(© Ben Johnston 2015)
The Mercedes AMG PETRONAS F1 Team head into this weekend’s
opening Grand Prix of the season hoping to pick up from where they left off
last season.
The Brackley based outfit had an utterly dominant season. Last
season’s opening race was won by Nico Rosberg and the German who missed out on
the champion last year will be hoping for a repeat performance.
The Silver Arrows won all but three Grand Prix last season
with Infiniti Red Bull Racing’s Daniel Ricciardo taking victory in Canada, Hungary
and Belgium.
Mercedes also won their very first Constructors championship
last season. Speaking ahead of this weekend’s Australian Grand Prix reigning
world champion Lewis Hamilton stated:
‘At this point in the
year you don’t really know what to feel as a driver. You’re impatient to get
back to racing but, at the same time, you never know what a new season will
bring. Testing gives you a basic idea of whether the car feels good or not but,
beyond that, it’s anyone’s game to win. The team have been working incredibly
hard through the winter and it was great to see everyone in the factory before
I left for Melbourne. I’m so thankful for everything they do and I want to show
that in the best way I can out on track.
We had a great season last year as a
team and, of course, we’d all love to repeat that. But the others won’t stop
chasing us. I’m sure the competition will be close and we should get exciting
racing with plenty of battling for position – which is great because that’s
what I love doing and that’s what the fans love watching. There are many good
drivers out there and all of them want to win. You just have to want it more
than they do. I feel fresh, I feel fit, I feel relaxed, I feel positive… I feel
ready. I think as a driver you get stronger with every season, so I plan to be
better than last year. ‘
Mercedes team mate Nico Rosberg stated:
‘2014 was a really
incredible season for the team and I know everyone is pushing harder than ever
to do it all again. Seeing everyone at the factory is a big motivation for me.
This will be my sixth year with the team and we’re getting stronger with every
season. It’s great to have a group of people working alongside you who are as
passionate and driven as you are. It’s up to us drivers to repay them for all
their efforts and I’m determined to do them proud. We had a good winter but
it’s never straightforward. You always have challenges to overcome and there’s
nothing for certain, so we have to keep pushing.
Personally, I have focussed on
pushing myself even harder for the rematch with Lewis. In the end, it comes
down to who can put the best season together overall and I have to make
sure it’s the other way around this time. Having said that, my team-mate is
just one of many strong competitors who I have to beat if I want to be World
Champion, so I’m just focused on being the absolute best I can be. I now know
the feeling of winning races and I intend to do a lot more of that – but I also
know the feeling of not winning in the end and I don’t intend to repeat that
experience. It’s a huge motivation for me and gives me even more determination
for 2015.
Mercedes motorsport director Toto Wolff started by thanking
everyone who has worked extremely hard over the winter on the power unit side
of the business. The Mercedes W06 completed the most number of laps over the
course of winter testing. The Austrian stated:
‘First of all, a thank
you to everybody for the hard work through what proved to be, on the Power Unit
side and on the chassis side, a hard winter – probably harder than anticipated.
Last year, when there was a big change in the regulations, everybody knew what
a huge challenge it would be to do a good job.
But while the regulations didn’t
change a lot for this season, still the workload and the effort required over
the winter was huge in terms of finding gains and improving the car overall. A
lot of work has been done by the teams at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart to
get us out of the blocks well and we had a solid start in testing. But, fundamentally,
making predictions at this stage is like trying to read a crystal ball, which
is not what we want to do.
The bullet is out of the gun and eventually we are
going to find out where we stand in Melbourne and in the races afterwards. But
as of right now we haven’t been racing and this is the only true test.’
Mercedes Executive Director (Technical) Paddy Lowe commented
saying:
‘It felt like a very
short winter! February in particular has been intense, with 12 days of track
testing condensed into four weeks. However, we’re all very much looking forward
to getting to the first race and getting back to competing. The team is in good
shape after the winter programme. So far the car looks to be a step forward in
terms of speed and reliability compared to where we were this time last year,
so we’re hoping for a good result in Melbourne.
Externally there is sure to be
a certain level of expectation after testing – but racing is a very different
matter. It’s an unforgiving business. There is a huge amount of work to do and
plenty to make sure you get right if you are to come away from a Grand Prix
weekend with a strong result.
We’re not taking anything for granted. All of the
preparations concerning the specification of the car, fixes to problems
encountered over the winter, dusting off the rulebook to re-familiarise
ourselves with the procedures we have to follow – these must all be spot on to
ensure a successful start to the racing year.
The drivers are certainly in good
shape. Both are very enthusiastic and eager to let battle commence. Then
there’s Melbourne itself, which is an event the whole paddock enjoys. The
atmosphere around the city is fantastic, with huge numbers of fans from
Australia and all parts of the world. So we’re looking forward to an exciting
and, hopefully, successful weekend.
This is the point at which the race crew
departs to go out there and do the best job possible on behalf of the vast
majority of the team left behind at the factories. A phenomenal effort has gone
into designing this car – beginning as long as 12 months ago.
So we hope to
reward the hard work of everyone involved at Brackley, Brixworth and Stuttgart
and showcase their innovation and craftsmanship in the most fitting way by
delivering on track.’
© Ben Johnston 2015
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