The Silver Arrow Mercedes-Benz W 5

Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram W 25 formula racing car. Manfred von Brauchitsch won the first race of the new racing car in the Eifel race at the Nürburgring on 3 June 1934. Photo from training. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: R8269)

Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram W 25 formula racing car. Manfred von Brauchitsch (far left, start number 20) won victory at the first outing of the new racing car in the Eifel race at the Nürburgring on 3 June 1934. Photo at the finishing line. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: R8265)

Mercedes-Benz Museum, Legend Room 7: Silver Arrows – Races and Records. Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram W 25 formula racing car. Close-up of the dashboard in pearl finish with rev counter (centre) and oil and coolant gauges. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: D830837)

Mercedes-Benz 750-kilogram W 25 formula racing car. Manfred von Brauchitsch (start number 20) won victory at the first outing of the new racing car in the Eifel race at the Nürburgring on 3 June 1934. Photo at the finishing line. (Photo index number in the Mercedes-Benz Classic Archives: 20222)
 

Nobility: 90 years ago, this silver single-seater coined the name that still applies to Mercedes-Benz racing cars today – “Silver Arrows”. The Mercedes-Benz W 25 made its debut in the Eifel Race at the Nürburgring on 3 June 1934. Manfred von Brauchitsch won the race, setting a new track record with an average speed of 122.5 km/h. This was the beginning of a success story that extends to the latest racing cars of the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One team.

Racing curve: The Mercedes-Benz Museum celebrates the brand’s unique tradition of sporting success in Legend Room 7 with its spectacular racing curve. The W 25 can be seen here as a star amongst many other bright silver racing cars from the brand. The room is called “Silver Arrows – Races and Records”. An apt tribute to the Grand Prix racing car. This is because record-breaking vehicles with eight- and twelve-cylinder engines were also derived from the first Silver Arrow.

Reduced: How did the drivers feel in the 750-kilogram formula racing car W 25? The view from the cockpit over the large, slim steering wheel and through the small windscreen into the racing curve with the other Silver Arrows gives an impression. The dashboard with a rev counter plus oil and coolant gauges is reduced to the essentials.

Streamlined: The W 25 is an aerodynamically optimised monoposto with exposed wheels. It stands for a new era of racing car construction at Mercedes-Benz.

Speed: The W 25 was a fast performer, reaching top speeds of up to 300 km/h. But speed also counted in the pits. This is why the bonnet, which has many ventilation slots, has quick-release fasteners. It can therefore be opened in just a few seconds without tools.

Lightweight: Frame, gear lever, pedals and even the suspension straps of the exhaust – holes bored to save weight can be found in many areas of the W 25 at the Mercedes-Benz Museum. This shows the importance of lightweight construction during its development. The weight even determined whether the car could take part in a race: the Grand Prix racing formula announced in 1932 by the umbrella organisation Association Internationale des Automobile Clubs Reconnus (AIACR) stipulated that racing cars could weigh a maximum of 750 kilograms without operating fluids.

Anecdote: The 750-kilogram racing formula and the silver body of the Mercedes-Benz W 25 make for a fascinating story. It was told by the brand’s famous racing manager, Alfred Neubauer: apparently the W 25 painted in the traditional white racing livery weighed one kilogram too much before the Eifel race. The paint was ground off overnight. At the starting line, the “Silver Arrow” astonished the spectators with its bare aluminium skin and met the weight requirement exactly.

Development project: The W 25 was developed from 1933 as a classic front mid-engined racing car. It was further improved during its use in motorsport until 1936. It made its debut with a supercharged 3.4-litre in-line eight-cylinder engine (M 25 A), which delivered up to 260 kW (354 hp) at 5,800 rpm. The 4-litre M 25 B engine with up to 316 kW (430 hp) followed in the same year, 1934. The enormous power is evident in the exhibit at the Mercedes-Benz Museum: the exhaust pipe still has a bluish tinge from the heat of the exhaust gases. The exhaust pipe runs along the left-hand side of the vehicle from the engine compartment to the heavily tapered, streamlined rear end.

