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Silver Arrows works team to race as MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team from the 2012 season

By Adji | Published Monday, 5 December 2011

The Mercedes-Benz works Silver Arrows team will compete under the name ‘MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team’ from the 2012 season.

AMG is the performance brand of Mercedes-Benz, and has been synonymous with performance, sportiness, exciting driving and motorsport success for more than 40 years. The Mercedes AMG brand is the most successful in the history of the DTM, winning 165 races from 342 since 1988 and securing a total of 32 driver, manufacturer and team titles. AMG has also been continuously active in the world of Formula One since 1996, supplying both the Formula 1 Safety Car and the Formula 1 Medical Car. It is therefore a logical step to strengthen the links between AMG and the Formula One activities of Mercedes-Benz.

Norbert Haug, Vice President, Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, said: “Our new team name fuses the proud traditions of AMG and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows at the pinnacle of motorsport. These three letters are synonymous with high technology, sporting performance and excitement and this step is a further strong sign of the strategic commitment Mercedes-Benz has made to Formula One. 16 of the 24 drivers on the grid at the season’s final Grand Prix in Brazil have, or have had, a connection to Mercedes-Benz. In addition to the role of a works team, our commitment to Formula One comprises the customer engine programme and supply of the official Safety and Medical Cars.”

The Mercedes-Benz Formula One powertrain facility at Brixworth, UK has worked closely with AMG for a number of years. This wholly owned Daimler subsidiary will now be renamed ‘Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains’.

Ola Källenius, Chairman of Mercedes-AMG GmbH, commented: “The Mercedes AMG brand promises ‘Driving Performance’ - and what better embodies this philosophy than the intense competitive arena of Formula One? It is an historic first for the AMG name to be associated to the works Silver Arrows team, and offers fantastic opportunities: first, to further build the sporting identity of the Mercedes AMG brand through one of the world’s most-watched and most successful sports; second, to explore and deliver technology transfer between road and track. This is already being practised with the SLS AMG E-Cell project, whose electric powertrain will be developed as a joint venture between Mercedes AMG and our F1 engine specialists in Brixworth.”

The car with which the MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team will compete in the 2012 season is currently under development at the team’s headquarters in Brackley, UK. Codenamed F1 W03, it is planned for the car to make its official track debut at the second winter test of 2012, on 21 February at Barcelona.

Team Principal Ross Brawn concluded: “We are very proud to reveal our new team name today. It adds another strong performance element to our team’s identity and, by virtue of being shared between Brackley and Brixworth, will forge even stronger links within our team. At the factory, we have been focused for some time on the challenge of 2012, and our very clear ambition to move forward up the grid next year. As always, the winter development and manufacturing processes are a trade-off between time for finding performance in the factory, and time for delivering that performance during pre-season testing. We believe that the decision to run the car at the second winter test is the optimum compromise for our design and development programme with F1 W03.”

About AMG

AMG - for more than 40 years, these three letters have been synonymous worldwide with automotive high performance, sportiness and dynamic driving enjoyment.

The company was founded in 1967 and built its image as the performance brand of Mercedes-Benz through an impressive motorsport track record and high-powered Mercedes car. Today, as a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG, AMG is the company’s technological spearhead in the performance car segment.

AMG is strongly rooted in the development processes of Mercedes-Benz and offers a unique portfolio of high-performance vehicles. If you’re looking for something special, or if you love exclusivity, then Mercedes-AMG is the place for you. The Performance Studio in Affalterbach/Stuttgart also develops and produces individual AMG vehicles in exclusive limited editions.

The AMG performance brand grew out of motorsport, and has been at home on the race track for decades - from the successful DTM commitment to top-level customer motorsport with the SLS AMG GT3.

Over 1,000 employees currently work at the headquarters of Mercedes-AMG GmbH in Affalterbach. Precision and efficiency are part of our DNA - every AMG vehicle promises not just the finest quality down to the smallest details, but also exceptional performance and a fascinating driving experience.

