Tales from the paddock: Fightback at Spa; double-header hosted by Spielberg and Silverstone

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The next stop for #f1 after #austria is #silverstone, birthplace of the #grandprix; meanwhile, the GT cars were #racing around the clock in the Ardennes.

• Challenging weekend at Spielberg
• Home of British Motor #racing: #silverstone, here we come!
• Spa 24 Hours recap: Plan B works!
• News snippets: Results and Facts & Social Media News

Challenging weekend at Spielberg

It's going to be four races in the space of five weeks for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS #f1 Team. The Austrian #grandprix in #spielberg marked the start of a very busy July. What promises to be a hot summer for the team and its drivers got off to a tough start, as the second sprint weekend of the season brought with it a number of challenges, including changeable weather and track limits that caused havoc all round.

On Saturday morning, Lewis struggled in the Sprint Shootout with a cancelled lap time in SQ1 as well as heavy traffic on his final run, which resulted in him having to settle for P18. George got through to SQ2 in the wet conditions but was unable to progress any further due to a hydraulics problem. He went into the #f1 Sprint from P15. Both drivers then pulled out strong performances to finish in the Top 10; George earned a championship point for eighth place, while Lewis took 10th, having made up eight positions.

Lewis and George started the #grandprix on Medium tyres from fifth and eleventh. Having made up one position early on, Lewis pitted on lap 14 during a virtual safety car period and switched to the Hard tyres. George followed the same strategy and, like Lewis, also gained a few positions. They each made their second stop on laps 42 and 43 respectively, with Lewis simultaneously serving a five-second penalty for exceeding the track limits.

Due to the high number of track limit infringements on the Red Bull Ring, the stewards handed down another twelve penalties after the end of the race, including one for Lewis, who incurred a further 10 penalty seconds. As the warnings for the track limit offences were communicated to the team management with some delay, they were unfortunately unable to warn Lewis in time. The additional penalties led to a change of places within the team, with George now in P7 and Lewis in P8.

After the ninth round of the season, the team occupies second place in the Constructors' World Championship with a tally of 178 points, three points ahead of Aston Martin.

Home of British Motor #racing: #silverstone, here we come!

From #spielberg, the team heads straight to the British #grandprix at #silverstone in #northamptonshire, not far from the two factories in Brackley and Brixworth. The British GP is being contested for the 74th time this year; it's also the 58th time that the tradition-steeped circuit at #silverstone has hosted the event, including the so-called 'Anniversary Grand Prix' in 2020, which was held in addition to the British GP during the pandemic. The other venues that have had the honour of hosting the event are Brands Hatch (12 times) and Aintree (5 times).

The most successful driver in the British #grandprix is Lewis Hamilton, currently on eight wins, seven of which he achieved with the team since 2014. In jointsecond place are Jim Clark and Alain Prost on five wins each. Lewis also leads the way in the qualifying charts, with seven pole positions at this #grandprix, followed by Jim Clark (5) and Sir Stirling Moss (4).

In terms of team success, Ferrari top the table with 18 wins, ahead of McLaren (14) and Williams (10). Mercedes have won a total of nine times - once courtesy of Silver Arrows legend Sir Stirling Moss (1955), once with Nico Rosberg (2013) at the wheel and seven times with Lewis (2013-2017, 2019-2021). Ferrari have booked the most pole positions (16), and they are the most successful engine manufacturer (16 wins). Mercedes-powered cars have won 15 times in the British GP so far, the first occasion being in 1954 with the legendary Juan Manuel Fangio at the wheel of a W 196. 
The absolute lap record is 1:24.303, set by Lewis in Q3 in the 2020 season, while the fastest race lap was clocked in the same season by Max Verstappen in a time of 1:27.097.

Spa 24 Hours recap: Plan B works!