Tradition: The W 25 was followed by the Silver Arrows of the 1930s and 1950s. Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One as an engine supplier in 1994, and the brand has its own works team again since 2010. Since 1934, the Silver Arrows have won three European Championships (Rudolf Caracciola in 1935, 1937 and 1938) and twelve drivers’ titles in the Formula One World Championship: Juan Manuel Fangio became world champion in 1954 and 1955, Mika Häkkinen in 1998 and 1999, Nico Rosberg in 2016, and Lewis Hamilton won the championship in 2008, 2014 and 2015 as well as in 2017 to 2020.

2024 MONACO GRAN PRIX RESULTS -- MERCEDES-BENZ

Lap one red flag negates strategy options on the streets of the Principality. 

• George Russell finished P5 with Lewis Hamilton P7 in Sunday’s Monaco Grand Prix.
• Lining up P5 and P7 respectively, the team opted for an alternative strategy with both drivers starting on the Hard compound tyre.
• The four drivers ahead of George all started on the Medium tyre with Verstappen, in between our duo, also on the Hard compound.
• That offered the opportunity to run long into the race and explore any opportunities that may present themselves further into the Grand Prix.
• That strategy was negated though as a first-lap incident brought out the red flag; that afforded those ahead the opportunity to switch their Medium tyres for the Hard compound and run to the end.
• The team opted to switch both George and Lewis to the Medium tyres under that red flag too, with George managing well to take them 77 laps to the end of the race.
• Lewis, with the opportunity of a free pit stop, switched to a second set of Hard tyres on Lap 51 and utilised them to claim the fastest lap point.
• George came under pressure in the closing stages from Max Verstappen, also on new Hard tyres, but resisted well to take P5 with Lewis P7.
  

Driver	Grid	Result	Fastest Lap	Start Tyre	Stop One	Stop Two
George Russell	P5	P5	1:15.228	Hard	Medium (L1)	-
Lewis Hamilton	P7	P7	1:14.165	Hard	Medium (L1)	Hard (L51)

George Russell

That was the best race of our season so far. We had good pace and were able to show that near the end, despite being on 70-lap old Medium tyres. We were closing on the top four at the end and only finished a handful of seconds off P1. There are plenty of positives to take from the weekend as a whole.

We spent a lot of time this morning going through all the strategy options. When we lined up on the grid, and everyone ahead was on the Medium compound, I was very happy. That looked even better when Carlos (Sainz) stopped on the opening lap. The red flag came out though and made our lives more difficult! I spent the first 30 laps taking it easy and in the end, I was able to keep the tyres in a good place and get to the end. Max (Verstappen) put me under a bit of pressure at the end but it was all pretty controlled.

Lewis Hamilton

There have been plenty of encouraging signs from our performance this weekend. The team has worked so hard to bring updates to the car and we’ve got more to come across the next few races. We have taken a step forward with the car and, if we can continue to make a few more, then we can hopefully get ourselves into the fight with the three teams ahead of us.

The race today was non-eventful. Everyone was managing their pace after the red flag and ultimately, whatever tyre you were on, you could make it to the end. That took away our options of making forward progress which was frustrating. I’m looking forward to going to Canada and seeing what we can do there.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

Overall, we’ve had a positive weekend. We were much closer than we have been in Qualifying so far this year and showed good pace throughout the race. That was despite the first lap red flag which took away many of our strategy options. We opted to switch to the Medium compound tyres under that red flag and both George and Lewis did a good job to manage them throughout. Lewis didn’t need to make a stop, but we were able to box him and secure the point for fastest lap.

The trajectory is going in the right direction. We’ve understood where we need to improve the balance car and we’re bringing updates to enhance that. We know there will be ups and downs depending on the circuits we go to but overall, I am happy with the development direction. Let’s see how we perform in Canada.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

We opted for an alternative strategy by starting both cars on the Hard tyre. There were pros and cons to this; a red flag or Safety Car intervention after the front four had stopped would have provided an opportunity to get both cars on the podium. However, a lap one red flag would prove awkward. This is exactly what befell us as the race got underway. 

