was to be a different story with Sauber-Mercedes winning all but one championship race to become world champions (including coming 1st and 2nd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
- all achieved with the C9. For the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season the C9 was replaced by the all-new C11
, while the team was renamed Merecedes-Benz (though the outfit was still run by Sauber). The team dominated the season, again winning all but one race to become world champions. Mercedes-Benz eventually withdrew from sportscar racing after a dismal 1991 season.
Mercedes-Benz returned to sportscar racing in 1997, with the CLK GTR
which was entered in the new FIA GT Championship
world championship series. In its first year, the CLK GTR won the championship and the drivers' championship. It would again dominate the FIA GT in 1998, and would go on to win its second championship in a row. The CLK GTR would be the last car to win the FIA GT Championship. The successor to this car, the CLR
was a spectacular failure. It was entered in the 1999 Le Mans race, but a series of accidents involving the car flipping brought about the cancellation of the CLR project and Mercedes-Benz has not participated in sportscar racing since.
with the Mercedes-Benz W201
in the early 1980s. Yet, as all wheel drive and turbocharger
s were introduced by the competition (Audi Quattro
) at that time, this was cancelled. Instead the W201 ended up being used in the DTM
touring car
series from 1988, with the car again being prepared by AMG, who became an official partner and continue to enter the new DTM
to the present day.
Mercedes currently competes in the new DTM championship.
In the five years since Mercedes-Benz began its involvement in Formula Three
, it has developed into the formula's most dominant engine supplier. Its engines, which are built and serviced by H.W.A GmbH, have so far contributed to a total of four drivers' and four teams' championship titles in the Formula Three Euroseries
and British Formula Three Championship
.
The H.W.A Mercedes-AMG M271 was based on a 1.8 litre 4-cylinder from the C-Klasse
, bored out to the regulation 2.0 litre capacity. Formula Three engine regulations demand a naturally aspirated, 4-stroke, 4-cylinder, production-based specification, with a capacity of not more than 2000cc. The M271 made its competitive debut in the 2002 German Formula 3 Championship in two of Mücke Motorsport's three Dallara F302 chassis, driven by Markus Winkelhock
and Marcel Lasse. Winkelhock achieved Mercedes' first F3 win at the Nürburgring in August 2002.
In 2003, Mercedes expanded its Formula Three program by supplying three teams in the inaugural year of the F3 Euroseries
. Its engine powered the seven cars of Mücke Motorsport, Team Kolles, and ASM Formule 3. Speiss-Opel was dominant, thanks in part to Ryan Briscoe
and Prema Powerteam, but Mercedes was winning by the eighth round. Its most notable win was provided by Christian Klien
at Zandvoort
in the non-championship Marlboro Masters
.
Between 2004 and 2006, Mercedes-powered cars have dominated the drivers' and teams' championships in the Euroseries, due in part to its close relationship with ASM Formule 3
, which is one of France's most successful F3 teams. It has brought drivers' titles for Jamie Green
, Lewis Hamilton
, and Paul di Resta
. 2006 also saw Mercedes' first participation in the British F3 Championship, when it partnered with Räikkönen Robertson Racing, co-owned by Kimi Räikkönen
, and two other teams. Double R Racing's lead driver, Mike Conway
, dominated the championship. In the 2007 British F3 season
, Mercedes now powers the majority of the Championship field.
world records after running almost non-stop (only a 20-sec pit stop every 2½ hours) in a total of 201 hours, 39 minutes, and 43 seconds—completing 50000 kilometres (31,068.6 mi) at maximum speed of 247 km/h (153 mph). It went on to become the 190E 2.3-16 touring model.
won the Indianapolis 500
with a Penske
-Mercedes IndyCar. Mercedes-Benz which, realizing that a loophole in the rules for production-based engines would include any pushrod engine, built a very unusual purpose-built pushrod engine with a significant power advantage. This was done knowing that the "forgotten" loophole would be closed immediately after they took advantage of it, and so the engine would in fact be usable only for this single race.
Starting from 1995, Mercedes-Benz rebranded the Ilmor
engines and achieved six wins in their first full season, also reaching second in the drivers championship powering Al Unser, Jr.
After a dry spell in 1996, Mercedes-Benz came back in 1997 with eight wins and a second place in the championship for Gil de Ferran
. However, a lack of competitive results in the following results and the CART
/IRL split meant Mercedes gradually lost interest and the German manufacturer abandoned American racing at the end of the 2000 season, with a total of 18 wins and two vice-championships.
Mercedes-Benz
Mercedes-Benz is a German manufacturer of automobiles, buses, coaches, and trucks. Mercedes-Benz is a division of its parent company, Daimler AG...
has been involved in a range of motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
activities, including sportscar racing and rallying, and is currently active in Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
, DTM
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide....
and Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
.
