George Russell

Unfortunately I was unable to complete my last lap on the new tyres. I made a mistake, which is on me, and that was that. My quickest lap therefore was on the used tyres. It was a strong one but if I had finished my final effort, I think we may have been fighting for P4 or even higher.

It is so tight out there and we saw last week that if you don’t get everything together, then you can lose several positions. We are still learning about this car; we were P1 and P2 in practice in Bahrain and P2 here again yesterday. We slipped back today but there is potential there. It’s a long season so we will be looking to understand more about the platform we have and deliver more consistently.

I am confident that we’ve got good race pace for tomorrow. We look quick in a straight-line, which is a bonus. It’s tricky to follow here though and it should be a simple one-stop with the degradation. We need to make a good start and see what we can do from there.
Lewis Hamilton

It was a very difficult day today. I was much happier in FP3, and the car was feeling much better than on Thursday. It was a real improvement, and I had a lot more confidence in the car. Unfortunately in qualifying, it felt similar to yesterday and I didn’t have the stability from the car that I needed. It was a struggle, and we were losing out particularly in the high-speed first sector.

Our race pace is typically better than our qualifying pace. We have also been quick in a straight-line so hopefully that helps us. It will be difficult, but we will be giving it everything we’ve got to progress forward tomorrow. If we can do so, that would be great.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

That was a very annoying qualifying session! We’ve got a quick car, but it is on a knife’s edge. The drivers are struggling to squeeze out the lap consistently. George was on his way to a strong lap and could have been fighting for spots on the second row. Unfortunately he lost the rear of the car. Lewis meanwhile never had the feedback from the car that he wanted, and that meant he couldn’t go faster.

I think the race pace will be very close between ourselves, the Ferraris, and the McLarens. Our target is to try to be ahead of them tomorrow, but we know overtaking isn’t easy here. Last week, we thought we had a car that was quicker in race trim, but we were unable to show that. Hopefully we will have a better evening here in Jeddah. We will do our best and see what we can deliver.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We're disappointed to line up P7 and P8. That is particularly true considering the gap to pole position, but we'll have to find a way to make it work for us tomorrow in the race. Our performance in the high-speed corners wasn't good enough; we improved the car slightly overnight, but we'll need to make this better ahead of Suzuka and Melbourne.

We don't really know where everyone will stack up on long run pace tomorrow. Verstappen looked clear of the field, but it's quite tight behind and not many cars did runs that were long enough to get a clear read on degradation. It's normally an incident filled race here so opportunities may come to us tomorrow. We will look to take advantage of those but today just wasn't good enough.

Toto Talks Saudi Arabia

Our race in Bahrain was best described as underwhelming. We were hopeful of a stronger showing after our performance in practice and qualifying. Both drivers were pleased with the balance earlier in the weekend, and the more stable platform provided by the W15. Unfortunately on Saturday evening, our cooling performance didn't match our predictions. That forced us into management mode early on, which had the knock-on impact of reducing tyre temperatures below optimum. That cost us the opportunity to show something closer to our true potential. It was a frustrating way to start the season but one we will learn from.

We’ve got an opportunity to take a step forward immediately. Jeddah is a street track with a lot of high-speed content. It will be good to continue our learning with the new car on a very different circuit to Bahrain. We will be aiming for a more consistent weekend and to understand our true performance relative to the rest of the grid.

It will also be great to see F1 Academy on the support bill in Saudi Arabia for their opening round. For the first time, we will be involved as a team. We’re excited to watch our junior driver Doriane Pin in action and look forward to supporting the championship across the year.
Fact File: Saudi Arabian Grand Prix

    The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix is held on the Jeddah Corniche Circuit, located in a waterfront area next to the Red Sea.
    The location presents similar challenges to Abu Dhabi with sand blowing onto the track and changes in wind direction from day to night.
    The Jeddah Corniche Circuit has the most corners of any track on the F1 calendar with 27: 16 left and 11 right.
    It is also the second-longest track we visit at 6.174km. Energy management across the lap is therefore tricky and puts more focus on the MGU-H and hybrid system performance.
    With numerous long straights, drivers spend over 70% of the lap at full throttle and the circuit is ranked third in terms of time spent, and distance covered, using this metric.
    There are six braking events across the lap with two of those designated as ‘heavy’.
    Turn 13 has a 12% gradient, with banked corners opening up more lines and helping to build momentum onto the next sweeping, high-speed section.
    Turn 2 is the slowest corner on the circuit, taken around 80 km/h, whilst the quickest are Turns 20, 21, and 26 which are taken at close to or over 300 km/h.
    Sensitivity, which describes where you find lap time, is biased very strongly towards high-speed corner performance.
    Owing to its nature as a street circuit, Jeddah has a high risk of incidents leading to Safety Cars. Across the three previous races in Saudi Arabia, there have been four full Safety Car periods, and two red flags.
    Several track changes were made for the 2023 race in order “to deliver smoother, safer, and even more exciting racing.”
    These included:
        ‘Rumble Lines’ – which cause traction to be lost and thus slowing cars down were added at Turns 3, 14, 19, 20, and 21.
        Steel kerbs replaced bevelled kerbs at Turns 4, 8, 10, 11, 17, and 23.
        Driver sightlines were improved with the fence wall moved back at Turns 14 and 20 by 7.5m and 5m respectively.
        The fence wall at Turns 8 and 10 was also adjusted to improve visibility of the corner ahead.
    Turns 22 and 23 were amended with the fence at Turn 23 adjusted and a bevelled kerb added – that helped reduce speeds by approximately 50 km/h
    This is the fourth Saudi Arabian Grand Prix, there have been three different winners from the first three editions of the event – Lewis Hamilton, Max Verstappen, and Sergio Perez.
    Lewis’ 103rd and most recent victory was in Jeddah in 2021.
    The Saudi Arabian Grand Prix first appeared on the calendar as the penultimate race of the season in 2021, but has been the second race on the calendar for the last two seasons.
    This will be the 42nd Formula One Grand Prix to be held in the Middle East.

George Russell

Everybody at the factory has done a great job to give Lewis and I a car that we are much happier with. It’s a base that we can build upon. We’ve still got some catching up to do to be at the very front, but starting P3 for tomorrow’s race is a good place to be. It’s clear how tight it is between a number of teams, including ourselves, Ferrari, the McLarens, and Aston Martin. It is exciting knowing that if you put the whole lap together and find a tenth or two, that will add up to several positions on the grid.

Since the test, the whole team has been working incredibly hard to fine-tune the set-up and make improvements. We’ve clearly made a big step forward in our single lap pace. Hopefully we haven’t compromised our race pace, but we will see tomorrow. I think we’re likely to be in a close fight for the podium positions behind Verstappen.
Lewis Hamilton

I struggled throughout Qualifying as we have in the past couple of years. The car is feeling really great, but I just went a little bit in a direction to help my race pace. I wasn’t feeling as comfortable with that yesterday so that was the focus. I’ve definitely sacrificed more single-lap performance than I hoped too but I hope that pays off tomorrow. It’s a lot of work to do to get past a lot of quick cars that are starting ahead of me, but I’m sure it’ll be fun.

George’s position and the pace he showed today really highlights, and is a real testament, to the team. It shows just how hard everyone has worked over the winter. It’s amazing for us to have a car that we can fight with. It reignites the fire and the flame within us drivers. For me today, Bono and everyone else did a great job.
Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Yesterday we looked slightly better than today on our single lap performance. We intentionally tried to set the car up for tomorrow’s race though, so we hope we’re in more of a sweet spot for the Grand Prix tomorrow. The set-up changes we made certainly contributed to the drop in our performance today. At the start of Qualifying, we wondered if we had sacrificed too much for tomorrow but in the end, it wasn’t too bad. P3 is a good place to start but we were still three tenths off pole position.

Behind Verstappen, the gaps are so close with several other teams. Just a couple of tenths makes such a big difference. It’s about the absolute tiny margins and if you find even small gains, then you are right in the game. We hope that tomorrow will be a little bit better but we are still learning so much about this car.
Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It's been much harder to get the lap-time out of the car today than yesterday. We made some changes overnight to try and improve the long run and that has likely cost us some single lap pace. It was very encouraging for the team to see George put it in P3 at the first race though. Lewis didn't have a clean run through the sessions and he'll no doubt be frustrated by that as he'd looked to be very quick yesterday. Nevertheless, we expect him to have strong pace in the race tomorrow and he's no doubt relieved to see that the W15 has way more potential than the two cars that came before it.

We're looking forward to tomorrow. It's a race where you can overtake, so good race pace is really important. More than anything though, it will be interesting to see how the car performs and where everyone falls out in terms of pace.

