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july 14, 2021 - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport

Tales from the Paddock: From Goodwood to a sprint debut at Silverstone

The standout events are coming thick and fast now: Formula E in the Big Apple, the Festival of Speed at #Goodwood and now a first ever sprint qualifying at #silverstone.

  • This is what happened: Results & facts
  • News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
  • Social media news: What's new online?

This is what happened: Results and facts

  • Formula E: Mercedes-EQ leaves New York without having added to points tally
  • ADAC GT Masters: Two runner-up spots for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 in the double bill at Zandvoort
  • ADAC GT4 Germany: Two wins for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 at Circuit Zandvoort
  • NLS: Patrick Assenheimer, Adam Christodoulou and Hubert Haupt finish second in fifth race of season
  • British GT Championship: One-two victory for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Donington Park

News snippets
 
Silverstone, here we come: Home of British Motor #racing calling! Next weekend, Formula One returns to the venue which boasts the historical distinction of having hosted the series' inaugural race. For the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, the British Grand Prix also counts as a home race, as its two factories in Brackley and Brixworth are just a stone's throw away from the circuit. Last year, Lewis secured his seventh win at #silverstone, making him the most successful driver in this particular Grand Prix, ahead of Jim Clark and Alain Prost who each won the British GP five times during their respective careers. Mercedes scored their first victory at #silverstone in 1955, with the legendary Sir Stirling Moss at the wheel of the W196. Since then, the factory team has scored seven more victories at the tradition-steeped circuit, once with Nico Rosberg (2013) and six times courtesy of Lewis (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2019, 2020). Ferrari hold the record for most wins in the British Grand Prix (17) ahead of McLaren (14) and Williams (10). Last year, two races were held at #silverstone, as the calendar was adjusted to cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. While Lewis won the first race, he and team-mate Valtteri Bottas finished the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix the following weekend in second and third place behind winner Max Verstappen. This year marks the 72nd running of the British Grand Prix, with #silverstone as host circuit for the 55th time overall. The other two venues were Brands Hatch (12 races) and Aintree (5). The absolute lap record dates back to last year when Lewis booked pole in a time of 1:24.303 minutes. The fastest race lap is held by Max Verstappen in a time of 1:27.097 minutes.
 
From hunted to hunter: The return of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship to the streets of New York City last weekend did not bring any good fortune for the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team, as Stoffel Vandoorne and Nyck de Vries failed to score any points in the team's debut outing on the Brooklyn street circuit. A combination of sub-optimal pace, bad luck with rain in qualifying, collisions shortly after the start and two punctures in one day deprived the team of a more gratifying result. As a consequence, Mercedes-EQ dropped from first to fifth place in the team standings over the course of the race weekend. However, with four races still to go, the championship is still wide open. The team will therefore be back on the attack in one and a half weeks at the next double-header on 24 and 25 July in London.

First overall podium of the NLS season: Haupt #racing Team Bilstein secured the first overall podium of the 2021 NLS season in the double-header of the Nürburgring Endurance Series as Patrick Assenheimer (GER), Adam Christodoulou (GBR) and Hubert Haupt (GER) in the number 6 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took the runner-up spot in round 5 on Saturday thanks to a strong finish. Eight minutes before the end of the race, Christodoulou driving the final stint pulled off the decisive passing manoeuvre to finish second against strong competition in the 61st ADAC Reinoldus endurance race. In round six on Sunday, the team's car was damaged in a collision through no fault of their own at the start of the four-hour contest, which meant that they ultimately had to settle for ninth place.
 
The Customer #racing teams continued to dominate the non-general classifications, recording three class victories in round five on Saturday and round six on Sunday. Moritz Kranz (GER) and Janine Shoffner (USA) posted wins four and five of the season for GetSpeed Performance in the SP9-Am class. Marek Böckmann, Marchel Marchewicz and Tim Neuser (all GER) in the number 165 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Schnitzelalm #racing registered wins three and four in the SP10 class. In the SP4T + SP8T class, Alexander Kolb, Peter Posavac and Reinhold Renger (all GER) in the Schnitzelalm #racing #150 took the Mercedes-AMG GT4 tally to five class wins.

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport scores points in ADAC GT Masters title fight: In the third round of the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort in the Netherlands, Mercedes-AMG Motorsport scored valuable points towards the title in the series that now doubles as the International German GT Championship. Raffaele Marciello (ITA) and Maximilian Buhk (GER) finished second on Sunday in the #70 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF HTP/WWR, a result that takes them to second place in the championship standings.
 
Maro Engel and Luca Stolz (both GER) driving for Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT had already made it onto the podium in Saturday's race. In the two one-hour races on the upgraded circuit set amid the North Sea dunes, the number 13 car fielded by Zakspeed Mobil Krankenkasse #racing also produced two Top Ten results. Jules Gounon (FRA) and Igor Walilko (POL) finished eighth on Saturday and fifth on Sunday, which elevates Gounon to third place in the Junior standings.

The Mercedes-AMG GT4s delivered a dominant performance in the ADAC GT4 Germany races which are contested as part of the supporting programme to the ADAC GT Masters. Saturday produced a flawless one-two-three finish as Jan Marschalkowski (GER) and Théo Nouet (FRA) in the number 13 Team Zakspeed won ahead of Robert Haub (USA) and Gabriela Jilková (CZE) in the number 20 sister car. Marc de Fulgencio (ESP) and Robin Falkenbach (GER) in the number 7 entered by Leipert Motorsport completed the podium lockout. On Sunday, Marschalkowski and Nouet contributed another victory, which takes them to a promising second place in the championship standings.

Three series - three race wins: The Customer #racing teams took victories in three separate race series last weekend - the British GT, the GT Open and Supercars GT4 South.
 
In the British GT at Donington Park, Team ABBA #racing and RAM #racing produced a one-two victory for the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Father-son duo Richard and Sam Neary (both GBR) in the number 8 car secured a maiden win in the series after an impressive fightback from tenth on the grid. Yelmer Buurman (NED) and Ian Loggie (GBR) in the number 6 of RAM #racing crossed the finish line in second place after two hours of #racing, a result that was enough for them to take over at the top of the British GT championship standings.

In the second race of the International GT Open at the Hungaroring, AKM Motorsport clinched their first win of the season. Gianluca Giraudi and Loris Spinelli (both ITA) in the number 47 Mercedes-AMG GT3 took advantage of problems encountered by their opponents during a heavy rainstorm to take the lead which they then retained through to the finish. Meanwhile, Marco Antonelli (ITA) in the #14 sister car was runner-up in the Am class on both days. Olimp #racing delivered further class successes by taking third place in both the Pro-Am and Am classes in Saturday's race courtesy of the #777 and #5 Mercedes-AMG GT3s. On Sunday, Baporo Motorsport also secured third place in the Am class on their debut outing with the Mercedes-AMG GT3.