F1 2018 – Mercedes-AMG Petronas

The Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula 1 team clinched their fourth consecutive Constructors and Drivers Championships last year. They are the fourth team that has achieved this. Will they be able to match Ferrari’s five consecutive championships this year?

The Silver Arrows team won a DHL award for the fastest pit stop. It is calculated over the whole season on a points based system. The fastest pit stop of the day gets 25 points while tenth gets 1 point. The team accumulated 465 points and secured the award.

The team is nominated for the fourth consecutive time for the prestigious Laurens award for World Team of the Year category.

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The first half of the 71st season saw Lewis Hamilton trailing Scuderia Ferrari’s 4 time World Champion Sebastian Vettel for more than the first half of the season. After the 13th race Hamilton took the lead and didn’t look back until he clinched it in the 18th race, the Mexican Grand Prix.

The thing with Hamilton is that he has never won a race after he has won a Drivers Championship and it was the same this time.

Team mate Valterri Bottas qualified in Pole position the following race, but was beaten by Vettel to the finish line. Showing his determination and hunger to win, Bottas took his third win of the season at the last race, Yas Marina Abu Dhabi Grand Prix. Bottas dominated by qualifying in Pole position, did the fasted lap and he took the checkered flag.

"It is a really, really important win for me you know, after having a pretty difficult start to the second half of the year,” said the Finn. “I've been working hard on all the issues and getting better and better and this week we couldn't be happier to end the season like this." ~ Valterri Bottas

LEWIS HAMILTON

How long will Hamilton still be racing in Formula 1? This is the question everybody should be asking after Lewis spoke at the FIA price-giving gala. He said that he will have to dig deep to find the desire to match Michael Schumacher’s 7 World Driver Championships.

It has taken him ten years to win the first four and he is eyeing to match second place with 1950’s racer Juan Manuel Fangio with 5 world titles, but 7 seems a bit much. He added that his fond memories of working with the team, setting up the car and driving it to tits limits means more to him than titles.

Lewis was awarded the DHL Fastest Lap award for timing the fastest lap during the race at 11 Grand Prix. He is nominated for the World Sportsman of the Year category. The winners will be announced on 27 February.

Hamilton smashed a couple of records during 2017:

• He became the first Brit and fifth driver in history who won four or more world titles.
• He passed both Ayerton Senna and Michael Shumacher and claimed the most pole positions with 72.
• He equaled Alberto Ascari and Jim Clark who are the only three drivers that scored three Grand Slams. (Is this tennis? No, a Grand Slam in Formula 1 is when a driver qualifies on pole position, sets the fastest lap during the race, lead every lap of the race and takes the checkered flag at the end)
• He scored points in every race of the season. The only other two world champion drivers, Juan Manuel Fangio and Michael Schumacher have achieved it. Last year’s season was 20 races and Hamilton has scored in the last 25 races. He has to score in two more to equal Kimi Raikkonen.
• (not a record) has led more than 3000 laps in his career
• (not a record) has taken pole at each circuit on the 2017 calendar at least once

Lewis Hamilton’s 2017 season:

• Pole Positions – 11
• Wins – 9
• Podium Finishes – 13
• Fastest Laps – 7
• Laps Led – 527
• Front Row Starts – 13
• Laps Raced – 1125
• Biggest Win Margin – 19.783 Hamilton over Bottas (Canada Grand Prix)

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VALTTERI BOTTAS

Mercedes snapped the Williams driver up during winter after the reigning World Champion Nico Rosberg retired after reaching the pinnacle of his career. The signing up came a mere months after Bottas got married to Olympic swimmer and fellow Fin Emilia Pikkarainen during September 2016.

Valtteri Bottas was familiar with the Mercedes engine after racing with it for Williams for a couple of years. It was a mad rush from signing up mid-January to the first race, which saw him placing third. During the season he took three wins and finished third overall.

There was a competition where you can partake in designing his helmet which will be worn at the most races during the 2018 season. The best design will be picked by Bottas himself! I think entries have closed.

Valterri said he enjoyed taking some time off for the winter and spent some time in the African summer sun after visiting South Africa for New Years. SAffers know how to party! Not having the stress of jumping from one team to another helped a lot, but he started training right after he returned from the Republic of South Africa.

THE SILVER ARROWS TEAM

What is the team looking forward to this year? A couple of things, but mainly the Hockenheim, Germany Grand Prix returning to the 2018 calendar. Racing F1 at the circuit has been on and off since the 50’s and it did not feature in the 2017 F1 racing calendar. The home town race was dearly missed.

Toto Wolf knows that the team has a long season ahead and it will be a battle to stay in front with the prancing horse so close to their ankles. Lewis Hamilton will be aiming for his 5th World Title and the team for their 5th Constructors Championship title.

What does Toto Wolf look forward to for 2018?

"I am most excited to get into the competition, get it all started again and see where we are as a team. Whether we have understood the car better, whether the performance level is good enough to beat the others - and then the sheer competition on the race weekends is what excites me." ~ TotoWolf

When Toto Wolf was asked about the old car and the design of the new 2018 car, he responded:

"Some of the character traits from a diva, we like. The W08 was the fastest car in Formula One, it scored the most pole positions and won the most races. So, you need to be careful not to dump the things that actually work on the car, just to remedy the difficulties the car showed. We analysed it properly and when we go testing in a months' time, we will see if the car is a little bit better behaved or not." ~Toto Wolf

When will the car be revealed? 22 February at Silverstone

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Mercedes-AMG Petronas Season Stats

Wins – 12

Poles – 15

Podiums – 26

Fastest Laps – 9

Laps Led – 714

Laps Raced – 2,363

SLIDE LEFT TO RIGHT FOR IMAGES

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Team South Africa banner designed by @bearone

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