Early history
Mercedes Simplex
The Mercedes Simplex was an car produced from 1902-09 by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft . It continued the use of the Mercedes name as the brand of DMG, rather than Daimler....
of 1902, built by DMG, was Mercedes' first purpose built race car — much lower than their usual designs — which were similar to horse carriages; that model dominated racing for years. In 1914, just before the beginning of the First World War, the DMG Mercedes 35 hp
Mercedes 35 hp
The Mercedes 35 hp was a radical early car model designed in 1901 by Wilhelm Maybach and Paul Daimler, for Emil Jellinek. Produced in Stuttgart, Germany, by the Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft , it began the Mercedes line of cars .A significant advancement over the previous generation of...
won the French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....
, finishing 1-2-3.
Karl Benz
Karl Benz
Karl Friedrich Benz, was a German engine designer and car engineer, generally regarded as the inventor of the gasoline-powered car, and together with Bertha Benz pioneering founder of the automobile manufacturer Mercedes-Benz...
's company, Benz & Cie. built the "bird beaked", Blitzen Benz
Blitzen Benz
In 1909, the Blitzen Benz was built in Mannheim by Benz & Cie. The vehicle was one of six built with a , inline four engine enlarged from the company's Grand Prix racer. The car was modified to improve its aerodynamics. At Brooklands on November 9, 1909, land speed racer Victor Hémery of France...
that set land speed record
Land speed record
The land speed record is the highest speed achieved by a wheeled vehicle on land. There is no single body for validation and regulation; in practice the Category C flying start regulations are used, officiated by regional or national organizations under the auspices of the Fédération...
s several times, reaching 228.1 km/h (141.7 mph) in 1911. That record gained that model the reputation of being faster than any other automobile — as well as any train or plane. They constructed many aerodynamically designed race cars.
1923-1939
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
from 1923, when the Benz Tropfenwagen (described as having a teardrop shape) was introduced to motorsport
Motorsport
Motorsport or motorsports is the group of sports which primarily involve the use of motorized vehicles, whether for racing or non-racing competition...
at the European Grand Prix
European Grand Prix
The European Grand Prix is a Formula One event that was reintroduced during the mid-1980s and has been held regularly since 1999. From 2008 it will take place for at least another 7 years...
at Monza
Autodromo Nazionale Monza
The Autodromo Nazionale Monza is a race track located near the town of Monza, north of Milan, in Italy. The circuit's biggest event is the Formula One Italian Grand Prix, which has been hosted there since the sport's inception....
. These, the brainchild of Benz chief engineer Hans Nibel, were inspired by the Rumpler Tropfenwagen and were intended to increase public acceptance of mid-engined cars. They resembled the later Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
s (also built in part by Rumpler engineers), and used the virtually unchanged Rumpler chassis. They were fitted with a 1991 cc DOHC
Overhead camshaft
Overhead cam valvetrain configurations place the engine camshaft within the cylinder heads, above the combustion chambers, and drive the valves or lifters in a more direct manner compared to overhead valves and pushrods...
inline
Straight engine
Usually found in four- and six-cylinder configurations, the straight engine, or inline engine is an internal-combustion engine with all cylinders aligned in one row, with no offset...
six producing 80 hp and demonstrated "impeccable roadholding" at 90 mph (144.8 km/h) and above.
Despite a promising start, with a fourth and a fifth (and one retirement) in their debut, they did no better in three years of Grands Prix and hillclimb
Hillclimbing
Hillclimbing is a branch of motorsport in which drivers compete against the clock to complete an uphill course....
ing, and the expected public acceptance did not materialize. Financial difficulties led to a merger with Daimler.
In the 1930s, the new joint company, Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz
Daimler-Benz AG was a German manufacturer of automobiles, motor vehicles, and internal combustion engines; founded in 1926. An Agreement of Mutual Interest - which was valid until year 2000 - was signed on 1 May 1924 between Karl Benz's Benz & Cie., and Daimler Motoren Gesellschaft, which had...
, with their mighty Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939, and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954/55.For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each...
, dominated Grand Prix
Grand Prix motor racing
Grand Prix motor racing has its roots in organised automobile racing that began in France as far back as 1894. It quickly evolved from a simple road race from one town to the next, to endurance tests for car and driver...
racing in Europe together with its rival, Auto Union
Auto Union
Auto Union was an amalgamation of four German automobile manufacturers, founded in 1932 and established in 1936 in Chemnitz, Saxony, during the Great Depression. The company has evolved into present day Audi, as a subsidiary of Volkswagen Group....
. In fact the colour of the cars, which was later to become legendary, was unintentional - they had initially been painted white as was traditional for German cars, but the paint was stripped away to reduce weight. The cars set speed records up to 435 km/h (270 mph). The team was guided by the great Rennleiter (racing team manager) Alfred Neubauer
Alfred Neubauer
Alfred Neubauer was the racing manager of the Mercedes Grand Prix team from 1926 to 1955.-Biography:...
until the company ceased racing at the start of WWII.
1954-1955 dominance
History of Formula One
The history of Formula One has its roots in the European Grand Prix motor racing of the 1920s and 1930s. However, the foundation of Formula One began in 1946 with the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's standardisation of rules. A World Drivers' Championship followed in 1950...
(a World championship having been established in 1950), using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196
Mercedes-Benz W196
The Mercedes-Benz W196 was the Mercedes-Benz Formula One entry in the and Formula One seasons, winning 9 of 12 races entered in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss....
which was run in both open-wheeled and streamlined forms. Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
, a previous champion (1951) transferred mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz for their debut at the French Grand Prix
French Grand Prix
The French Grand Prix was a race held as part of Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile's annual Formula One automobile racing championships....
on 4 July 1954. The team had immediate success and recorded a 1-2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling
Karl Kling
Karl Kling was a motor racing driver and manager from Germany. He participated in 11 Formula One Grands Prix, debuting on 4 July 1954. He achieved 2 podiums, and scored a total of 17 championship points.It is said, that he was born too late and too early...
, as well as the fastest lap (Hans Herrmann
Hans Herrmann
Hans Herrmann is a former Formula One and Sports car racing driver from Stuttgart, Germany.In F1, he participated in 19 World Championship Grands Prix, debuting on August 2, 1953...
). Fangio went on to win three more races in 1954, winning the Championship.
The success continued into the 1955 season
1955 Formula One season
The 1955 Formula One season was the sixth season of FIA Formula One motor racing. It featured the 1955 World Championship of Drivers, which commenced on January 16, 1955 and ended on September 11 after seven races...
, where the same car was used again. The team's drivers, Fangio and the young Stirling Moss
Stirling Moss
Sir Stirling Craufurd Moss, OBE FIE is a former racing driver from England...
, won 6 of the 9 rounds between them, and finished first and second in that year's championship.
1993-2009
- For information about Mercedes-Benz's Formula One engine constructor see Mercedes-Benz High Performance EnginesMercedes-Benz High Performance EnginesMercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines Ltd. is a British Formula One engine manufacturer, owned by Mercedes-Benz. Since 1995, their engines have powered McLaren's Formula One cars. For the 2009 season, Mercedes-Benz also supplied the Brawn GP and Force India teams with engines...
Following the 1955 Le Mans disaster
1955 Le Mans disaster
The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. The driver was killed, as were 83 spectators. A further 120 people were injured...
, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from all factory-sponsored motorsport. Mercedes made its return to Formula One
Formula One
Formula One, also known as Formula 1 or F1 and referred to officially as the FIA Formula One World Championship, is the highest class of single seater auto racing sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The "formula" designation in the name refers to a set of rules with which...
in 1993 as an engine supplier to Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
, with whom they had already enjoyed success in sportscar racing, in its debut F1 season, with a V10 engine
V10 engine
A V10 engine is a V engine with 10 cylinders in two banks of five with a distinct exhaust note.- Mechanics :The V10 is essentially the result of mating two even-firing straight-5 engines together. The straight-5 engine shows first and second order rocking motion...
manufactured by Ilmor
Ilmor
Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983, is a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the...
. The Sauber C12
Sauber C12
The Sauber C12 was the car with which the Sauber Formula One team made its FIA Formula One World Championship debut in 1993. Its design was led by Leo Ress. Power was provided by a Sauber-branded 3.5-litre 72deg. V10 built by Ilmor in partnership with Mercedes...
made a good debut at the 1993 South African Grand Prix
1993 South African Grand Prix
The 1993 South African Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Kyalami on March 14, 1993. It was the first round of the 1993 Formula One season....
, with drivers JJ Lehto and Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger
Karl Wendlinger is an Austrian sportscar racing and former Formula One driver.- Mercedes Juniors :Wendlinger started his career in karting and in Formula Ford before entering the German Formula 3 Championship in 1988...
qualifying within the top ten and the team left South Africa with two points thanks to Lehto. Mercedes supplied Sauber for 2 years, scoring twenty-four points during their partnership.
saw the normally aspirated Mercedes-Benz-Ilmor F1-V10 moved to the Woking
Woking
Woking is a large town and civil parish that shares its name with the surrounding local government district, located in the west of Surrey, UK. It is part of the Greater London Urban Area and the London commuter belt, with frequent trains and a journey time of 24 minutes to Waterloo station....
based McLaren
McLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
team, replacing Peugeot
Peugeot
Peugeot is a major French car brand, part of PSA Peugeot Citroën, the second largest carmaker based in Europe.The family business that precedes the current Peugeot company was founded in 1810, and manufactured coffee mills and bicycles. On 20 November 1858, Emile Peugeot applied for the lion...
who moved to supplying their engines to the Jordan team
Jordan Grand Prix
Jordan Grand Prix was a Formula One constructor that competed from 1991 to 2005. The team is named after Irish businessman and founder Eddie Jordan...