Leinfelden-Echterdingen – The countdown is on: As of July 2024, all trucks, buses and touring coaches newly registered in the EU will have to comply with the regulations of the updated General Safety Regulation (GSR). The regulations have already been in place for new vehicle models since July 2022. The GSR mandates a whole series of driver assistance systems to further increase road safety for all parties involved. In particular, the electronic assistance systems can contribute as far as possible to keeping moments of inattentiveness due to fatigue, stress or distraction from having serious consequences. This benefits not only truck or bus and touring coach drivers and passengers, but also all other road users traveling by car, bicycle or on foot.

With assistance systems such as Active Brake Assist 6, Active Sideguard Assist 2, Front Guard Assist, Active Drive Assist 3 or Traffic Sign Assist, Daimler Truck more than meets these requirements. The systems form the new standard in all vehicle variants and represent further added value for the eActros 600 and all other battery-electric models from Mercedes-Benz Trucks, the Actros model series and here also the new generation of the Actros L, the Arocs, Atego and Econic model series, Mercedes-Benz Special Trucks as well as the city, intercity and touring coaches of the Mercedes-Benz and Setra brands.

Rainer Müller-Finkeldei, Head of Mercedes-Benz Trucks Product Development: "The EU General Safety Regulation is an important step towards accident-free driving – our “Vision Zero”. We have been consistently pursuing this path for decades and are now setting new standards with our enhanced safety assistance systems. And this with a view to the best possible accident prevention to protect drivers and all road users."

The focus is on all road users

In recent years, according to figures from the EU’s CARE database, passenger car occupants, cyclists and pedestrians together accounted for an average of around 70 percent of all traffic fatalities in accidents involving heavy goods vehicles weighing 3.5 tons or more – with passenger car occupants in particular accounting for almost 50 percent. 12 percent of traffic fatalities in such accidents were passengers of the respective goods vehicles. Overall, the number of road users killed in these accidents has decreased significantly in recent years. While there were still 4.586 traffic fatalities in this area in 2011, this figure had fallen by around 40 percent to 2.722 by 2021, according to the latest figures from the EU Commission. This corresponds to around 14 percent of all traffic fatalities in the EU – a percentage that has more or less remained at this level for some time. The most common types of accidents across the EU include rear-end collisions, especially at the end of a traffic jam, inadvertent lane departure, side impacts at intersections, collisions when turning due to the blind spot and accidents due to overtaking errors.

Further tightening of legal requirements in the coming years

Driver assistance systems that have the potential to identify critical situations at an early stage and avoid accidents or at least mitigate their consequences are therefore becoming all the more important. According to GSR, as of July 2024 systems such as Sideguard Assist, a moving-off warning system, Intelligent Speed Assist, Tire Pressure Loss Warning System, Reversing Assist with camera or sensors and a warning system in the event of driver fatigue and diminished attention will be required by law, along with a device for the installation of an alcohol-test-based immobilizer. For registrations of new trucks, buses and touring coaches, a highly developed warning system will be mandatory from 2026 if the driver’s concentration decreases. An event data memory will follow in 2029. In addition, an even larger direct field of vision from the driver’s workplace will then have to be ensured.

Daimler Truck has been a pioneer in the industry for years

With the safety features that will be used in Daimler Truck trucks, buses and touring coaches this year, the company is once again reinforcing its position as one of the pioneers in the industry: The systems not only comply with the GSR standards applicable as of 2024, but also exceed their scope in parts.

Daimler Truck has demonstrated its pioneering role in the development of safety features in recent years with a whole range of systems. For example, a truck equipped with Active Brake Assist 1 (ABA), which was launched on the market in 2006, was able to initiate maximum full-stop braking for the first time within the system limits. The functions of the emergency braking assistant have been systematically expanded for the upcoming sixth generation. One milestone was ABA 5, available since 2020, that reacts to moving persons not just with partial but rather with maximum full-stop braking. In 2016, the company was the first truck manufacturer to offer a turning assistant ex works. As of 2018, Active Drive Assist (ADA) has enabled partially automated driving (SAE level 2) for the first time in a series-production truck. Finally, in June 2021, Daimler Truck was the first manufacturer to introduce Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA) with brake application on the market.

