Spa-Francorchamps, Zandvoort and Monza: Formula One resumes after the summer break with a triple-header of famous tracks. The DTM drivers and teams were meanwhile in action at the Nürburgring.
- This is what happened: Results and facts
- News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams
- Social media news: What’s new online?
This is what happened: Results and facts
- F1: George Russell finishes fourth in the Belgian GP at Spa-Francorchamps
- DTM: Luca Stolz wins Sunday’s race at the Nürburgring, with Lucas Auer in P3
- IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Philip Ellis and Russell Ward make it onto the podium at the Virginia International Raceway
- Super GT: Victory for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Suzuka
- GTC Race: Kenneth Heyer and Carrie Schreiner win the first race at Assen; Schreiner on the podium in Race 2
News snippets
Second half of F1 season gets underway: The Formula One drivers and teams returned from their summer break last weekend for the 14th round of the 2022 season, namely the Belgian Grand Prix hosted by Spa-Francorchamps. It was also a special occasion for the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team who were celebrating the 55th anniversary of the Mercedes-AMG marque with a programme of special activities. In honour of the occasion, the Silver Arrows of Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were sporting a commemorative Mercedes-AMG signet and vintage starting numbers. In the run-up to the race weekend, the two drivers and Toto Wolff also put in some demo laps with the Mercedes-AMG ONE and the 300 SEL 6.8 AMG, plus the brand new GT3 EDITION 55, a collector’s item released to coincide with the 55th anniversary. In the race, George finished in the Top Five for the 13th time in the 14 races of the current season, the only exception coming at Silverstone where he had to drop out after an incident at the start. Lewis retired after contact with Fernando Alonso’s car on the first lap of the race, his first DNF of the season.
Zandvoort, here we come: From Spa-Francorchamps, the F1 circus moves on to the second instalment of the triple-header at Zandvoort. The Dutch Grand Prix returned to the F1 itinerary last year after a 36-year absence, so this year’s contest will be the second at the upgraded Circuit Zandvoort. The 2021 GP was a happy occasion for Dutch fans as they watched Max Verstappen win his home race ahead of Lewis and Valtteri Bottas. This year’s Dutch Grand Prix will be the 32nd to enter the history books. The most successful driver in the Dutch GP is Jim Clark (four wins), ahead of Jackie Stewart and Niki Lauda (three each). The most successful team is Ferrari on eight victories ahead of Lotus (6) and McLaren (3). The only win for a Mercedes works team so far was achieved by Juan Manuel Fangio in 1955. The lap record from last year stands at 1:08.885 minutes and is held by Max Verstappen. The fastest race lap was set by Lewis in a time of 1:11.097 minutes.
Luca Stolz celebrates maiden DTM victory: The fifth race weekend of the 2022 DTM was designated the ‘DTM Nürburgring powered by Mercedes-AMG’ and was contested on the Nürburgring sprint circuit. Luca Stolz (GER) of Mercedes-AMG Team HRT claimed a maiden victory in the series. The 27-year-old had qualified for seventh on the grid on Sunday and took advantage of an early safety car to come in for his mandatory stop. The pit crew then completed the fastest tyre change of the race, which moved the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 up to first place. Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD opted for the same strategy, which advanced Lucas Auer (AUT) to third. Both drivers subsequently put in a flawless performance and did not relinquish their positions. This result in the 90th DTM race at the Nürburgring takes Lucas Auer up to third place in the drivers’ standings. Luca Stolz also moves up to fifth ahead of the next round to be staged at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps.
Saturday’s race started about four hours late due to thick fog. With qualifying having been cancelled earlier, the starting grid positions were allocated on the basis of the championship standings. Consequently, defending champion Maximilian Götz (GER) of Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD Racing was obliged to start the race from a lowly P16, but he then fought his way through the field on the still wet track to finish fourth. Lucas Auer came in behind him in fifth.
In the DTM Trophy support series, the number 18 Mercedes-AMG GT4 was the most successful of the Affalterbach-built contingent: Edouard Cauhaupé (FRA) of BWT Mücke Motorsport finished the two 30-minute races in fifth and sixth place.
Yet another GTD class win for WINWARD Racing, this time at the Virginia International Raceway: For the second race weekend in a row, Philip Ellis (SUI), Russell Ward (USA) and WINWARD Racing have won the GTD classification in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Sharing the cockpit of the #57 Mercedes-AMG GT3, they finished the penultimate round of the season at Virginia International Raceway in third place overall and P1 in class. At the end of two hours and 40 minutes of racing, the Korthoff Motorsports pairing of Stevan McAleer (GBR) and Mike Skeen (USA) were unable to finish any higher than eighth in the GTD category, which meant that they lost their lead in the overall GTD standings. However, the team go into the finale at Road Atlanta on 1st October still very much in contention for the title.
The 5.26km circuit was also hosting the penultimate event of the 2022 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge. The two-hour race brought success for two Mercedes-AMG GT4 duos in the GS Bronze class. Brent Mosing and Tim Probert in the #65 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 took first place and were followed home by Gary Ferrera and Kris Wilson (all USA) of Capstone Motorsports to make it a one-two for the brand.
GOODSMILE RACING secure first Super GT win of the season: In the fifth round of the Japanese Super GT at the world-famous Suzuka International Racing Course, Tatsuya Kataoka and Nobuteru Taniguchi (both JPN) were at last able to deliver a long-awaited victory for the GOODSMILE RACING & TeamUKYO outfit. Driving the #4 Mercedes-AMG GT3, they started the 77-lap race from fifth position. An early pit stop eventually put Kataoka and Taniguchi in the lead and laid the foundation for their team’s first win of the season.
Debut win for Schnitzelalm Racing in GTC Race series: Making their debut in the GTC Race at the TT Circuit Assen, Schnitzelalm Racing won the GT60 at the first attempt. In the one-hour race on Saturday, Kenneth Heyer and Carrie Schreiner (both GER) took the number 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 from third on the grid to victory. Competing individually in the two 30-minute races on Sunday, Schreiner and Heyer delivered a P3 and a P4 for the team. The penultimate race weekend of the series was also rewarding for CV Performance Group, with Philippe Denes (USA) and Julian Hanses (GER) in the number 85 car first securing a Class 4 win in the GT60, and Denes repeating the feat on Sunday in the solo event.
Social Media News
#PowerUnit: In a new series, we explain the technology that goes into the F1 Power Unit. Episode 1 of ‘Power Unit 101 with PETRONAS’ takes a close look at the internal combustion engine (ICE).
Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=l2b4edxCClc
