Tag: lewis hamilton

Mercedes Team Season 2020 Review and Achievements

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Finishing the 2020 season on top of the table, the combination of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas have once again played a crucial role in bringing in the victory home to Mercedes. Hamilton dominated the tracks and Grand Prix as the Englishman won 11 GPs and Bottas earned2 GPs. Mercedes once again had a classy season despite the COVID-19 pandemic hitting the world hard. It was a no brainer as the team won 13 GPs out of the 17, which were held around the world. Hamilton is slowly closing in on F1 legend Michael Schumacher’s record as the Englishman had a dominating year with Mercedes as he once again clinched the World Championships.

Despite Mercedes being near perfect in 2020, the battle was also head-to-head as Bottas and Hamilton would often go at it during the laps in turns of overtaking and dominating positions. In this article, we look at Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas’ 2020 season.

Lewis Hamilton

Winning three consecutive World Championships, Hamilton is cut above the rest. A modern-day legend in the tracks, the Englishman has now won 6 World Championships and is one away from tying Schumacher. Given the commitment, focus and determination fans and experts get to see in Hamilton’s drive, there is no doubt that Schumacher’s record will be overtaken by the Englishman.

Breaking and setting records of his own, Hamilton is on the verge of breaking another Schumacher record and that is having the most GP wins with the same team. Schumacher has 72 wins with Ferrari and Hamilton is currently on 67 with Mercedes.

Despite the challenges faced in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, that did not stop Mercedes from losing focus, especially with their frontman maintaining his calm at diverse crucial points. Hamilton won 11 GPs in 2020. It only goes to prove that Hamilton is nowhere near done. Here is the list of GPs won by Mercedes’ Lewis Hamilton.

1. Styrian Grand Prix

2. Hungarian Grand Prix

3. British Grand Prix

4. Spanish Grand Prix

5. Belgian Grand Prix

6. Tuscan Grand Prix

7. Eifel Grand Prix

8. Portuguese Grand Prix

9. Emilia Romagna Grand Prix

10. Turkish Grand Prix

11. Bahrain Grand Prix

Talented and determined, there is no stopping Hamilton as the Englishman will look to shatter more records and create new ones in 2021.

Valtteri Bottas

Mercedes’ second go-to man, Valtteri Bottas opened the 2020 Formula 1 with a win in the Austrian Grand Prix and won the Russian Grand Prix. However, on many occasions, Bottas was agonizingly close to finishing first. If there was any racer who could overtake Hamilton and leave the Englishman in the dust, it was Bottas. While Bottas started the campaign on a bright note with a win in the Austrian GP, he gave serious competition for the pole position. But, at certain times, he failed to make the most of the chances. Be it to untimely turns, debris strikes or power unit problems in 2020, Bottas could be seen mostly catching up.

In the Turkey GP, Bottas had the misfortune of spinning after taking heavy damage in the start where in the Bahrain GP, the Finnish racer suffered two punctures. While it can mostly be seen as misfortunate, Bottas has shown glimpses of challenging Hamilton for the title in the 2021 season. It will be interesting to see the battle between Hamilton and Bottas.

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‘Not easy being a son of Michael Schumacher’: Rosberg warns Mick ahead of F1 debut | Racing News – Times of India