Charges through the field spice up any race, and there were plenty of those for Mercedes-AMG in the 2023 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa. The chaotic rain-affected qualifying session set the scene for that, as only two Mercedes-AMG GT3s made it through to the Superpole shootout. The best of the Affalterbach-built cars on the day was the number 999 of Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM which qualified in 16th place. After four pole positions in a row for the brand, this was a new situation and hence a new challenge for the Mercedes-AMG strategy experts. Plan B was put into effect as they switched from the role of hunted to hunter.

With inspired tactical decisions and penalty-free stints, Timur Boguslavskiy (FIA), Jules Gounon (AND) and Raffaele Marciello (SUI) were especially notable for their progress through the field. By the middle of the race, the AKKODIS ASP trio had moved up from P23 on the grid to put themselves in contention for the podium. In the final phase, the team again pulled another tactical masterstroke, bringing in the #88 for a pit stop one lap ahead of the opposition, which gained them yet another place. Jules Gounon then resolutely defended the runner-up spot and was only eleven seconds behind the winner at the finish. Yet P23 to P2 was not even the most impressive recovery of the race. That was delivered by Customer #racing team SunEnergy1. Following an accident in Pre-Qualifying, the team had to dispense with the services of the injured Kenny Habul (AUS) and also had to bring in a replacement car. 
Undeterred by having to start from the pit lane behind the field of 68 other GT3s, Nick Catsburg (NED), Martin Konrad (AUT), Chaz Mostert (AUS) and Habul's substitute Adam Osieka (GER) in the #75 Mercedes-AMG #gt3 had already clawed their way back into contention for the PRO-AM Cup podium by the mid-race stage. Twelve hours later, they were celebrating a class win and 22nd place overall. Their charge through the field is even more remarkable in view of the fact that the #75 achieved a similar feat a year ago: in 2022, having been obliged to start from the back of the field due to a late engine change, the team subsequently moved up to P2 in class. 

There was no need for similar heroics in the various other championships contested last weekend. In the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC), AMG driver Jules Gounon tops the table on 58 points, ahead of fellow Mercedes driver Luca Stolz on 45. In the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS, AKKODIS ASP lead the team standings, as do AMG drivers Raffaele Marciello and Timur Boguslavskiy in the drivers' championship where they are tied on points.

News snippets: Results and Facts & Social Media News

GT4 Scandinavia: Håkan Ricknäs and Calle Ward of Customer #racing outfit RMS enjoyed considerable success on the third race weekend of GT4 Scandinavia. In the two races, which were held in the context of the GT4 European Series at the Circuit de #spafrancorchamps, the Swedish duo sharing the cockpit of the number 221 Mercedes-AMG GT4 were delighted with a victory and a second place.

GTC Race: Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing came away from the third weekend of the 2023 GTC Race Series hosted by the Nürburgring with a haul of one overall victory and three class wins. Colin Caresani (NED) and Marcel Marchewicz (GER) in the number 101 Schnitzelalm #racing Mercedes-AMG #gt3 won the 60-minute opening race on Saturday. Their team-mates Joel Mesch and Tim Neuser (both GER) drove to victory in the GT4 class in the same race. The team added two more class wins on Sunday: after Marchewicz won the #gt3 PRO category (second overall) in the first of the two sprint races, Neuser secured another GT4 class win in the second.

GT Cup Championship: At Oulton Park Circuit, the fourth round of the 2023 British GT Cup Championship resulted in a class one-two for the Make Happen Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing team. In the second sprint race of the weekend, Chris Hart and Stephen Walton (both GBR) in the number 69 Mercedes-AMG GT4 won the GTH category ahead of the team's #96 sister car with Jon Currie (GBR) at the wheel.

#10Years: To mark his 10th anniversary with the team, we asked Toto Wolff to look back at some of his most memorable moments on and off the track. From race wins and classic cars to teaching at Harvard and celebrating with the #people who matter most to him, it's been a truly memorable decade for Toto.
Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=iqgV-bOTQws