. In a season dominated by the Renault
Renault F1
Lotus Renault GP, formerly the Renault F1 Team, is a British Formula One racing team. The Oxfordshire-based team can trace its roots back through the Benetton team of the late 1980s and 1990s to the Toleman team of the early 1980s. Renault had also competed in various forms since , before taking...
powered Benetton B195
Benetton B195
The Benetton B195 was a Formula One car designed by Rory Byrne and Ross Brawn for use by Benetton in the 1995 Formula One season. The B195 was almost identical to the Benetton B194 but a change of engine supplier from Ford to Renault caused a redesign of the engine installation, gearbox and rear...
s and Williams FW17
Williams FW17
The Williams FW17 was a Formula One car designed by Adrian Newey with which the Williams team competed in the 1995 Formula One season. It was driven by Damon Hill, who was in his third year with the team, and David Coulthard, who was in his first full season after a part-time role in .With what...
s, the McLaren-Mercedes partnership produce thirty points with 2 podium finishes from Mika Häkkinen
Mika Häkkinen
Mika Pauli Häkkinen is a Finnish racing driver and two-time Formula One World Champion...
. produced similar results to '95 with the team finishing behind the trio of Williams, Benetton and Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari
Scuderia Ferrari is the racing team division of the Ferrari automobile marque. The team currently only races in Formula One but has competed in numerous classes of motorsport since its formation in 1929, including sportscar racing....
, but the team still scored three times as many podium positions in comparison to the previous year. Outside Formula One, Mercedes-Benz had increased its shareholding in the Ilmor company in 1996 and took full control nine years later. They have continued to design and build engines for McLaren.
In the opening race of the 1997 Formula One season
1997 Formula One season
The 1997 Formula One season was the 48th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 9, 1997, and ended on October 26 after seventeen races.-Season summary:...
, David Coulthard
David Coulthard
David Marshall Coulthard, MBE, , sometimes known as DC, is a British former Formula One racing driver from Scotland.Coulthard, who was born in Dumfries and raised nearby in Twynholm, made his Formula One debut in 1994 and won 13 Grands Prix in a career spanning 15 seasons...
produced victory for McLaren and ushered in a new era of success for the British
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
based squad. Coincidentally this was the first race in which McLaren had competed with a silver livery due to West
West (cigarette)
West is a German tobacco brand owned by the British company Imperial Tobacco.The cigarettes are available in most European Union countries except the UK and Ireland. The brand is sold in over 90 countries worldwide.-History:...
replacing Marlboro, who moved to Ferrari, as title sponsor. The colour drew inevitable comparisons to the Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows
Silver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939, and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954/55.For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each...
of a previous era, and the nickname was applied to the McLarens. This was a significant result in F1 racing, McLaren's first victory for three seasons and the first win for Mercedes-Benz since Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio
Juan Manuel Fangio , nicknamed El Chueco or El Maestro , was a racing car driver from Argentina, who dominated the first decade of Formula One racing...
's success at the 1955 Italian Grand Prix
1955 Italian Grand Prix
The 1955 Italian Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held at Monza on 11 September 1955. It was the seventh and final round of the 1955 World Drivers' Championship.- Classification :- Notes :* Pole position: Juan Manuel Fangio - 2:46.5...
. McLaren and Mercedes-Benz still, however, finished fourth in the Contructors' Championship behind the same three teams as the previous two seasons, but they had collected more than twice as many points in '97 as they had in '95.
Adrian Newey
Adrian Newey is a notable Formula One engineer and widely regarded one of the great engineers in the sport's history. He is the only designer to have won Constructors Championships with three different Formula One teams...
designed MP4/13
McLaren MP4/13
The McLaren MP4/13 was a racing car that the McLaren Formula One team used during the 1998 Formula 1 season. The dominance of the MP4/13 was displayed in the opening race of the season, the 1998 Australian Grand Prix. Drivers Mika Häkkinen and David Coulthard outclassed the competition by leaving...
for , McLaren went onto win both the Drivers' Championship with Häkkinen and the Contructors' title, their first in seven years, by twenty-three points to their nearest rivals Ferrari. Häkkinen went onto win the title for the second time in succession the following season
1999 Formula One season
The 1999 Formula One season was the 50th FIA Formula One World Championship season. It commenced on March 7, 1999, and ended on October 31 after sixteen races. The season saw the introduction of a new event to the World Championship calendar, the Malaysian Grand Prix...
, however, the team failed to retain their Contructors' title, losing it to Ferrari by four points.
and saw McLaren and their drivers play second fiddle to the dominant partnership of Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
and Ferrari, as the Italian-German partnership won nineteen of a possible thirty-four races. Häkkinen retired from Formula One before the season, although he would later represent Mercedes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....
series. Fellow Finn
Finland
Finland , officially the Republic of Finland, is a Nordic country situated in the Fennoscandian region of Northern Europe. It is bordered by Sweden in the west, Norway in the north and Russia in the east, while Estonia lies to its south across the Gulf of Finland.Around 5.4 million people reside...
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
replaced him. McLaren dropped down the in order in terms of Constructors' Championship position, losing its second place position to the BMW
BMW
Bayerische Motoren Werke AG is a German automobile, motorcycle and engine manufacturing company founded in 1916. It also owns and produces the Mini marque, and is the parent company of Rolls-Royce Motor Cars. BMW produces motorcycles under BMW Motorrad and Husqvarna brands...
-Williams
WilliamsF1
Williams Grand Prix Engineering Limited, trading as AT&T Williams, is a British Formula One motor racing team and constructor. It was founded and run by Sir Frank Williams and Patrick Head...
team, with the season still being dominated overall by Schumacher and Ferrari. For the following four years McLaren proved to be one of the fastest cars in the field but lacked in reliability, most notably in and ; the 2006 season marked the first since 1996 in which McLaren had failed to win a race. In McLaren's drivers finished second and third in the Drivers' Championship, only 1 point behind Champion Kimi Räikkönen. In Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
won the Drivers' Championship by 1 point from Ferrari's Felipe Massa.
In 2003, this partnership was extended into the production of a Mercedes-McLaren roadcar, the SLR
Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren
The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren is an Anglo-German grand tourer car jointly developed by Mercedes-Benz and McLaren Automotive, built in Portsmouth and the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England and sold from 2003 to 2009...
. Mercedes also supplies the cars to the FIA for use as safety car
Safety car
In motorsport, a safety car or pace car is a car which limits the speed of competing cars on a racetrack in the case of a caution period such as an obstruction on the track. During a caution period the safety car enters the track ahead of the leader...
s and other race official roles, such as the medical car, at Formula One races.
2010 and beyond
On November 16, 2009, it was announced that Mercedes would part ways with McLarenMcLaren
McLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
, and instead purchase a 75% controlling stake in the 2009 championship-winning
2009 Formula One season
The 2009 Formula One season was the 60th FIA Formula One World Championship season. The season took place over 17 rounds, and started with the on 29 March 2009. It ended on 1 November 2009 with the inaugural ....
team Brawn GP
Brawn GP
Brawn GP Formula One Team, the trading name of Brawn GP Limited, was a Formula One motor racing team and constructor, created by a management buyout of Honda Racing F1 Team. It only competed in the 2009 Formula One World Championship, with drivers Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello. The team...
. The team, reimagined as Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP
Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, the trading name of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, is a British-based Formula One racing team and constructor, owned by Mercedes-Benz and racing under a German licence since the 2010 season....
debuted at the 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
2010 Bahrain Grand Prix
The 2010 Bahrain Grand Prix was a Formula One motor race held on 14 March 2010, at the Bahrain International Circuit, Sakhir, Bahrain. It was the seventh Bahrain Grand Prix and the opening race of the 2010 Formula One season. It was the first time since 2006 that Bahrain had hosted the opening...
, with an all-German driver line-up of Nico Rosberg
Nico Rosberg
Nico Erik Rosberg is a racing driver for the Mercedes GP Formula One team. He races under the German flag in Formula One, although he competed for Finland earlier in his career...
and Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher
Michael Schumacher is a German Formula One racing driver for the Mercedes GP team. Famous for his eleven-year spell with Ferrari, Schumacher is a seven-time World Champion and is widely regarded as the greatest F1 driver of all time...
.
Sportscar racing
Mercedes-Benz 300SL
The Mercedes-Benz 300SL was introduced in 1954 as a two-seat, closed sports car with distinctive gull-wing doors. Later it was offered as an open roadster...
, won several races in 1952 including the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
, the Carrera Panamericana
Carrera Panamericana
The Carrera Panamericana was a border-to-border sports car racing event on open roads in Mexico similar to the Mille Miglia and Targa Florio in Italy. Running for five consecutive years from 1950 to 1954, it was widely held by contemporaries to be the most dangerous race of any type in the world...
, and did well in other important races such as the Mille Miglia
Mille Miglia
The Mille Miglia was an open-road endurance race which took place in Italy twenty-four times from 1927 to 1957 ....
.
Mercedes-Benz was also dominant in sports car racing
Sports car racing
Sports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
during the 1950s. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was derived from the W196 Formula One car for use in the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season
1955 World Sportscar Championship season
The 1955 World Sportscar Championship season was the 3rd season of the FIA World Sportscar Championship. It was a series for sportscars that ran in many worldwide endurance events. It ran from January 23, 1955 to October 16, 1955, and was composed of six races.-Schedule:-Season results:Points...
. At Le Mans that year, a disaster
1955 Le Mans disaster
The 1955 Le Mans disaster occurred during the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans motor race, when a crash caused large parts of racing car debris to fly into the crowd. The driver was killed, as were 83 spectators. A further 120 people were injured...
occurred in which a Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was a sportscar racing car for the 1955 World Sportscar Championship season, which it won.-Technical highlights:...
collided with another car, killing more than eighty spectators. The team went on to win the two remaining races of the season, and won the Manufacturer's championship, but it had already been planned at the beginning of that year that the company would retire its teams at the end of the 1955 season. In fact in the aftermath of the Le Mans disaster, it would be several decades until Mercedes-Benz returned to front line motorsport.
In the late 1960s and early 1970s, Mercedes returned to competition through the tuning company AMG
Mercedes-AMG
Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz car company specializing in high-performance luxury cars....
(later to become a Mercedes-Benz subsidiary), which entered the big Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
Mercedes-Benz 300SEL 6.3
The Mercedes-Benz 300 SEL 6.3 started out as a private venture in 1966 by company engineer Erich Waxenberger.- Concept :Waxenberger's principle was simple: take the powerful 6.3 litre V8 Mercedes-Benz M100 engine from the luxurious Mercedes-Benz 600 limousine, and fit it into the regular...
V8 sedan in the Spa 24 Hours
Spa 24 Hours
The Total 24 Hours of Spa is an endurance racing event held annually in Belgium at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. Conceived by Jules de Their and Henri Langlois Van Ophem just one year after the first 24 Hours of Le Mans, the race was run under the auspices of the Royal Automobile Club Belgium...
and the European Touring Car Championship
European Touring Car Championship
The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004...
.
World Sportscar Championship
The World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
as an engine supplier for the privateer Sauber
Sauber
Sauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
team. The first cars produced by this relationship, the Sauber C8
Sauber C8
The Sauber C8 was a Group C prototype race car introduced in 1985 for the 24 Hours of Le Mans as the first in a partnership between Sauber and Mercedes-Benz....
and C9 were not particularly successful.
After the Sauber team parted company with their sponsor Kouros at the end of 1987, Mercedes-Benz increased their involvement with Sauber for the 1988 season to become a factory entrant under the Sauber-Mercedes name. Still using the C9 the team won 5 races but came 2nd to the TWR Jaguar team in the championship. However, 1989 was to be a different story with Sauber-Mercedes winning all but one championship race to become world champions (including coming 1st and 2nd at the 24 Hours of Le Mans
24 Hours of Le Mans
The 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, France. Commonly known as the Grand Prix of Endurance and Efficiency, race teams have to balance speed against the cars' ability to run for 24 hours without sustaining...
- all achieved with the C9. For the 1990 World Sportscar Championship season the C9 was replaced by the all-new C11
C11
C11, C.XI, C-11 or C.11 may refer to:In transport, vehicles, ships or public transport routes:* C-11 Fleetster, a 1920s American light transport aircraft for use of the United States Assistant Secretary of War...
, while the team was renamed Merecedes-Benz (though the outfit was still run by Sauber). The team dominated the season, again winning all but one race to become world champions. Mercedes-Benz eventually withdrew from sportscar racing after a dismal 1991 season.
Mercedes-Benz returned to sportscar racing in 1997, with the CLK GTR
Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR
The Mercedes-Benz CLK GTR is a sports car and race car that was built by Mercedes-AMG, performance and motorsports arm of Mercedes-Benz. Intended for racing in the new FIA GT Championship series in 1997, the CLK GTR was designed primarily as a race car, with the road cars necessary in order to...
which was entered in the new FIA GT Championship
FIA GT Championship
The FIA GT Championship was a sports car racing series organized by the Stéphane Ratel Organisation at the behest of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile . The championship was mostly concentrated in Europe, but throughout the years has visited other continents including Asia and South...
world championship series. In its first year, the CLK GTR won the championship and the drivers' championship. It would again dominate the FIA GT in 1998, and would go on to win its second championship in a row. The CLK GTR would be the last car to win the FIA GT Championship. The successor to this car, the CLR
Mercedes-Benz CLR
The Mercedes-Benz CLR was a Le Mans Prototype built by Mercedes-Benz for the 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans. It became infamous for spectacular crashes during its only competitive outing.-Racing history:...
was a spectacular failure. It was entered in the 1999 Le Mans race, but a series of accidents involving the car flipping brought about the cancellation of the CLR project and Mercedes-Benz has not participated in sportscar racing since.
Touring cars
It was intended that Mercedes-Benz would enter rallyingRallying
Rallying, also known as rally racing, is a form of auto racing that takes place on public or private roads with modified production or specially built road-legal cars...
with the Mercedes-Benz W201
Mercedes-Benz W201
The Mercedes-Benz W201 is a compact executive car manufactured by Mercedes-Benz from 1982–1993, positioned below the Mercedes-Benz E-Class and S-Class — and marketed under variants of the Mercedes 190 nameplate....
in the early 1980s. Yet, as all wheel drive and turbocharger
Turbocharger
A turbocharger, or turbo , from the Greek "τύρβη" is a centrifugal compressor powered by a turbine that is driven by an engine's exhaust gases. Its benefit lies with the compressor increasing the mass of air entering the engine , thereby resulting in greater performance...
s were introduced by the competition (Audi Quattro
Audi Quattro
The Audi Quattro is a road and rally car, produced by the German automobile manufacturer Audi, now part of the Volkswagen Group. It was first shown at the 1980 Geneva Motor Show on 3 March.The word quattro is derived from the Italian word for "four"...
) at that time, this was cancelled. Instead the W201 ended up being used in the DTM
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft was a touring car racing series held from 1984 to 1996. Originally based in Germany, it held additional rounds elsewhere in Europe and later worldwide....
touring car
Touring car
A touring car, or tourer, is an open car seating five or more. Touring cars may have two or four doors. Often, the belt line is lowered in the front doors to give the car a more sportive character. They were often fitted with a folding roof and side curtains. Engines on early models were either in...
series from 1988, with the car again being prepared by AMG, who became an official partner and continue to enter the new DTM
Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters
The Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters is a touring car racing series based in Germany, but also with rounds elsewhere in Europe....
to the present day.
Mercedes currently competes in the new DTM championship.
Formula Three
Formula Three
Formula Three, also called Formula 3 or F3, is a class of open-wheel formula racing. The various championships held in Europe, Australia, South America and Asia form an important step for many prospective Formula One drivers...
, it has developed into the formula's most dominant engine supplier. Its engines, which are built and serviced by H.W.A GmbH, have so far contributed to a total of four drivers' and four teams' championship titles in the Formula Three Euroseries
Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series is a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship...
and British Formula Three Championship
British Formula Three Championship
The British Formula Three Championship is an international motor racing series that takes place primarily in the United Kingdom with a small number of events in mainland Europe. It is a junior-level feeder formula that uses small single seater Formula Three chassis. Its current official title is...
.
The H.W.A Mercedes-AMG M271 was based on a 1.8 litre 4-cylinder from the C-Klasse
Mercedes-Benz C-Class
The Mercedes-Benz C-Class is a compact executive car produced by the Mercedes-Benz division of Daimler AG. First introduced in 1993 as a replacement for the 190 range , the C-Class was the smallest model in the marque's lineup until the 1997 arrival of the A-Class...
, bored out to the regulation 2.0 litre capacity. Formula Three engine regulations demand a naturally aspirated, 4-stroke, 4-cylinder, production-based specification, with a capacity of not more than 2000cc. The M271 made its competitive debut in the 2002 German Formula 3 Championship in two of Mücke Motorsport's three Dallara F302 chassis, driven by Markus Winkelhock
Markus Winkelhock
Markus Winkelhock is a German racing driver, who has taken part in one Formula One Grand Prix, which he briefly led...
and Marcel Lasse. Winkelhock achieved Mercedes' first F3 win at the Nürburgring in August 2002.
In 2003, Mercedes expanded its Formula Three program by supplying three teams in the inaugural year of the F3 Euroseries
Formula Three Euroseries
The Formula 3 Euro Series is a European-based junior single seater formula for Formula Three chassis that was launched in 2003 as a merger of the French Formula Three Championship and German Formula Three Championship...
. Its engine powered the seven cars of Mücke Motorsport, Team Kolles, and ASM Formule 3. Speiss-Opel was dominant, thanks in part to Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe
Ryan Briscoe is an Australian auto racing driver who has raced open wheel and sports cars in Europe and America.In addition to his native English, Briscoe speaks Italian and French...
and Prema Powerteam, but Mercedes was winning by the eighth round. Its most notable win was provided by Christian Klien
Christian Klien
Christian Klien is an Austrian former Formula One racing driver. In total he has scored 14 points in Formula One.Klien currently drives for Aston Martin Racing in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup-Racing career:...
at Zandvoort
Circuit Park Zandvoort
Circuit Park Zandvoort is a motorsport race track located in Burgemeester van Alphenstraat 108, 2041 KP in the dunes north of the town of Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, near the North Sea coast line.- History :...
in the non-championship Marlboro Masters
Masters of Formula 3
The Masters of Formula 3 is a Formula Three race held annually, usually at the Circuit Park Zandvoort in the Netherlands. Due to noise restrictions in the Zandvoort area, the 2007 and 2008 races were held in the Belgian circuit of Zolder...
.
Between 2004 and 2006, Mercedes-powered cars have dominated the drivers' and teams' championships in the Euroseries, due in part to its close relationship with ASM Formule 3
ART Grand Prix
Lotus ART is a French motor racing team that competes in formula single-seaters in Europe. It was founded as ART Grand Prix in 1991.-Creation:...
, which is one of France's most successful F3 teams. It has brought drivers' titles for Jamie Green
Jamie Green
Jamie Green is a British professional racing driver. He is currently employed by Persson Motorsport in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters touring car championship.-Early career:...
, Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Hamilton
Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton, MBE is a British Formula One racing driver from England, currently racing for the McLaren team. He was the Formula One World Champion.Hamilton was born in Stevenage, Hertfordshire...
, and Paul di Resta
Paul di Resta
Paul di Resta is a British racing driver from Scotland, currently competing in Formula One with Force India. He is also a former DTM champion.-Personal life:...
. 2006 also saw Mercedes' first participation in the British F3 Championship, when it partnered with Räikkönen Robertson Racing, co-owned by Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Räikkönen
Kimi Matias Räikkönen , nicknamed Iceman, is a Finnish racing driver, who will drive in Formula One for Lotus in . After nine seasons racing in Formula One, in which he took the Formula One World Drivers' Championship, he competed in the World Rally Championship from 2009-2011.Räikkönen entered...
, and two other teams. Double R Racing's lead driver, Mike Conway
Mike Conway
Mike Conway, born 19 August 1983, is a British racing driver. He lives in Sevenoaks, Kent and is currently competing in the IZOD IndyCar Series.- Biography :Conway who was born in Bromley, Kent, England attended Sevenoaks Prep School from 1986 to 1996....
