Mercedes’ 8 greatest moments in Formula 1

Hamilton breaks records at Silverstone

The British weather played its part in the result of the 2024 Grand Prix at Silverstone. When the cars headed out for the sighting laps, intermediate tyres were the obvious choice for the whole field, but the surface was perfectly dry by the time they formed on the grid. Such unpredictability continued throughout the race, and the outcome led to delight for the partisan crowd.

It was an all-British driver line-up for the first three places and a terrific battle unfolded between George Russell, Lando Norris and Lewis Hamilton, with Max Verstappen also challenging the trio. After many swaps of the lead and several gambles on tyre choices, it was Mercedes driver Hamilton who came out on top to take what was his first victory in since 2021. What’s more, for his 104^th victory overall, he became the first driver to win a race after 300 starts (this was his 344^th) and the first to win nine times at a single venue. Simply historic.

Statistics declare Hamilton F1’s most successful driver

While most of us will primarily remember 2020 for the pandemic and lockdowns, it was also the year that Lewis Hamilton became statistically the greatest F1 driver of all time. He equalled Michael Schumacher’s seven World Championships in a down-to-the-wire season finale in Turkey, having a month earlier surpassed the German’s total number of race wins. He also scored more poles and points than any other Grand Prix racer.

At a rain-lashed Turkish Grand Prix, Hamilton started from sixth on the grid. Any number of drivers could have won that race, but only Valtteri Bottas could have denied Hamilton that year’s Championship and as it was, the Finn had an arduous race to finish 14^th after being lapped by the freshly crowned World Champion.

Speaking immediately after his victory, an emotional Hamilton said: “That's for all the kids out there who dream the impossible. Seven is just unimaginable but when you work with such a great group of people and you really trust each other, there is just no end to what you can do together.”

Rosberg realises Championship dream

Nico Rosberg always looked tipped for success. On his F1 debut for Williams in 2006, he out-qualified team-mate Mark Webber, but it would take a move from Williams to Mercedes before his victories became consistent to the point of winning the crown. Rosberg joined Mercedes in 2010, the year of its comeback to the sport when it was borne from Brawn GP.

It would take another six years before he claimed the title, and not without sparring season long with team-mate and rival Hamilton. Rosberg secured nine wins against Hamilton’s ten and eight podium finishes versus Hamilton’s 12, but it was Rosberg who posted the greatest number of fastest laps. Some say it would have been another Hamilton Championship had the Brit not suffered more reliability problems than his team-mate, but the fact remains that, at the end of the closing round in Abu Dhabi, it was Rosberg who finished the season five points clear.

Just five days after taking the Championship, the 31-year-old announced his retirement from the sport. Job done.

Mercedes secures the hybrid advantage

The 2014 F1 season ushered in hybridisation, the regulatory shake-up bringing an end to Red Bull’s four-year streak of dominance. In came Mercedes as the team to beat. The W05 made the best of the new 1.6-litre V6 plus electrification set-up and would set the tone for the seasons to come.

Mercedes executive director Paddy Lowe has recently disclosed that Hamilton and Rosberg were not given full power for most of the season for fear that regulations would be introduced to curtail the team’s advantage. For qualifying, they would typically have full power for two sectors of the circuit, and less thereafter, but despite that they’d often be a second ahead of the field.

And it stayed that way all season. Between them, Hamilton and Rosberg won all but three races in 2014 and took pole position for all bar one race. For 11 of their wins, it was their team-mate who came second and they led for 1,134 laps over the season — close to 90 per cent of all laps. With the battle only between themselves, it was Hamilton who secured the first World Championship for Mercedes since Juan Manuel Fangio’s title in the 1950s.

Michael Schumacher’s historic final podium

After announcing retirement in 2006, Michael Schumacher made a surprise return to F1 in 2010, but it wasn’t until the 2012 European Grand Prix when he stood on the podium for the first time since the Chinese Grand Prix six years prior.

The Mercedes driver arrived at the much-maligned street circuit in Valencia having just two points to show for the previous seven rounds. The chaotic conditions and a smart tyre choice in the hot conditions helped Schumacher’s raw talent come back to the fore, and he gradually picked his way from a lacklustre 12^th on the grid to finish third, pursued hard by Mark Webber. The chequered flag was taken by Ferrari’s Fernando Alonso, who won from 11^th on the grid after what was arguably the greatest drive of his career.

At 43 years old, Schumacher was the oldest Grand Prix driver to stand on the podium since Jack Brabham in the 1970s, and it was the 155^th podium finish of his career. It marked a high point for the twilight period of the seven-time World Champion, and a result that appeared to mean a great deal to him.

Rosberg claims Mercedes’ first win since 1955

The 2012 Chinese Grand Prix was a milestone event not just for Mercedes but also Nico Rosberg. For the team, it was the first race win in 57 years. For the future World Champion, it was his first F1 pole and first race win. The victories marked the start of an upward trend for Mercedes that would continue to ascend into the hybrid era two years later when it really asserted domination. 

New for the Chinese round was Mercedes’ double DRS system, which was declared legal the day before the race having been under discussion for the first two rounds of the season. But the win wasn’t all down to the machine. Front tyre degradation was a problem for all teams, and Rosberg was consistent in managing that to build a 20-second lead by the time the flag fell. He became history’s first F1 German driver to win a race in a German car in the process.

Moss’ first win comes on home soil

Stirling Moss took his first F1 win in Britain, at Aintree in 1955. His closest rival was his team-mate, Juan Manuel Fangio, who led the first two laps before conceding the lead to the British driver on the third lap. They traded places again on lap 18 before Moss regained the lead on lap 26, where he stayed for the remaining 90 tours of the circuit.

It looked as though Fangio would take the lead again on the final lap, but the 25-year-old Moss was able to defend. However, he later stated that the Argentine driver had let him win in order to achieve a long-held ambition to win the British Grand Prix. 

Either way, a Mercedes win looked inevitable — the Silver Arrows claimed the top four finishing positions that day, with Karl Kling and Piero Taruffi finishing third and fourth respectively.

Fangio claims Mercedes’ first F1 win

In the midst of the 1954 season, Juan Manuel Fangio made the jump from the Maserati team to Mercedes to join an otherwise all-German line-up. It was an astute move. The new W196 proved to have terrific pace and at the French Grand Prix in Reims the Ferraris just couldn’t keep up with the German cars.

Mercedes’ Hans Herrmann set the fastest time of the race but ended up retiring. That left Fangio to duel with team-mate Karl Kling, and it was a battle that went right down to the wire. In the end, team orders meant that it was Fangio who took the win — but only by half a car length. The rate of attrition has been high, from 21 starters, only six cars finished the race.

Fangio didn’t look back from the victory in France going on to win that year’s World Championship.

The 2025 Festival of Speed takes place on 10th-13th July. Friday and Saturday tickets are now sold out, but Thursday and limited Sunday tickets are still available.

Images courtesy of Getty Images.