While Lewis Hamilton was busy claiming a first podium of the season for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team in Australia, Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing teams were racking up further victories at Donington and Sonoma
- Australian GP: Lewis Hamilton scores the Team’s first podium of the season
- Rewarding weekend in GT World Challenge America
- Class win for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in the NLS2
- News snippets: Results, facts & figures, social media news
First podium of season ‘Down Under’
The third round of the 2023 F1 season was contested at Albert Park in Melbourne last weekend. Lewis Hamilton delivered the Team’s first podium of the season in an eventful race that featured three red flags, a safety car and a virtual safety car.
George Russell and Lewis secured second and third on the grid, following strong performances in qualifying. Both drivers built on this by making fantastic starts and moving into first and second on the opening lap. George led the Grand Prix until Lap 7 when he made his first pit stop, handing the lead to Lewis. However, the first red flag of the day came shortly afterwards and with other drivers effectively gaining a free pit stop, nullified George’s bold strategy. His fightback began immediately but George’s charge through the field came to an early end on lap 17 when his power unit failed.
Lewis meanwhile was driving a calm and composed race in second place ahead of Fernando Alonso. A red flag and subsequent standing start with two laps to go threatened to upset the order but he kept a cool head to secure the Team’s best result so far in 2023.It was Lewis’s 192nd top-three finish in Formula One and his 10th at Albert Park. There is now a near four-week break until the Team is next in action at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix, with work continuing apace across the factories in Brackley and Brixworth in the meantime.
Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing teams win at Sonoma Raceway
The Mercedes-AMG customer teams had much cause for celebration in the season opener of the GT World Challenge America on the technically challenging Sonoma Raceway in California. Race 2 on Sunday resulted in a one-two finish for the Mercedes-AMG GT3, with Colin Braun and George Kurtz (both USA) of Crowdstrike by Riley lifting the winners’ trophy and the TR3 Racing duo of Ziad Ghandour (USA) and Expert-rated driver Daniel Morad (CAN) taking the runner-up spot.
There was also a victory for the Mercedes-AMG brand in the GT America. The season opener of this race series in Sonoma was won by Memo Gidley (USA) driving the number 101 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of TKO Motorsports, with Kurtz finishing third. In the second race over a distance of 40 minutes, Anthony Bartone (USA; RealTime Racing), Kurtz, Gidley and Jason Daskalos (USA; CRP Racing) made it a quadruple success for Mercedes-AMG. In the Pirelli GT4 America, Michai Stephens (USA) and Jesse Webb (CAN) secured the Silver class win and P2 overall for Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports. Another class win for Conquest Racing went to the Brazilians Paulo Carcasci and Custodio Toledio, this time in the Am category.
News snippets: Results, facts & figures, social media news
Nürburgring Endurance Series: Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing savoured a commanding class victory in the second round of the 2023 Nürburgring Endurance Series, the NIMEX 47th DMV 4-Hour Race, contested on the challenging Nordschleife. Charles Espenlaub and Shane Lewis (both USA) in the #45 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of CP Racing prevailed in the SP9 Pro-Am class, while Adam Christodoulou (GBR), Maximilian Götz and Fabian Schiller (both GER) in the #12 Mercedes-AMG Team GetSpeed finished tenth in the general classification.
GT Cup Championship: Sam Maher-Loghan (IRL) and James Wallis (GBR) of Drivetac powered by Track Focused won two of four races in the season opener of the British GT Cup at Donington Park and also registered a P2. However, the Mercedes-AMG duo of Sennan Fielding and Grahame Tilley (both GBR; Tecserve/Triple M Motorsport) in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 still lead the overall standings on points, having finished sixth, second, fourth and fifth in the four rounds contested.
GT4 Italy: Italy’s Tommaso Lovati and LEMA Racing won the second race of the GT4 Italy at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza. His team-mate Adriano Bernazzani (ITA) had already made it onto the podium for a P3 finish in the first race.
#HumanPerformance: An exceptional amount of hard work and dedication from the entire team goes into the design, development and running of an F1 car. From a mental and physical perspective, it is therefore all the more vital to guarantee optimum working conditions for all team members.