A central role in the development of the systems is played by the company’s commercial vehicle accident research, which, with its accident analyses since 1972, has laid the foundations for the continuous incorporation of further optimizations into the vehicles. This has also benefited Ingo Scherhaufer, who has been responsible for the development of new assistance systems for around 20 years. It was only a few months ago that he was awarded the “2023 European Safety Award for Commercial Vehicles” for his accomplishments in terms of the safety of commercial vehicles. The prize has been awarded annually since 1990 by the European Association for Accident Research and Analysis together with expert organization DEKRA and the German Road Safety Council. Link

270-degree sensor fusion technology for virtually all-around visibility

The equipment of vehicles with cameras and sensors is very important for the effectiveness of driver assistance systems. In order to make an even better contribution to preventing accidents, Daimler Truck has developed a new electronics platform that enables an even larger view to the front and side through the so-called sensor fusion for merging radar and camera data. The electronics platform offers 20 times faster data processing, and the total of six installed sensors – four lateral short-range radars at the front and rear, both on the right and left, a long-range radar at the front in the center and the multifunction camera in the windshield – can now cover an angle of 270 degrees around the vehicle. Thanks to the significantly enlarged viewing angle, the installed assistance systems can make even better use of their strengths. This applies to both the new and the enhanced systems.

Active Brake Assist 6 with multi-lane monitoring

Active Brake Assist 6 is a good example of the efficiency of the 270-degree fusion technology as well as the overfulfillment of the GSR. At speeds of up to 60 km/h – which was already 50 km/h with ABA 5 – the latest emergency braking assistant from Daimler Truck can now also perform automated maximum full-stop braking ahead of crossing, oncoming or in-lane road users. The GSR calls for the extended response to pedestrians and cyclists for new trucks, buses and touring coaches only as of July 1, 2026. Ahead of stationary vehicles, the system can react, as was previously the case, at speeds up to over 80 km/h with maximum full-stop braking. A further added value of ABA 6 is multi-lane monitoring at a distance of up to 250 meters for even better hazard detection. As a result, the system can react better to critical situations and moving or stationary objects – including, for example, in typical freeway cornering situations. At the same time, radar technology generally ensures high system availability even in poor visibility.

Active Sideguard Assist 2 with extended functionality on the driver’s side

The second-generation Active Sideguard Assist (ASGA 2) shows just how much the equipment of the vehicles with six sensors and the associated, enlarged viewing angle increases road safety. The ASGA 2 monitors traffic on both the driver’s and front passenger sides and with its two-stage warning system it can alert drivers to potential dangers so that timely intervention can mitigate a critical traffic situation. The lateral monitoring zone on the front passenger side and driver’s side has a width of 4.25 meters (previously 3.75 meters on the front passenger side). The warning zone, which is active up to a speed of 30 km/h, is maximum 30 meters behind the vehicle and seven meters in front. Up to a turning speed of 20 km/h, in the red warning zone the system can also initiate automated braking until the vehicle comes to a standstill if the driver has not reacted to an audible and visual warning for the passenger side beforehand. With this function as well, the system goes beyond the requirements of GSR, which only stipulates that Sideguard Assist must issue a warning if necessary. In addition, ASGA 2 provides an intelligent lane change warning concept depending on its own position in the lane and supports drivers on both sides when changing lanes.

New: Front Guard Assist monitors traffic in front of the vehicle

In the hustle and bustle of everyday work, it can quickly happen that drivers are already looking further ahead when starting the engine or moving off at a traffic light and drive off immediately. This can have serious consequences if there are unprotected road users such as pedestrians or cyclists directly in front of the truck, bus or touring coach. In order to avoid accidents in such situations as much as possible, the new Front Guard Assist from Daimler Truck can be a helpful feature. The assistance system monitors the traffic in front of the vehicle and supports the driver when the vehicle is at a standstill, when moving off and at intersections. If the system detects stationary or moving objects in front of the vehicle, it supports the driver in driving situations up to 15 km/h by sending warning messages via the two-stage warning system. The 270-degree fusion technology covers the blind spot in front of the vehicle from 0,8 meters up to approximately four meters across the full width of the vehicle.