, dominated the championship. In the 2007 British F3 season
2007 British Formula Three season
The 2007 British Formula Three season was the 57th British Formula Three Championship season. It commenced on April 9, 2007 and ended on September 30 after twenty two races, with Estonian driver Marko Asmer crowned champion.-Teams and drivers:-Calendar:...
, Mercedes now powers the majority of the Championship field.
Speed records
On August 13–21, 1983 at the Nardo High Speed Track in southern Italy, the new compact-size W201 190 class, sporting a 16-valve engine, built by Cosworth, broke three FIAFédération Internationale de l'Automobile
The Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile is a non-profit association established as the Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus on 20 June 1904 to represent the interests of motoring organisations and motor car users...
world records after running almost non-stop (only a 20-sec pit stop every 2½ hours) in a total of 201 hours, 39 minutes, and 43 seconds—completing 50000 kilometres (31,068.6 mi) at maximum speed of 247 km/h (153 mph). It went on to become the 190E 2.3-16 touring model.
IndyCar
In 1994, Al Unser, Jr.Al Unser, Jr.
Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...
won the Indianapolis 500
1994 Indianapolis 500
The 78th Indianapolis 500 was held at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Sunday, May 29, 1994. Al Unser, Jr. won from the pole position, his second Indy 500 victory. Much to the surprise of competitors, media, and fans, Marlboro Team Penske arrived at the Speedway with a brand new, secretly-built...
with a Penske
Penske Racing
Penske Racing is a racing team that competes in the IndyCar Series and NASCAR. They also previously competed in road racing, and Formula One. Penske Racing is a division of Penske Corporation, and is owned and chaired by Roger Penske...
-Mercedes IndyCar. Mercedes-Benz which, realizing that a loophole in the rules for production-based engines would include any pushrod engine, built a very unusual purpose-built pushrod engine with a significant power advantage. This was done knowing that the "forgotten" loophole would be closed immediately after they took advantage of it, and so the engine would in fact be usable only for this single race.
Starting from 1995, Mercedes-Benz rebranded the Ilmor
Ilmor
Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in November 1983, is a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company. With manufacturing based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire, and maintenance offices in Plymouth, Michigan, the company supplies engines and consultancy to the...
engines and achieved six wins in their first full season, also reaching second in the drivers championship powering Al Unser, Jr.
Al Unser, Jr.
Alfred Unser, Jr. , nicknamed "Little Al", "Al Junior" or simply "Junior" is a retired American race car driver and two-time Indianapolis 500 winner.-History:...
After a dry spell in 1996, Mercedes-Benz came back in 1997 with eight wins and a second place in the championship for Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran
Gil de Ferran , is a professional racing driver and team owner. De Ferran was the 2000 and 2001 Champ Car champion driving for the Penske Honda Team and the winner of the 2003 Indianapolis 500.Inspired by the success of fellow Brazilian Emerson Fittipaldi, de Ferran began his career in kart racing...
. However, a lack of competitive results in the following results and the CART
Champ Car
Champ Car was the name for a class and specification of open wheel cars used in American Championship Car Racing for many decades, primarily for use in the Indianapolis 500 auto race...
/IRL split meant Mercedes gradually lost interest and the German manufacturer abandoned American racing at the end of the 2000 season, with a total of 18 wins and two vice-championships.
See also
- Silver ArrowsSilver ArrowsSilver Arrows was the name given by the press to Germany's dominant Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union Grand Prix motor racing cars between 1934 and 1939, and also later applied to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One and sports cars in 1954/55.For decades until the introduction of sponsorship liveries, each...
- Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix resultsMercedes-Benz Grand Prix resultsThese are the complete Grand Prix racing results for Daimler Benz AG, the official name of the works Mercedes-Benz team, including Formula One.- Complete European Championship results :...
- Mercedes Grand Prix
- McLarenMcLarenMcLaren Racing Limited, trading as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, is a British Formula One team based in Woking, Surrey, United Kingdom. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor but has also competed and won in the Indianapolis 500 and Canadian-American Challenge Cup...
- SauberSauberSauber F1 Team is a Swiss Formula One team. It was founded in the 1970s by Peter Sauber, who progressed through hillclimbing and the World Sportscar Championship to reach Formula One in 1993....
- Mercedes-AMGMercedes-AMGMercedes-AMG GmbH, commonly known as AMG, is a subsidiary of the Mercedes-Benz car company specializing in high-performance luxury cars....
- Mercedes-Benz High Performance EnginesMercedes-Benz High Performance EnginesMercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines Ltd. is a British Formula One engine manufacturer, owned by Mercedes-Benz. Since 1995, their engines have powered McLaren's Formula One cars. For the 2009 season, Mercedes-Benz also supplied the Brawn GP and Force India teams with engines...
- Norbert HaugNorbert HaugNorbert Haug is a German journalist, and the President in charge of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activity, including Formula One, Formula 3 and DTM...