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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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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