Learn more at www.mercedes-amg.com

* Official photo and details courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS and Mercedes-AMG GmbH *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2012, 2012 season, f1, formula 1, formula one team, mercedes amg petronas, mercedes gp petronas, mgp | Leave a comment

Brazilian F1 Grand Prix 2011: Race Report - Nico P7, Michael P15 (MGP)

By Adji | Published Tuesday, 29 November 2011

Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher finished the final round of the 2011 Formula One season, the Brazilian Grand Prix, in seventh and 15th places today, at the end of this afternoon’s 71-lap race in Interlagos.

• Nico ran a two-stop strategy of option/option/prime, stopping on laps 16 and 42
• Michael was forced to run a three-stop strategy after a puncture on lap 10, pitting further on laps 32 and 51
• Three of the team´s four clean pit stops were under 21 seconds this afternoon
• With a total of 731 points, Mercedes-Benz is the highest scoring engine manufacturer of the 2011 season

Nico Rosberg
“Today wasn’t an ideal ending to the season, and although I scored some points, I expected to finish higher than P7. I didn’t get a good start, and I had problems with my tyres overheating as the track temperatures were very high. So I had to manage my tyres very carefully during the whole race which impacted on the pace. Now I’m looking ahead and I hope we can do better in 2012. I look forward to an exciting time in the winter as we work hard to develop a better car for next year.”

Michael Schumacher
“It was a bit of a shame today with the incident with Bruno, which was caused perhaps due to some lack of experience, but then those things happen. Otherwise I think we could have had a nice race with some solid points. After the collision, all I could do was try to fight as much as possible, and hope for rain which did not come. In the first stint after the incident, my car was not well-balanced with a lot of oversteer. Unfortunately we could not change this at the pit stop which handicapped the balance in the second stint, whereas in the last stint the balance was good. We very much look forward to next season now. With all the effort that is being put into the development of the car, I am confident we can make another step forward to where Mercedes belongs; fighting at the top.”

Ross Brawn
“Nico didn´t have a great car balance today, struggling with oversteer, and he had to look after the tyres very carefully. He experienced high levels of degradation and consequently had a frustrating afternoon trying to manage the balance, in a situation where the tyres were particularly sensitive. Michael had a good battle with Senna in the early laps, and his pass at the start of lap 10 was clear-cut. However, Senna showed his inexperience trying to defend a position that he had already lost, and the contact ruined Michael´s race. After an unplanned stop to replace his punctured tyre, Michael was able to demonstrate the car´s innate pace, thanks to a better car balance, and his lap times looked reasonably competitive. I want to say thank you to all the team in Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart, whose efforts have not waned at any point during a long season. There are accomplishments we can be proud of this season, such as our consistently strong pit stops, and we know that we need to put everything together next year. Finally, I would like to highlight the excellent support we have enjoyed from all our partners in 2011. Formula One is a true team sport, and they have played an integral role in helping us build towards a more successful future.”

Norbert Haug
“It was certainly not a perfect end to our season and not the results we had wanted to achieve at this final race in Brazil. We need to investigate why Nico´s speed over the major part of the race, suffering from a less than optimal car balance, was quite different to Michael´s, who had an unfortunate coming-together during his second passing move of the race. This cost him dearly as he had to do a whole lap with a punctured left-rear tyre, but his pace afterwards did not look bad at all. I would like to take the opportunity at this season´s final race to say thank you to all our team members in Brackley, Brixworth, Stuttgart and Fellbach for their dedicated work and relentless efforts. Also, I would like to thank all the partners and families of our team members - without their fantastic support, our colleagues could not get their demanding jobs done. There will be a short and well-deserved break for most of our team around Christmas before attacking next year with a better technical package, and the clear target of closing the gap to the top of the field.”

* Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2011, brazilian grand prix, f1, formula 1, mercedes gp petronas, mgp, race, report, sao paulo | Leave a comment

Brazilian F1 Grand Prix 2011: Qualifying Report - Nico P6, Michael P10 (MGP)

By Adji | Published Sunday, 27 November 2011

MERCEDES GP PETRONAS drivers Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher qualified in sixth and 10th places respectively at Interlagos today ahead of Sunday’s Brazilian Grand Prix.

