Category: Mercedes-Benz

Sunshine at last in Barcelona for the penultimate day of pre-season testing and Lewis Hamilton made merry for Mercedes AMG by setting the fastest time yet.

Hamilton sent his F1 W04 around the track in 1:20.558, that’s more than a second faster than we’ve seen all winter at Barcelona, beating the previous best by Sergio Perez (McLaren, 1:21.848). Second quickest overnight was Felipe Massa (Ferrari, 1:21.266) suggesting the F138 is not the same dog the F2012 turned out to be. Third on the lap charts was a resurgent Adrian Sutil (Force India, 1:21.627). So the top three, then, all went quicker than Perez’s old benchmark.

Mark Webber (Red Bull, 1:22.658) had his last day in the RB9 before heading to Melbourne and could only manage the seventh fastest time. Webber only registered 59 laps for the day and was a late starter due to the team adding new parts to his car.

“We had a few small issues with the car today which delayed us a couple of times and while it wasn’t ideal I think we still learned plenty,” said Webber. “In terms of the overall feeling at the end of my spell of testing, I think we’ve done well and we have made a step forward.

“Looking at the first race, I think it’s going to be a tight grand prix. There are a lot of quick cars out there and hopefully we have one of them.”

Meanwhile, Lewis Hamilton was a little more circumspect than you might have expected. “There’s still a lot of work ahead of us to get to where we want to be but the team is doing a great job. Whilst we’ve been focusing on our own performance, we definitely haven’t seen the full potential of our competitors yet, so it’s difficult to predict where we might be.”

Kimi Raikkonen was due to test for Lotus but must have had a huge night on the turps as he was a now show, meaning Romain Grosjean and test driver Davide Valsecchi shared time in the car.

There’s now just one more day of testing remaining before the teams hit the track in Australia in two weeks. Who’s getting excited?!

In cool and damp conditions Lewis Hamilton set the fastest time in his Mercedes AMG during F1 testing in Barcelona overnight. Rain and red flags caused as many as eight interruptions throughout the day.

The 2008 world champion posted his best lap (1:23.282) in the morning session on medium compound tyres. Former teammate Jenson Button (McLaren, 1:23.633) was second quickest ahead of Jean-Eric-Vergne (Toro Rosso, 1:24.071).

Mark Webber (Red Bull, 1:27.616) could only manage the eighth quickest lap. Although, he later claimed it was still a fruitful day. “We got a lot of good stuff done today. The boys did a great job—the best I’ve seen them, I think, so all credit to them,” he said.

Day 4 times were well down on the rest of the week, which saw Sergio Perez (McLaren, 1:21.848) claim the fastest lap of the week on Day 2, narrowly ahead of Fernando Alonso’s (Ferrari, 1:21.875) best on Day 3.

Speaking after Day 4 Hamilton sounded a little frustrated at the conditions, but overall he seems happy with the progress being made with his new team.

“The conditions today meant that we didn’t complete as many laps we would have done in the dry but we have gone through the test items that we wanted to achieve this week.

“We have been working on our consistency over long runs and we managed one run this morning on dry tyres; the car felt okay but the conditions were also very cool, so we cannot draw too many conclusions.

“From a personal point of view, my relationship with the team is growing all the time and it’s going really well. I’m happy working with the guys, we are working in the right direction together and I’m pushing to extract the most from the team, just like they are with me.”

Pre-season testing resumes back in Barcelona next week (28 February–3 March).

Nico Rosberg has put Mercedes’ underwhelming efforts from Jerez behind him, along with everyone else, to put the F1 W04 on top of the timesheets after the first day of pre-season testing in Barcelona overnight.

It was close at the top, though, with Rosberg (1:22.616) narrowly edging out Kimi Raikkonen (Lotus, 1:22.672). Fernando Alonso (Ferrari) enjoyed his first day behind the wheel in 2013, racking up 110 laps and the day’s third best time. While Sebastien Vettel (Red Bull) kept in touch, fourth quickest, some 0.35s off Rosberg’s best.

