The 125 Years History of Mercedes- Benz in in Racing
Mercedes-Benz is one of the motor companies with a rich history in Formula one racing. We can trace the history of Mercedes' success in motorsports from 1894 in the first-ever car competition. The first place in this race was a tie between two cars that had engines built by Daimler engines. In the early days of the motor industry, motorsport was the best way for manufacturers to promote their vehicles. Mercedes fame in the car races was further elevated by Jellinek who bought cars from DMG and competed them in road races. One of the Jellinek's most Successful year was in 1901 when he competed with his newly acquired 35hp (26kw) racing car made by DMG under his specification. The car could reach a top speed of 90km/h, and it won in every race it contested in the Nice Race week of 1901. The 1901 vehicle gained its popularity as the first-ever modern vehicle and the first Mercedes. DMG took advantage of the success and started marketing their cars with the Mercedes designation.
The Silver Arrow
Silver Arrow is the name given to the racing cars from the Stuggart brand that dominated most of the European races in 1934. One of the legendary cars in this category is the Mercedes-Benz w 25 Grand Prix racing car followed by the w 125 of 1937 and the W 154 (1938 and 1939). These cars got the name silver arrow because they did not have an international auto racing colours as it was the norm at the beginning of the 29th century. The car's colours were the flags of the car's country of origin or the driver. At the time, the Mercedes- Benz grand Prix race cars were painted white to represent Germany as the country of origin.The use of the paints changed in the 1930s with the Mercedes- Benz w 25 that was specially designed for the 1934- Grand Prix as a way of trying to comply with the new set weight regulations. The regulations set the maximum weight of a car as 750 Kilograms s with the exclusion of fuel oil and tyres. The Grand Prix team had to scrap off the paint to shed off some weight because the car had exceeded the set weight limit when it was weighed one way before the race. The lack of typical white paint exposed the silver body of the car, which gave it its name. Some of the most famous drivers who competed in the Grand Prix in this car include Rudolf Caracciola and Luigi Fagioli.
The Exit and Return to Motor Sport
After the successful races in the 1930s, the team didn't come back into the track immediately after the war but would re-join four years later as Daimler-Benz AG. The new technology used to upgrade Mercedes-Benz W196 enabled driver Juan Manuel Fangio to win the 1954 world championship and the following year. Mercedes team withdrew for motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans 24 Hour race where one of their sports cars was involved in an accident that killed 8- spectators. For that long, the team has been out of the formula one and championship. They made their first comeback in 1994 as an engine supplier to Sauber and McLaren. A full Mercedes- operated team came back into the Grand Prix for the first time in 2009 and won their first race in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix.