Stat attack – Silverstone: The second Formula 1 triple-header of the season opened at Silverstone last weekend. Lewis Hamilton secured his third victory of the campaign despite a puncture on the last lap. For Lewis it was the 87th win of his Formula 1 career and his seventh in the British Grand Prix. In the process, he set a new record for the most wins in his home race. On Saturday, Lewis booked his 91st pole position in the premier class, his third of the 2020 season and his seventh at Silverstone. It was also the 100th occasion on which he has started from the front row in a Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 car. Lewis’s pole time of 1:24.303 is a new Formula 1 record at the Silverstone circuit. At the same time, it was the eighth consecutive pole for the team at Silverstone, which sets yet another record, namely the most successive poles on one and the same track. Valtteri Bottas went through to the third qualifying session for the 66th consecutive time to join his team-mate on the front row of the grid. In doing so, he equalled Lewis’s record for the most consecutive Q3 appearances. The fifth round of the 2020 Formula 1 season next weekend at Silverstone has been designated the ‘70th Anniversary Grand Prix’.
Season finale in Berlin: The ABB FIA Formula E Championship is entering the home straight. As of today (Wednesday), the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team will be contesting no fewer than six E-Prixs, all within a hectic nine days. The sixth round of the season will take place in Berlin this evening (start time 19:00 CEST). The Berlin ePrix has been a fixture on the Formula E calendar every year since the inception of the all-electric series. It has been staged on two different tracks, initially on a street circuit around Strausberger Platz, and on the five subsequent occasions at the former Berlin-Tempelhof airport. The six races so far have produced five different winners. This year, three different track variants will be in use. For the first two races on Wednesday and Thursday of this week, the contestants will compete on the usual 2.355 km circuit, albeit driving in the opposite direction!
Successful season opener to the 2020 ADAC GT Masters at the Lausitzring: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport made a perfect start to the 2020 ADAC GT Masters with a victory in the opening race on Saturday. Maro Engel and Luca Stolz in the number 22 Mercedes-AMG GT3 entered by Toksport WRT started from pole position and took the chequered flag 60 minutes later in first position. Three other Customer Sport teams also secured points finishes with their Mercedes-AMG GT3s, namely HTP WINWARD Motorsport (P7), Schütz Motorsport (P9) and Team Zakspeed (P11). On Sunday, the Engel/Stolz duo were back on the podium having taken the runner-up spot in the second of the weekend’s two races. The rest of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 contingent also scored championship points for Top 15 finishes – HTP WINWARD Motorsport (P8: #47, P10: #48), Schütz Motorsport (P13: #36) and Team Zakspeed (P9: #21, P15: #20). Maro Engel, Luca Stolz and Toksport WRT leave the Lausitzring as leaders in the drivers’ and team classifications. The next event in the ‘Super Sports Car League’ will be hosted by the Nürburgring on the weekend of 14th - 16th August.
Mercedes-AMG Motorsport’s run of success on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife continues: Six podium appearances in four races! Last weekend, a Mercedes-AMG GT3 once again featured among the Top Three in the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS). The Mercedes-AMG Team HRT AutoArenA trio of Patrick Assenheimer (GER), Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Dirk Müller (GER) driving the number 6 car finished third after 27 laps on this legendary track that wends its way through the Eifel forest. Team GetSpeed Performance celebrated victory in the SP9-Am class for their number 23 Mercedes-AMG GT3; at the end of the four-hour race, Janine Hill (GBR), John Shoffner (USA) and Fabian Schiller (GER) saw the chequered flag in tenth place, which was enough to give them the class win. Meanwhile, the number 155 car continues its domination of the SP8T class; for the fourth time this year, BLACK FALCON Team TEXTAR emerged as winners. The Mercedes-AMG GT4 was driven by Mustafa Mehmet Kaya (TUR), Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Mike Stursberg (GER). The second Mercedes-AMG GT4 contesting the SP8T class driven by Phil Hill (GER) and Kay Schubert (DEN) of Hangar Zero by J.v.O Autosport took third place. The teams will return to the cheekily named ‘Green Hell’ for the NLS 6-hour race on 29th August, which serves as a dress rehearsal for the Nürburgring 24-hour race in September.
IMSA Top Ten results at Road Atlanta: The IMSA was hosted by the Road Atlanta circuit last weekend. The number 74 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Lawson Aschenbach and Gar Robinson (both USA) secured sixth place in the GTD category of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in a race lasting 2 hours and 40 minutes. In the two-hour race of the Michelin Pilot Challenge, the number 35 Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 driven by Jim Cox and Dylan Murry (both USA) finished fourth. The Murillo Racing duo of Eric Foss and Jeff Mosing (both USA) in the number 56 car also managed a Top Ten finish in seventh position. The next stop on the itinerary for the American racing series is the Virginia International Raceway on the weekend of 21st - 23rd August.
Further victories around the world for Customer Sport teams fielding the Mercedes-AMG GT3 and GT4: Another GT series got its season underway this weekend, namely the British GT Championship at Oulton Park Circuit. In the first of the two races, Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Ian Loggie (GBR) driving the number 6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of RAM Racing took victory in the GT3 ProAM class. In the second race, the number 69 RAM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 driven by Sam De Haan (GBR) and Patrick Kujala (FIN) made it onto the podium in P3.
An overall victory as well as further class wins were chalked up in the season opener of the Italian GT Championship. In the first race of the weekend, Luca Magnoni (ITA) driving the number 277 Team Nova Race Mercedes-AMG GT4 prevailed in the GT4-AM class. The second race was won by the number 27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by AKM Motorsport and driven by the Italian pairing of Lorenzo Ferrari and Daniel Zampieri. This time, Nova Race were victorious in the GT4-PA category thanks to the efforts of Massimo De Luca and Luca Segù (both ITA) in the number 227 sister car.
The newly inaugurated DTM Trophy is to be staged as part of this year’s DTM support programme. Tim Heinemann (GER) driving the number 46 HP Racing International Mercedes-AMG GT4 registered the first podium successes for the brand in this new series with two second places.
In Brazil too, the gantry lights switched to green again this weekend. It was an exceptionally good start to the Endurance Brazil season for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 which monopolised the podium. The number 3 Racing M3 car driven by Alexander Auler and Guilherme Salas (both BRA) won ahead of Atila Abreu and Leo Sanchez (both BRA) in the number 15 Mercedes entered by Scuderia 111 and the third-placed number 21 car of Autlog Racing Team driven by Kreis Jr, Cássio H. Mello, André Moraes Jr. and Ricardo Rodrigues (all BRA). In the GT3 class, Mattheis Motorsport (Xandinho/André Negrão) and Scuderia 111 (Atila Abreu / Leo Sanchez) gave further evidence of the strength in depth of the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing Teams by placing their Mercedes-AMG GT3s second and third.