Active Drive Assist 3 supports the driving function for partially automated driving even better

Active Drive Assist (ADA), which has enabled partially automated driving (level 2) in a series-production truck since 2018, has also undergone further improvement. Where the second generation of the ADA, installed as of June 2021, was enhanced to include the emergency stop function, ADA 3 now also supports drivers even better in the longitudinal and lateral guidance of the truck. The emergency steering function is particularly new here: Where ASGA 2 reports a risk of a collision during a lane change, ADA 3 can actively countersteer to prevent leaving the lane and steer the vehicle back into the center of the lane or into its own lane. Like the previous generation, ADA 3 can also automatically maintain a distance, accelerate and steer if the necessary system conditions such as a sufficient curve radius or clearly visible lane markings are met. If the driver comes too close to a vehicle in front, ADA 3 can brake the truck automatically to the set distance from the vehicle in front. Once the distance is sufficient again, the system can accelerate the vehicle back up to the set speed. If the system detects that the driver is no longer intervening in the driving process during the trip, for example due to health problems, it is able to brake the vehicle moderately to a standstill or initiate an emergency stop.

Traffic Sign Assist detects traffic signs in real time

With another assistance system, Daimler Truck also goes beyond GSR requirements: Traffic Sign Assist. While EU regulations require the the permanent display of the valid speed limits for the vehicle with possible warning alerts in case of exceeding them, the system also identifies no passing signs and their lifting, as well a warning signs, and displays the last two signs on the Multimedia Cockpit or Classic Cockpit. Thanks to the intelligent linking of camera and map data, Traffic Sign Assist also supports drivers by permanently displaying the last truck-relevant speed limit, which, in turn, makes it easier to comply with the permitted speed. In this way, fines for speed violations can be avoided. If the maximum permissible speed is exceeded, a warning tone sounds. The OCR technology used also “reads” the time restrictions of the corresponding regulations („Optical Character Recognition“). The high computing power and the installed sensors in combination with the GPS system provide exact data in real time for precise position determination as well as vehicle surroundings.

Additional systems result in a harmonious overall package for even more security

Finally, features such as the reversing camera for avoiding collisions when maneuvering or coupling, the tire pressure loss warning system for longer tire life and lower fuel consumption, the attention assistance system for assessing the driver’s level of fatigue and the option of retrofitting an alcohol-test-based immobilizer also contribute to greater safety.

With all the assistance systems, Daimler Truck pursues across its entire product portfolio the objective of supporting and relieving drivers as much as possible during their trips within the system limits. However, the boundaries of physics cannot be moved with the systems – even as good as they are. The driver therefore remains fully responsible for driving the vehicle safely at all times, as stipulated by law.

Tokyo/Japan and Leinfelden-Echterdingen/Germany – Daimler Truck AG (“Daimler Truck”), Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation (“MFTBC”), Hino Motors Ltd. (“Hino”) and Toyota Motor Corporation (“Toyota”) today gave an update on the progress on the collaboration based on the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU).

In May 2023, Daimler Truck, Toyota, MFTBC, and Hino concluded a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on accelerating the development of advanced technologies and merging MFTBC and Hino. The planned collaboration is aimed toward achieving carbon neutrality and creating a prosperous mobility society by developing CASE technologies (Connected/Autonomous & Automated/Shared/Electric) and strengthening the commercial vehicle business on a global scale.

According to the MoU, MFTBC and Hino plan to merge on an equal footing and collaborate in the areas of commercial vehicle development, procurement, and production. The plan is to build a globally competitive Japanese commercial vehicle manufacturer, with Daimler Truck and Toyota investing equally in the (listed) holding company of the merged MFTBC and Hino.

While the Definitive Agreement for merging MFTBC and Hino was targeted to be signed by the end of March 2024 and integration complete by the end of 2024, the process of obtaining necessary regulatory clearances and approvals under competition and other laws and regulations, as well as the pending investigations related to Hino’s engine certification issues, are still ongoing. As such, the original schedule has been extended.

The timing of the envisaged execution of the Definitive Agreement and the implementation of the business integration will be announced as soon as a reliable timeline for the pending investigations is available. Once all parties involved reach an agreement, they will move forward based on the approval of the relevant boards of directors, shareholders, and authorities.

Based on the common desire to "contribute to a prosperous society through mobility," the four companies have been discussing how MFTBC and Hino can work together to improve business efficiency and enhance competitiveness, and how Daimler Truck and Toyota can work together to further enhance their technology development capabilities and promote CASE technology in order to contribute to customers and stakeholders in Japan and Asia, as well as the Japanese automotive industry. Through the discussion based on integrity, mutual respect and diversity and by understanding each other's strengths and corporate culture, the parties confirm that the merger discussions are progressing on a positive note and that the strategic objectives and logic of the proposed transaction continues to be valid.