Get to know F1 Teams: Mercedes

 Hi, this week I'm introducing Mercedes AMG F1 Team.

Mercedes AMG F1 Team has won the Constructors' Championship in the last 8 years in Formula 1. Mercedes is the joint 3rd successful team in F1 history.

Mercedes are based in Brackley (Chassis) and Brixworth (Power unit), Northamptonshire, England, UK.

Current Team Members:

Team Principal- Toto Wolf (CEO)

Powertrains- Hywel Thomas(MD)

Chief Technical Officer- James Allison

Technical Director- Mike Elliott

Drivers- Lewis Hamilton and George Russell

History.

Mercedes-Benz formerly competed in Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s, when the Silver Arrows dominated the races alongside rivals Auto Union. Both teams were heavily funded by the Nazi regime, winning all European Grand Prix Championships after 1934, of which Rudolf Caracciola won three for Mercedes-Benz. 

In 1954, Mercedes-Benz returned to what was now known as Formula One (a World Championship having been established in 1950) under the leadership of Alfred Neubauer, using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196. The car was run in both the conventional open-wheeled configuration and a streamlined form, which featured covered wheels and wider bodywork. Juan Manuel Fangio, the 1951 champion, 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, with Mercedes-Benz developing the W196 throughout the year. Mercedes-Benz again dominated the season, with Fangio taking four races, and his new teammate Stirling Moss winning the British Grand Prix. Fangio and Moss finished first and second in that year's championship. The 1955 disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June, which killed Mercedes-Benz sportscar driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish, and Swiss Grands Prix. At the end of the season, the team withdrew from motor sport, including Formula One. During this first period of the team's participation in Formula One, Mercedes won 9 races in total, including three Grands Prix (the 1954 French Grand Prix, 1954 Italian Grand Prix and 1955 Italian Grand Prix) won by the streamlined "Type Monza", making them the only three races won by a closed-wheel car in Formula One history.

Before the start of the 2010 season Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler AG bought a minority stake (45.1%) in the Brawn GP team with Aabar Investments purchasing 30% on 16 November 2009. Following the purchase of the team, as well as a sponsorship deal with Petronas, the team was rebranded as Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, and Mercedes would now compete in the constructor's championship for the first time. Ross Brawn continued his duties as team principal and the team retained its base and workforce in Brackley, close to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One engine plant (formerly Ilmor Engineering) in Brixworth.

The team has a complex history: Its entry can be traced back to Tyrrell Racing, who competed as a constructor from 1970 until 1998, until being bought by British American Tobacco at the end of 1997 so its entry could be transferred to the then new constructor British American Racing (BAR) in 1999. BAR, who had formed a partnership with Honda, eventually became Honda Racing F1 Team in 2006 when British American Tobacco withdrew from the sport. It again changed hands in 2008, when Honda withdrew, and was purchased by the team's management, naming it Brawn GP after team principal Ross Brawn. Brawn used engines from Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, and despite running on a low budget, Jenson Button won six of the first seven races and ultimately the 2009 Drivers' Championship, while Brawn won the Constructors' Championship. It was the first time in the sport's sixty-year history that a team won both titles in its maiden season.

Team Mercedes GP hired German drivers Nico Rosberg, and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who returned to Formula One after a three-year absence, and Nick Heidfeld as the test and reserve driver. Of Brawn's 2009 drivers, Jenson Button signed for McLaren, whilst Rubens Barrichello moved to Rosberg's former seat with Williams team for 2010. With the acquisition of Brawn, the team ended its involvement with McLaren, parent company Daimler AG sold back the 40% shareholding in the McLaren Group, while continuing to supply engines to the team. The team's performance during 2010 was not so competitive as under Brawn, with the team behind the leading three teams of Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull. Their best results came from Rosberg finishing on the podium three times, scoring third places at Sepang, Shanghai, and Silverstone. Rosberg eventually finished in seventh place, but Schumacher had a disappointing return, being beaten by his teammate and finishing the season without a single race win, podium, pole position, or fastest lap for the first time since his début season in 1991. He also was involved in a controversy in Hungary after nearly squeezing former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello into the wall at 180 mph (290 km/h). Ultimately, the team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with 214 points.

On 28 September 2012, it was announced that McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton would join the Mercedes team from the 2013 season onwards, having signed a three-year deal to partner Nico Rosberg in the team. In January 2013, Toto Wolff became an executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, with his business partner Rene Berger becoming non-executive director. In addition to joining the team as managing partner, he also acquired 30% of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, with a further 10% held by Niki Lauda, chairman of the board, and 60% by the parent company. Wolff took over the co-ordination of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities, a responsibility previously held by Norbert Haug.

The following season on 26 May 2013, Nico Rosberg capitalised on a pole position to award the team its first win of 2013 at the Monaco Grand Prix. Paddy Lowe moved to the team as executive director on 3 June 2013. Mercedes then went on to take third place in the Canadian Grand Prix courtesy of Hamilton, followed by another win for Rosberg at the British Grand Prix after the team took 1–2 in qualifying. The team then celebrated their third win of the season after Hamilton took his first victory for the team at the Hungarian Grand Prix, resulting in second place ahead of Ferrari in the Constructors' Championship.

Both drivers were retained for 2014. Rosberg won the first race of the season in Australia, then in Malaysia, Hamilton completed a grand slam – leading every lap from pole position, with the fastest race lap – while Rosberg completed a 1–2 finish for the team; it ended Hamilton's nine race streak without a podium finish, and was the first 1–2 finish by Mercedes as a works team since the 1955 Italian Grand Prix. The team repeated the result at the Bahrain, the Chinese, and the Spanish Grand Prix, while Rosberg and Hamilton finished 1–2 respectively at the Monaco and Austrian Grand Prix. At the German Grand Prix, Rosberg became the first German driver driving a German vehicle to win the German Grand Prix since it was achieved by Rudolf Caracciola and Mercedes-Benz at the 1939 German grand Prix. At the Russian Grand Prix the team won their first Constructors' Championship as a works team. Hamilton won the last race of the season, held in Abu Dhabi. He finished the season 67 points ahead of Rosberg, clinching the World Drivers' Championship. The team finished the 2014 season 296 points ahead of their closest rival Red Bull Racing in the World Constructors' Championship standings. With 18 pole positions, 16 wins and 11 1–2s out of 19 races, Mercedes dominated this first year of the V6 turbo era. For their 16 race victories, the average winning margin to the nearest non-Mercedes competitor was 23.2 seconds.

In the 2016 season, Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship for the third consecutive season, winning 19 of the 21 races held, while securing 20 poles (the highest percentage ever in a single season of F1 at 95.2%) and 8 1–2s. The average winning gap to the nearest non-Mercedes driver dropped to 14.6 seconds. Rosberg won his only Drivers' Championship, finishing 5 points ahead of Hamilton, before announcing his retirement shortly after winning the title.

On 10 January 2017, Mercedes announced that Executive Director Paddy Lowe had left the team, and entered a period of garden leave. On 16 January 2017, Valtteri Bottas was announced as Rosberg's replacement for the 2017 season and British GP3 driver George Russell was incorporated into the junior team. On 22 October 2017, Mercedes won the Constructors' Championship for the fourth consecutive time. One week later, Lewis Hamilton became the first British driver to win four world championships. Mercedes finished the 2017 season with 12 wins out of 20 races, 15 poles, 4 1–2s and an average winning margin to the nearest non-Mercedes driver of 13.1 seconds.

For the 2018 season, the team retained both Hamilton and Bottas. The team clinched their fifth straight constructors' title at the penultimate race of the season in Brazil after a win for Hamilton. In the 2018 season, Mercedes won 11 races (all for Hamilton) out of 21 races, took 10 fastest laps (three for Hamilton and seven for Bottas), 13 pole positions (eleven for Hamilton and two for Bottas), and four 1–2 finishes. This made Mercedes only the second team in the history in F1 to achieve the feat of winning 5 drivers' and constructors' titles in a row, after Ferrari did so between 2000 and 2004.

For the 2019 season, the team again retained both Hamilton and Bottas. In the opening race in Australia, both drivers locked out the front row with Hamilton taking pole position. Bottas overtook Hamilton at the start and took his first victory since the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, with Hamilton managing to give the team a 1–2 finish after fending off Red Bull's Max Verstappen. The team continued the strong performance through the first half of the season. By the summer break, Mercedes had won 10 out of 12 races with Hamilton taking 8 victories to Bottas's 2, securing 1–2 finishes at the first 5 races of the season. The team would go on to take both the drivers and constructors titles for the sixth consecutive year.

The team debuted their "Dual-Axis-Steering" system during pre-season testing for the 2020 season. This allows the driver to change the toe of the front wheels by pushing or pulling on the steering wheel. This allows the driver to optimise the car for better tyre warming on the straights with zero toe, or better mechanical grip in the corners with positive toe. The system was allowed for the 2020 season, but has been made illegal for 2021. The team would go on to win both the drivers and constructors championships. Before the penultimate round of the season, the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Hamilton was forced to sit the race out following a positive coronavirus test, with Williams driver and Mercedes junior George Russell replacing him.

For 2021, the team retained the same driver line-up for a fifth straight season. The team failed to win the drivers' championship for the first time in the V6 turbo-hybrid era, with Hamilton being overtaken by title rival Max Verstappen on the last lap of the season-ending Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, after a controversial safety car restart . Hamilton had comfortably led the race and been on course for his eighth title before a late safety car. The actions of FIA race director Michael Masi surrounding the controversial procedures (which Masi was favouring Mercedes with decisions in Bahrain- Hamilton going off track 29 times at turn 4 and no penalty for exceeding track limits, Silverstone- Hamilton crashing Verstappen on lap 1 which Hamilton got 10 seconds stop and go penalty (should have got 20 seconds penalty that is added on after the race), Monza- Hamilton not giving enough space for Verstappen, Brazil- illegal wing and got saved by the sprint race and Abu Dhabi-Hamilton gained an ever lasting advantage after cutting turn 6.These are examples of Masi favouring Mercedes in 2021 and there were incidents since 2019 that he favoured Mercedes)  used during the late safety car caused Mercedes to file an intention to appeal the results of that race, though this was later withdrawn. Hamilton finished second in the championship, eight points behind champion Verstappen, with Bottas third in the standings in his final season with the team. The team took the constructors' title for a record-extending eighth consecutive season.

George Russell replaced Bottas to partner Hamilton for 2022. 2022 saw major rule changes, which reintroduced ground affect. Mercedes revealed a radical design with what was dubbed 'zero-pods'. The radical design has yet to pay dividends with the team struggling to understand and unlock the full potential. Additionally, the car suffers from aggressive porpoising, although Mercedes remain at the front of the mid-field.

Constructors' Championships winning percentage: 66.7%
Drivers' Championships winning percentage: 64.3%
Winning percentage: 49%

Drivers' Champions

Juan Manuel Fangio (1954-1955)

Nico Rosberg (2016)

Lewis Hamilton (2014-2015,2017-2020)