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BERLIN: Nico Rosberg, himself the son of a former world champion, has warned Mick Schumacher to expect huge media attention when he makes his Formula One debut next week to follow in the footsteps of his father Michael Schumacher.
“It’s not easy to be the ‘son of’. And with Mick, it is 10 times more difficult, because Michael’s era was not so long ago and he was much more successful,” Rosberg, 35, told website Sport1.
Mick Schumacher, who turns 22 on Monday, makes his Grand Prix debut for American team Haas at the season-opening race in Bahrain on March 28.
After winning the Formula Three European championships in 2018 and then the Formula Two title in 2020, Schumacher junior made the step up to Formula One this season.
The German carries one of the most famous surnames in motorsport as the son of seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who has not been seen in public since suffering brain injuries in a skiing accident in 2013.
To add to the pressure, Michael Schumacher won the Bahrain Grand Prix in its inaugural Formula One race in 2004.
Schumacher senior went on to win 91 races for Benetton and Ferrari, with five of his world titles coming in the famous red colours of the Italian marque.
Britain’s Lewis Hamilton only surpassed Schumacher’s total of race wins last year with the Mercedes driver bidding to capture an unprecedented eighth world title this season.
Rosberg, 35, retired after being crowned 2016 Formula One world champion, 34 years after his father Keke achieved the feat.
Nico Rosberg predicts Schumacher will have to reckon with media attention in his first year of Formula One that will “probably be even greater than Lewis Hamilton” experienced.
“I hope Mick can put that aside and concentrate well on his job because otherwise it takes a lot of the fun away.”
If the media does not give him time to settle in Formula One, Mick Schumacher “has to take it himself”, advises Rosberg.
“You need time and patience. After all, I had to wait seven years to win my first race and 11 years to win the (Formula One world) title.
“You have to keep that in mind if you want to rate Mick this year.”

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Max Verstappen Fastest in Testing, Mercedes Have Work To Do

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Formula One teams wrapped up three days of pre-season testing in Bahrain on Sunday with Max Verstappen fastest for Red Bull and AlphaTauri’s Yuki Tsunoda close behind in a one-two for Honda-powered cars.

Mercedes and seven-times world champion Lewis Hamilton, meanwhile, recognised they had plenty of work to do before the season starts at the same Sakhir circuit on March 28.

Mexican Sergio Perez, Verstappen’s new team mate, had been top of the morning session with a best lap of one minute 30.187 seconds on soft tyres. Verstappen took over after lunch and produced a best time of 1:28.960.

It was the second time he had topped the end of day timesheets after setting the pace on Friday.

“In general I would say the car feels good and I’m looking forward to going racing,” said Verstappen, winner of the last race of 2020.

The Dutch youngster said before he got in the car that he thought Mercedes were still the favourites but, if so, the dominant champions of the past seven years were hiding any advantage.

Hamilton was only fifth fastest and just quicker than compatriot George Russell who did nearly three times as many laps in the Williams — 157 to Hamilton’s 54. Sunday was Russell’s first day in the car.

The older Briton seemed to struggle to get a stable lap together, spinning late on.

“We’ve had issues in recent years with pace in winter testing and managed to make good progress before the first race but we may have our work cut out this time,” said Mercedes trackside engineering head Andrew Shovlin.

He said the car was more predictable on high fuel loads but “we can see from the data we’ve collected over the last few days that on race pace, we’re not as quick as Red Bull.”

EYE-CATCHING TSUNODA

Tsunoda was the name that caught the eye with the Japanese rookie just 0.093 slower than Verstappen as he completed 91 laps for the Red Bull sister team.

Ferrari, gathering strength again after their worst season in 40 years, had Carlos Sainz third overall despite an hydraulics issue after Charles Leclerc was second in the morning. The pair managed 159 laps between them.

“When we were here last year in Bahrain for the race and for qualifying we have been very slow on the straights,” said Ferrari team boss Mattia Binotto.

“Now… I think at least on the straights the speed is alright. It doesn’t seem to be such a disadvantage as it was last year.”

Kimi Raikkonen, in the Ferrari-powered Alfa Romeo, did more laps than anyone — 165.

Valtteri Bottas opened the session for Mercedes and was seventh fastest when he handed over to Hamilton, with 84 laps completed.

The Finn felt the team had made up ground after a difficult opening Friday when he had managed only six laps due to a gearbox problem.

“I feel like we made a decent recovery,” Bottas told reporters.