It’s probably also worth noting that the best four lap times were set on Pirelli’s medium compound tyres.

Pastor Maldonado’s first day out in the new Williams FW35 was not too shabby, finishing fifth best, although over 1.1 seconds off the pace.

Rosberg’s day didn’t start that well, with concerns over his car’s gearbox. You get the feeling it could be another mixed bag for Mercedes in 2013.

“We had a mixed day today with some laps lost this morning. However we were able to work through a good program this afternoon and, of course, it’s always nice to be quickest at the end of the day,” Rosberg said. “In general, I feel happy and comfortable in the car and it feels better than the last time we were here at this track. There is still some work to be done on tyre degradation and our program this afternoon was helpful in understanding that.”

Not the greatest of angles to compare the new Mercedes F1 W04 (top) against last year’s F1 W03, but for now it’s the best we’ve got.

If nothing else we must be thankful for the vanity panel covering the visually appalling stepped nose from 2012. Beneath the skin they’ve also fiddled about with the exhaust, reinstating a Coanda effect system after scrapping such a similar setup towards the end of last season.

This is the Mercedes F1 W04, the car Lewis Hamilton hopes won’t leave him looking like a fool after his highly publicised switch from the vastly more successful (in recent years) McLaren team.

It took a while for us to get a decent look at the car as well, following some rather pointless teasing from Mercedes via social media. Kids these days would have called that exercise a fail. Never mind all that though, the F1 W04 is before us now and after the W03 featured one of the less fortunate stepped noses in 2012 it’s nice to see the modesty panel has been applied to save further embarrassment in 2013.

Also joining Hamilton as high profile recruits are triple world champion Niki Lauda (Non-Executive Chairman) and Williams investor Toto Wolff (Executive Director). According to some reports that has left Ross Brawn clinging on to his role as Team Principal by the skin of his teeth. You sense that Brawn understands that too.

“2013 marks the start of a second era for our Silver Arrows works team,” said Brawn. “The restructuring we undertook at the team over the past 18 months are now growing in maturity and this is reflected in the F1 W04, which is a clear step forward in design and detail sophistication over its predecessor.

“Many thousands of hours of work have been invested by our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth to ensure that the new car delivers a step change in performance compared to last season.

“We are also hugely proud to welcome Lewis to the team as a works Mercedes-Benz driver. With Lewis and Nico, we have what I believe to be the strongest driver line-up in Formula One and I know that a healthy level of competition between them both will help drive the team forward.”

More from Mercedes after the break, including pictures, video and the team’s full press pack.

The man Mercedes-Benz has lined up to replace the loveable Uncle Norbert as its Director of Motorsport is sure to raise a few eyebrows around the F1 paddock. For that man is none other than former racer and Williams shareholder Toto Wolff, the BBC reports. For good measure Toto is also the partner of Williams’ development driver and Mercedes DTM racer Susie Wolff.

Wolff has played an active role in Williams’ operations, filling the void left by the departure of Adam Parr almost 12 months ago. It’s uncertain if the 41-year-old will be forced to sell his shares in Williams (around 16% of the company), but he will, of course, have to depart his official role of Executive Director.

Mercedes is yet to confirm the appointment of Wolff, but an announcement is expected in the next few days. Wolff will work alongside triple world champion Niki Lauda, who has taken on the role of Non-executive Chairman with the Mercedes F1 Team.

To round out this story rather nicely, Toto’s role will also include overseeing Mercedes’ DTM efforts. And what makes that worth noting is the fact this position will, in effect, make him his wife’s boss. Among many things, we wonder what his policy on sex before race meetings might be.

[Source: BBC]

UPDATE: This news has now been confirmed by Williams, their official statement can be read below.

UPDATE 22 January: Following suit Mercedes-Benz has now published its official statement, which can also be read below.