HOCKENHEIM, Germany — The Formula One paddock is a busy place that hosts a lot of serious business over a race weekend, but we’ll try to bring you some of the news stories you might otherwise miss ahead of the German Grand Prix.
A new look…
Mercedes has paid tribute to its history in motorsport with a commemorative livery for this weekend’s German Grand Prix. To mark the team’s 200th start in Formula One and the 125th anniversary of its time in motorsport, the cars have been painted in a distinctive one-off design. The livery gives the impression of white paint that has been scraped away to reveal the car’s usual silver and green paintwork underneath.
It pays homage to the legend of the first ‘Silver Arrow’ at the 1934 International Eifel Race at the Nurburgring. The story goes that Mercedes’ brand new W25 car weighed one kilogram more than the permitted 750-kilogram maximum weight limit. Mercedes team manager Alfred Neubauer ordered the team to strip the car of its white paintwork — the national racing colour of Germany — leaving its silver aluminum bodywork bare and saving the crucial kilogram.
Legacy look. �� #Motorsport125 pic.twitter.com/gB4QXp5h7p
– Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 25, 2019
Old meets new! Rate our special #Motorsport125 livery �� pic.twitter.com/CP8NH5a60h
– Mercedes-AMG F1 (@MercedesAMGF1) July 25, 2019
The next morning Manfred von Brauchitsch won the race in the lightened W25 with a dominant performance, later telling the press: « To drive a Silver Arrow is an honour. » A period of success followed for the ‘Silver Arrows’ in pre-war grand prix racing and the stripped silver bodywork soon became silver paint everywhere Mercedes raced as a manufacturer team.
This weekend’s W10 race car features a retro Mercedes logo on the white part of the bodywork and a modern three-pointed star on the silver. The car’s Halo is half white and half silver, incorporating both logos in a split design.
More to follow throughout the weekend.
http://www.espn.com/f1/story/_/id/27255082/mercedes-unveils-retroish-paint-job-hockenheim