• Both drivers will start the race with a new set of option tyres available, having saved one set during qualifying
• Nico will start from P6 for the third time this season, and has qualified in the top ten 18 times in 19 races
• For the 15th time in 19 races, four or more Mercedes-Benz powered cars will start the race from the top ten

Nico Rosberg
“That was a good qualifying session today. We saved a set of option tyres for the race, and we qualified ahead of one of the Ferraris which has always been my goal during the season. So I’m quite pleased to be starting from sixth place tomorrow. I was maybe a little too slow on my out lap in Q3 so my tyres didn’t work perfectly on my fast lap, and that’s why I wasn’t as quick as in Q2. I will push to gain a good result tomorrow for the team who have done a great job over the whole season.”

Michael Schumacher
“The forecast says there is a high probability for rain during the race. With this in mind, we have kept all of our options open for tomorrow and we had a strategic approach to qualifying today. Still we need to find out why we weren’t able to match our times from this morning. There will be a lot of data checking now, so that tomorrow it will be very different and we can attack for some points.”

Ross Brawn
“We had a reasonable final qualifying session of the season today. There was a threat of rain throughout, which meant we ran slightly earlier than we ultimately needed to in some of the sessions to be on the safe side. Nico´s run in Q2 was very impressive, and that performance potential augurs well for the race. Michael took a measured approach to Q3, in order to save a new set of tyres, and he is in a good position strategically. We know how good he has been on the first lap this year, so we´re looking forward to finding out what will be possible in the race. Rain is still forecast for tomorrow but the same was true of today, so we are working with a measure of uncertainty. I´ll know it´s raining when the top of my head gets wet...”

Norbert Haug
“Nico looked strong in Q2 when he set the second fastest time, which was about half a second quicker than his Q3 time later on. The second row of the grid, instead of the third, could have been possible today for him. Nevertheless, we should be in good shape for the race tomorrow when rain is predicted, which could mix up the field a bit. We still need to investigate what happened to Michael, as he was not happy with his car and tyre combination after looking strong during all three practice sessions. In tomorrow´s final race of the season, both Nico and Michael will be aiming for a respectable result, similar to what we achieved in recent races.”

* Official photos and report courtesy of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS *

Copyright © 2011, Mercedes-Benz-Blog. All rights reserved.

Posted in 2011, brazilian grand prix, f1, formula 1, mercedes gp petronas, mgp, qualifying, report, sao paulo | Leave a comment

Brazilian F1 Grand Prix 2011: Free Practice Report (MGP)

By Adji | Published Saturday, 26 November 2011

Preparations for the final race of the 2011 Formula One season began today with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg completing the first two practice sessions for the Brazilian Grand Prix at the Interlagos circuit in Sao Paulo.

• Michael and Nico completed a total of 137 laps during practice today, just five laps short of two race distances
• The second session concluded with six Mercedes-Benz powered cars in the top ten, as did the last race in Abu Dhabi
• The historical probability of the Safety Car being used in Sunday´s race stands at 70%, equal to that in Montreal

Michael Schumacher
“We had quite a good day here in Interlagos and were able to work through our schedule consistently, even if the track was pretty slippery. The lap times are traditionally very tight here so let’s see what we can do in qualifying tomorrow. For the rest of the weekend, the weather forecast is for rain, so maybe we will see some surprises as we reach the end of the season.”

Nico Rosberg
“The conditions out there were quite difficult today as the track was a bit slippery. However our times were quite good and not too far away from the top cars. We learned a lot on high and low fuel levels during the sessions. As the weather forecast is rain, it’s difficult to make a prediction for tomorrow. Maybe if it rains, it will be a bit easier to surprise the top teams.”

Ross Brawn
“We had two very good practice sessions today on the last Friday of the 2011 season. Both sessions ran well and we achieved the work that we had planned. As always, there is still progress to be made tomorrow ahead of qualifying. A positive day with good work from Michael, Nico and the team.”

Norbert Haug
“We made quite a positive start to the weekend and saw a second practice session where the lap times appeared close between P1 and P8. Our long runs during race simulations on heavy fuel loads were not perfect today and there is more work to be done on the set-up of our cars. The forecast predicts rain for tomorrow and for race day, so perhaps this 2011 season finale will have some surprises in store.”