Last month, the F1 held its annual Melbourne GP. 20 cars competed. Two Mercedes-Benz drivers finished in the top 10, including four-time F1 winner, Lewis Hamilton. This year, Lewis Hamilton finished second in the Australian GP. He finished seven points behind Ferrari’s Sebastian Vettel.
On 9 April, the ten teams raced again. This time, in the Bahrain GP. Ferrari’s Vettel won his second GP for the year. He was followed by Mercedes-AMG Petronas’ Valtteri Bottas. Lewis Hamilton came third.
Last week, Shanghai held the third GP in this year’s Formula One. Mercedes-Benz again finished second, again with Bottas, but this time, he was behind Red Bull’s (and Australia’s) Daniel Ricciardo. Lewis Hamilton came fourth.
Mercedes-Benz at the F1
Mercedes-Benz returned to the F1 Championship in 2010 as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Team. Daimler-AMG, Mercedes-Benz’ parent company, bought a minority share in the Brawn GP Team. Petrol company Petronas, sponsors the team.
2010 was the first time Mercedes-Benz would enter an official team in the F1 for 55 years. Mercedes-Benz withdrew from all motorsport in 1955, after the worst motorsport crash in history.
Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes-Benz
Hamilton has been driving with the Mercedes-Benz team since 2013. Before that, he had been with McLaren, a British team named after New Zealander, Bruce McLaren. Although they now (since 2015) use Holden engines, when Lewis was driving with McLaren, his F1 was powered by Mercedes-Benz. So, in a way, Hamilton has been working with Mercedes-Benz since he began his Formula One career.
In the official Mercedes-Benz team, Hamilton won the F1 Championship two years running, in 2014 and 2015. He won again in 2017. The Australian GP kicks off the F1, so although he came second, behind fellow Youngest-Formula-One-Championship-Runner-Up record holder, Sebastian Vettel, Hamilton can still claim a fourth victory for Mercedes-Benz.
Valtteri Bottas and Mercedes-Benz
Valtteri Bottas has been driving with Mercedes-Benz since last year. Mercedes-Benz announced the partnership after Nico Rosberg’s retirement. Rosberg had been with Mercedes-Benz since the marque’s return to F1 racing in 2010.
From 2013 to 2016, Bottas was driving with Williams. In 2013, the Williams team were using Renault engines. In 2014, Williams changed to Williams-Mercedes. This change saw Bottas win 3rd place at the Australian GP, behind his now teammate, Lewis Hamilton (2nd), and his Mercedes predecessor, Nico Rosberg (1st).
In 2017, his first year with Mercedes-AMG Petronas, Bottas took out pole position in Abu Dhabi and Bahrain, and his first victory in Russia. In Abu Dhabi, he also took out fastest lap and won the overall race.
Volks Affair and Mercedes-Benz
Volks Affair are an independent Mercedes-Benz mechanic in South Melbourne. We don’t often get to work on Formula One cars, but we are experts in all things Mercedes-Benz. Car servicing and repair is our speciality, and we use only manufacturer-approved spare parts and high quality oils in all our services. We are also one of the few VACC-certified Mercedes mechanics in Melbourne that are registered with the Australian Refrigeration Council. This means that we are also car air-conditioning experts! So for all your Mercedes-Benz services and repairs, be sure to contact us today.
For more information about Volks Affair, visit out About Us or Mercedes-Benz service and repair pages. And while you’re here, why not read some of our other blogs? We publish weekly on a range of Mercedes-Benz, Audi, BMW, Volkswagen, Skoda, and car air-conditioning topics.