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Feature: A Closer Look at the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 Team

Sunday race action - Nico Rosberg of Mercedes AMG Petronas at the 2012 European GP. Image courtesy of Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team.The following is a feature by Austinite Mike Boone. Mike is an avid F1 fan and he prepared this information to educate guests at tonight's networking event with EuroCircle at Javelina. We think it will be a great primer for new F1 fans, so we'll have copies to distribute at the event.

// What do you need to know about the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula 1 team? Here are some helpful facts:

The first Mercedes involvement in Formula One came four years after the first race in 1954. Mercedes has also served as an engine provider to other teams with their engines winning two constructors and four driver’s championships. The current team has been competing since 2010 after the purchase of Brawn GP.  As a constructor Mercedes have won two drivers championships and ten races in Formula One.

Mercedes' drivers for 2012 are Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, although it is now known that Schumacher is retiring at the end of 2012 while Lewis Hamilton, currently at McLaren Mercedes is joining Rosberg at Mercedes AMG Petronas.  Also, Mercedes AMG currently supply McLaren and Force India with engines.

The name for the Mercedes constructor in was changed for 2012, the team removed the GP from their name and added AMG, the high performance division of Mercedes.

At the China race this year Nico Rosberg won first pole position for Mercedes since Fangio last did it in 1955.  Rosberg went on to win the Chinese Grand Prix this race which was the first win in China, in 57 years.

// About the Team

Full name: Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team (2012 – )

Base: Brackley, Northamptonshire, United Kingdom

Team Principal: Ross Brawn

CEO: Nick Fry

Technical Director: Bob Bell

Website: www.Mercedes-AMG-F1.com

Previous name: Brawn GP Formula One Team

// 2012 Formula 1 Season

Drivers: #7 Michael Schumacher and #8 Nico Rosberg

Test Driver: Sam Bird

Chassis: Mercedes F1 W03

Engine: Mercedes-Benz

Tires: Pirelli

// F1 World Championship Career

Debut: 1954 French Grand Prix

Latest Race: 2012 European Grand Prix (photo above was taken there)

Races completed: 57

Constructor's Championships: 0

Drivers' Championships: 1954 and 1955

Race Victories: 10

Pole Positions: 9

Fastest Laps: 9

The information above was compiled from the Mercedes AMG Petronas website and Wikipedia.

The French Connection: European GP


Also known as ‘The European Grand Prix’, while it was originally an honour provided to any one of the European circuits, at seven times, Italy had hosted the event more than any other nation. Ironically, once it was reintroduced in 1983, the European race was only intended to be a ‘stop-gap’, to fill a slot in the calendar arising from the cancellation of the US Formula One race scheduled to be held at Flushing Meadows, in up-state New York.

Blast From The Past at Formula Expo

Bud Moeller with Historic Grand Prix at Formula Expo from The Austin Grand Prix on Vimeo.

Learn more about the Historic Grand Prix, "The World's Fastest Museum," with F1 Pilot Bud Moeller.

The goal of the Historic Grand Prix is to preserve motorsports history while showcasing the 3.0 litre era of F1 during 1966-1983. HGP had an amazing collection of Formula 1 cars at Formula Expo in Austin, Texas. What was most interesting to me is that the owners of these rolling artifacts get to personally race them, sometimes competing against former racers!

Some of the handsome cars on display included a Lotus 79 once driven by Mario Andretti, Ferrari 312-T5 driven by Gilles Villenevue, McLaren M-30 driven by Alain Prost and March 821 driven by Jochen Mass. You can see more in our Formula Expo Picture Gallery.

Check Historic Grand Prix's schedule to see if they are coming to a track near you. They will be at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut over Labor Day weekend and at Watkins Glen the following weekend. Hopefully we will see them bring history alive at Circuit of The Americas in the near future.

ISLAND OF DREAMS: Montreal


Known locally as the ‘GPC’, the Grand Prix du Canada takes place on the Ile Notre Dame, a man-made island in the St Lawrence River, due east of the French Canadian city of Montreal. An economic and cultural centre, Montreal has been described variously over the years as an important hub for trade and vital to the international congress and convention scene. Every year since 1978, the parkland venue, subsequently renamed ‘Circuit Gilles Villeneuve’ after Canada’s famous son died in Belgium in 1982, has resounded to a Formula One race, with the notable exception of 2009, when it was dropped unceremoniously from the calendar, public outcry causing its reinstatement the following year.

MAY MONTH IS MONACO

2012 Monaco Grand Prix - Thursday Monte Carlo, Monaco 24th May 2012 World Copyright:Andrew Ferraro /LAT Receiving more hype, in some cases eminently justifiable, than any other Formula One race, the unique Monegasque coastal venue has been delivering motorsporting thrills for the past 83 years. It is a phenomenal record by any account and hot on the slightly singed Michelin heels of Barcelona’s ‘gift’ to Williams’ driver, Pastor Maldonado, no less than the fifth different winning team combination of the 2012 season thus far, the field has never been more open and the close proximity racing has never been more intimate.