Mercedes: Homage to the past
ANNIVERSARY IN HOCKENHEIM The Mercedes F1 team will compete in this weekend's home GP with a special livery in honor of 125 years of motorsport. A tribute to the design of the classic Mercedes racing cars. On July 22, 1894, the first car race in history took place between Paris and Rouen. The 2019 German Grand Prix, for which Mercedes-Benz is the title sponsor, [...]
On July 22, 1894, the first car race in history took place between Paris and Rouen. The 2019 German Grand Prix, in which Mercedes-Benz is the title sponsor, will also be the 200th race start for the team in Formula 1.
Homage to the classic color scheme...
The special paint scheme for Hockenheim pays homage to the design of the classic Mercedes race cars. The front wing and the nose of the vehicle are in white - similar to the design of the MB racing cars at the beginning of the 20th century. At that time, the vehicle color stood for the team's country of origin. French cars were usually painted blue, Italian racing cars red and British bolides green. The international racing color for German racing cars was white.
... and the Silver Arrows
The area around the bargeboards at the front end of the chassis gives the impression that the white paint has been "scraped off" so that the silver finish is visible underneath. This effect pays tribute to the origin legend of the Silver Arrows. According to legend, when the Mercedes-Benz W25 competed in the 750-kg formula in 1934, it was slightly overweight. For this reason, the team removed the white paint to save weight, revealing the metallic bodywork.
The team's box has also been redesigned for the home race at Hockenheim and features historic race posters from the various eras in which the Silver Arrows have competed.
