Mercedes-AMG Motorsport in the 2016 season – Tales from the paddock: Formula 1, DTM and AMG Customer Sports
The month of July is packed with motor racing action. Formula 1 heads from Austria this week straight to England. Meanwhile, the 24-Hours of Spa also beckons…
This is what happened: Weekend’s results & facts
News from the Mercedes-AMG motorsport teams
Three questions for Gary Paffett
Social media news: What’s new online?
This week’s important dates and events
What happened: Results & facts
Formula 1: Lewis Hamilton wins the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg
Formel 1: Nico Rosberg heads the drivers’ world championship standings with a lead of eleven points on Lewis – MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS are ahead of Ferrari on 103 points at the top of the constructors’ championship rankings
Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup: Bernd Schneider and Jules Szymkowiak bring their Mercedes-AMG GT3 home in third place in second race at the NÌ_rburgring
News snippets
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Home Sweet Home: July is a busy month for the Silver Arrows team with no less than four Formula 1 race weekends on the schedule. The first two meetings are already taking place back-to-back this week. Three of them can be regarded as ‘home races’ for the team. First, we had the home grand prix of Niki Lauda and Toto Wolff last weekend in Austria, and now, we have the British Grand Prix at Silverstone which is very close to the two factories in Brackley and Brixworth. After stopping over in Hungary, the team then travel immediately to their third home race at the end of July – to the German Grand Prix in Hockenheim, for which the team held a media day last week. After this gruelling marathon, you could say that team members have really earned their short summer break in August!
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Off to the Ardennes: No less than four Mercedes-AMG DTM drivers will be on a special mission in the Ardennes from 26th to 31st July. Daniel Juncadella, Maximilian G̦tz, Gary Paffett and test/reserve driver Felix Rosenqvist will line up in the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps. For 2005 DTM champion Gary Paffett, this will be his maiden race in a GT3 racing car. He will be joined by G̦tz and Thomas JÌ_ger in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by AMG Team HTP Motorsport.
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Linkin Park design: Maro Engel and DTM record champion Bernd Schneider, two winners of the 24-hour race at the NÌ_rburgring, will also be in the Ardennes line-up. The two former DTM drivers will partner Dutchman Yelmer Buurman in a real gem of a sports car, a Mercedes-AMG GT3 designed by Californian rock band, Linkin Park. The Linkin Park racing car will be unveiled by members of the band at the Spa 24-hour race.
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Three questions for Gary Paffett
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Gary, you will debut at the wheel of a GT3 sports car in this year’s 24-hours of Spa. How did that come about?
Gary Paffett: I’d often thought about it in the past but never got the chance. Uli Fritz asked me if I might be interested when he became Head of Mercedes-AMG DTM. In any case, he was involved in setting up the AMG Customer Sports Programme. I then did some testing last year and found that driving the car was a lot of fun. Things just took their course after that. Spa is the first chance I’ve had of contesting a GT3 race.
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What do you expect from the race?
Gary Paffett: I expect a very tough race. There are many strong GT3 cars in the line-up, and it will be really tricky. We’ll be battling hard for 24 hours around the clock, but I’m really looking forward to it.
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Let’s talk about the DTM for a moment. You have had a mixed season up until now. It would appear that the only thing that has been a consistent feature so far is your bad luck. Next up, Zandvoort, where you have placed in the Top Ten in about 70% of your races. Could this race weekend mark the turning point of your season?
Gary Paffett: I really do hope so! I’ve hoped at every race weekend we’ve had so far that the tide would turn and that things would start to go my way. Unfortunately, I’ve been plagued by bad luck in every race, but my performance was good when we had a free run. And so, I feel confident as we head to Zandvoort. I like the track and was quick there last year. Hopefully, I can do enough to achieve an excellent result this year.
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Social Media News
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The Silver Arrows story: The French Grand Prix in Reims on July 4th, 1954 marked the return of the Silver Arrows to Formula 1. And what a comeback that was! Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling lapped the entire field as they drove to a comfortable one-two win!
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Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIsNUgzVmyk
Embed video:
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/dIsNUgzVmyk” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen> </iframe>
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#BestFans: Nine races, plenty of action and exciting competitions. We asked our #BestFans: Have you found the 2016 Formula 1 season enjoyable so far? They give their answers in our video…
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Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=I5l2e7hThhQ
Embed video:
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/I5l2e7hThhQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen> </iframe>
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#ThisIsDTM – Norisring: A DTM weekend offers much more than superb racing action. Fans can also enjoy a first-class programme off the track. The DTM is always worth a visit – as you can see from last time out at the Norisring in Nuremberg.
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Watch video clip: www.youtube.com/watch?v=1EDnyU3b3qQ
Embed video:
<iframe width=”560″ height=”315″ src=”https://www.youtube.com/embed/1EDnyU3b3qQ” frameborder=”0″ allowfullscreen> </iframe>
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Upcoming events & dates
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Date Event
Thursday 07/07/2016 Formula 1: British Grand Prix 2016 – Media Day
Friday 08/07/2016 Formula 1: British Grand Prix 2016 – FP1/FP2
Saturday 09/07/2016 Formula 1: British Grand Prix 2016 – FP3/Qualifying
Sunday 10/07/2016 Formula 1: British Grand Prix 2016 – Race