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F1: ‘Different animal’ Verstappen tops F1 testing as Tsunoda makes mark | Racing News – Times of India

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SAKHIR: World champion Lewis Hamilton saw Max Verstappen top the times in Formula One testing on Sunday and predicted the Dutch star’s Red Bull team will be “a different animal” when the season starts in two weeks’ time.
Verstappen, who was third behind Hamilton and the Briton’s Mercedes teammate Valtteri Bottas in the 2020 championship, timed a best lap of 1:28.960 on Sunday.
That proved to be the fastest time of the three-day session.
However, rookie Yuki Tsunoda, the first Japanese driver to compete in Formula One since Kamui Kobayashi in 2014, also laid down a marker.
His time on Sunday of 1:29.053 in his AlphaTauri was the second best overall of the week.
Verstappen had also topped the charts on Friday on the opening day at the dusty Sakhir circuit which will also stage the season opener on March 28.
“They are looking strong,” said seven-time champion Hamilton.
“They’re going to be a different machine or animal this year with, I think, a really good, strong line-up for two drivers and a really good car.”
However, Hamilton insisted he was unconcerned as Verstappen had won the last race of 2020 in Abu Dhabi and had momentum on his side.
“Having seen them winning the last race you can only assume they’re going to be right there if not at the front, at the first race.
“It’s going to be a great, long battle with them through the year,” he added.
Verstappen, too, was keen to douse expectations that this could be the year that Red Bull break Mercedes’ stranglehold.
“I don’t think we are the favourites,” Verstappen said.
Carlos Sainz, in a Ferrari, Alfa Romeo’s Kimi Raikkonen and Hamilton rounded out the top five on Sunday in what also proved to be their top times of the week.
Third and final day times:
1. Max Verstappen (NED/Red Bull-Honda) 1:28.960 (64 laps), 2. Yuki Tsunoda (JPN/Alpha Tauri-Honda) 1:29.053 (91), 3. Carlos Sainz (ESP/Ferrari) 1:29.611 (79), 4. Kimi Raikkonen (ITA/Alfa Romeo-Ferrari) 1:29.766 (166), 5. Lewis Hamilton (GBR/Mercedes) 1:30.025 (54), 6. George Russell (GBR/Williams-Mercedes) 1:30.117 (158), 7. Daniel Ricciardo (AUS/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:30.144 (76), 8. Sergio Perez (MEX/Red Bull-Honda) 1:30.187 (49), 9. Fernando Alonso (ESP/Alpine-Renault) 1:30.318 (128), 10. Charles Leclerc (MON/Ferrari) 1:30.486 (80), 11. Lando Norris (GBR/McLaren-Mercedes) 1:30.661 (56), 12. Pierre Gasly (FRA/Alpha Tauri-Honda) 1:30.828 (76), 13. Esteban Ocon (FRA-Alpine/Renault) 1:31.310 (61), 14. Nikita Mazepin (RUS/Haas-Ferrari) 1:31.531 (67), 15. Mick Schumacher (GER/Haas-Ferrari) 1:32.053 (78), 16. Valtteri Bottas (FIN/Mercedes) 1:32.406 (86), 17. Sebastian Vettel (GER/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:35.041 (56), 18. Lance Stroll (CAN/Aston Martin-Mercedes) 1:36.100 (80)

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Mercedes Unveil New Car for Formula One 2021 Season: A Look at the Black Beauty

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Mercedes unveiled their new car ahead of the upcoming 2021 season of Formula One on Tuesday. Their new car the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance will be used by their drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas during the course of the 2021 season. This is Mercedes’ first car to use the ‘E PERFORMANCE’ designation, signifying their closer alignment to the Mercedes-AMG performance division in the future. ‘E PERFORMANCE’ is the new technology label that will be used in product names and badges on all forthcoming Mercedes-AMG performance hybrid cars — which feature direct cascade technology from F1 and, in particular, the work of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains in Brixworth.

The team’s closer cooperation with AMG is also reflected in the new 2021 livery, with AMG branding replacing the star pattern on the engine cover which now fades to Mercedes’ traditional racing silver from the black base livery introduced in 2020. The most prominent colour remains the iconic green of Title Partner PETRONAS on the front and rear wings, nose, mirrors and halo, with the parallel green and silver stripes on the flanks of the car symbolising more than a decade of partnership between Mercedes and PETRONAS. The visual identity is completed by the burgundy of team shareholder and Principal Partner INEOS, which features on the airbox and the inside of the front wing endplates.

“Every year we reset our focus and define the right objectives,” said Team Principal Toto Wolff. “That may sound simple but it’s damn hard and is probably why there are no sports teams out there with seven consecutive titles. So many things can happen and it’s very natural to get used to success, and therefore not fight as hard for it.

“But this team has not shown any of that. I see the same fire, hunger and passion now as I did the first time I walked through the doors in 2013. Every season presents a new challenge and therefore, a new goal for us to achieve. 2021 brings changes to the regulations, which could impact our competitiveness, plus the cost cap and working on the major rule changes of 2022. These challenges excite us.”

Hamilton and Bottas will be entering their fifth season as teammates at Mercedes.

“The launch day of a new car is always a really exciting one,” Hamilton was quoted as saying in the Mercedes press release. “It’s great to reveal to the world the result of everyone’s hard work at the factories and to see some of my team-mates in person, which has been so rare during the past year. I’ve been in touch with the engineers through the winter, keeping track of their preparations as I prepare myself for the season ahead. The excitement has been building and building, so now I just can’t wait to get out on track in the W12.”

“Obviously we haven’t been able to visit the factory much in the past year, so firstly, I’m really happy to be back here and to see the new car in person for the first time,” said Bottas. “I’ve been getting regular updates on how things are progressing, so it’s nice to now be able to see the end result in the flesh and that just gets me more fired up for the new season. The cars are pretty similar to last year but there are some interesting aero changes that will have an impact on how the car handles and performs, so I’m looking forward to seeing how it feels on track in Bahrain.”



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Lewis Hamilton Signs New One-year Deal with Mercedes, F1 Team Announces

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Lewis Hamilton finally put pen to paper to a new one-year deal with Mercedes after much delay, the Formula One team made the announcement on Monday. Hamilton is the reigning world champion while Mercedes is the reigning F1 World Constructors’ Champion. The upcoming one year will be the ninth consecutive season that Hamilton spends at Mercedes. Since joining Mercedes in 2013, Hamilton is now the all-time race win record holder after he broke Michael Schumacher’s record of six Drivers’ Championship last year.

“A significant part of the new agreement builds upon the joint commitment to greater diversity and inclusion in motorsport that was made last year by Lewis and Mercedes. This will take the form of a joint charitable foundation, which will have the mission of supporting greater diversity and inclusion in all its forms in motorsport,” Mercedes said in its statement.

“I am excited to be heading into my ninth season with my Mercedes teammates. Our team has achieved incredible things together and we look forward to building on our success even further, while continuously looking to improve, both on and off the track.

“I’m equally determined to continue the journey we started to make motorsport more diverse for future generations and I am grateful that Mercedes has been extremely supportive of my call to address this issue. I’m proud to say we are taking that effort further this year by launching a foundation dedicated to diversity and inclusion in the sport. I am inspired by all that we can build together and can’t wait to get back on the track in March,” Hamilton said in Mercedes’ official press release.

Mercedes CEO and Team Principal Toto Wolff said, “We have always been aligned with Lewis that we would continue, but the very unusual year we had in 2020 meant it took some time to finish the process. Together, we have decided to extend the sporting relationship for another season and to begin a longer-term project to take the next step in our shared commitment to greater diversity within our sport. Lewis’s competitive record stands alongside the best the sports world has ever seen, and he is a valued ambassador for our brand and our partners. The story of Mercedes and Lewis has written itself into the history books of our sport over the past eight seasons, and we are hungry to compete and to add more chapters to it.”



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