We were therefore in a situation where we had to try and get to the end on the Medium tyre. Most cars were doing a fair bit of management, so this was relatively easy to handle in the end. George seemed to have good pace in the closing stages and was able to defend well against Max and it was encouraging to see the improvements we made in our long run since Friday. The stop with Lewis towards the end wasn't necessary from a tyre point of view, but it did give us an opportunity to take an extra point for fastest lap. 

Overall, the weekend was another indication that we are moving in the right direction. We were just 25 milliseconds off P3 in Qualifying, which is an annoying margin to miss out on a likely podium by. That said, a few weeks ago we couldn't even talk about podiums. We'll have both cars on the latest updates in Montreal with a few additional bits on top.  We'll keep working hard and hopefully better results are not far away

A Mercedes-Benz Preview of the 2024 Monaco Grand Prix Race

 😊The small step forward we took in Imola was encouraging. The team has worked incredibly hard to bring our recent updates to the track, and it was a clear performance gain. That being said, others have improved too. We are still a step behind the front three teams therefore, and there is plenty of work still to do. Nevertheless, we have a clear direction and developments in the pipeline. We have a more solid platform to build on now and we are confident that, in time, we can get ourselves into the pack ahead. 

That work continues this weekend in Monaco. It is a unique circuit and a fantastic challenge for the team and drivers. It is always hard to predict expected performance, but we will look to execute a clean weekend and maximize the car we have. It is always a special weekend, and we look forward to putting on a good show for the fans, and our partners and guests across our extensive hospitality program in Monte Carlo. 

Fact File: Monaco Grand Prix

• The race sees the highest lap count of any event with 78 tours of the circuit forming the Monaco Grand Prix. It is the only race that does not adhere to the FIA's mandated 305 km minimum distance, measuring 260.286 km.
• With three victories around the streets of the principality, Lewis is the most successful driver on the current grid at the Monaco Grand Prix with three wins (2008, 2016, and 2019). Fernando Alonso and Max Verstappen have two wins, Daniel Ricciardo and Sergio Perez one.
• From the seven races in F1's inaugural 1950 season, only four of them remain on the calendar in 2024: the British, Monaco, Belgian and Italian Grands Prix. All four races take place on the same circuits they did in 1950: Silverstone, Circuit de Monaco, Spa-Francorchamps, and Monza.
• The first-ever Monaco Grand Prix was organized in 1929 by Antony Noghès. The final corner of the circuit is named in his honor.
• A tighter and narrower pitlane than most F1 tracks means Monaco is one of three circuits to run a pitlane speed of 60 km/h, rather than the usual 80. The other two are Zandvoort and Singapore.
• Monaco, along with Jeddah, has the most number of right hand turns on the F1 calendar with 11.
• This will be the 81^st running of the Monaco Grand Prix.
• The 1996 event holds the record for the F1 race with the fewest finishers. Only podium scorers Olivier Panis, David Coulthard, and Johnny Herbert finished the race.
• Brazilian legend Ayrton Senna took five successive victories at the track between 1989 and 1993.
• Mercedes-Benz Power has won 12 of the last 25 Monaco Grand Prix, with McLaren, Brawn and Mercedes. 

Stat Sheet: Monaco Grand Prix

2024 Monaco Grand Prix
Session	Local Time (CEST)	Brackley (BST)	Stuttgart (CEST)
Practice One – Friday	13:30 – 14:30	12:30 – 13:30	13:30 – 14:30
Practice Two – Friday	17:00 – 18:00	16:00 – 17:00	17:00 – 18:00
Practice Three – Saturday	12:30 – 13:30	11:30 – 12:30	12:30 – 13:30
Qualifying – Saturday	16:00 – 17:00	15:00 – 16:00	16:00 – 17:00
Grand Prix - Sunday	15:00	14:00	15:00

 

Race Records - Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team at the Monaco Grand Prix
	Starts	Wins	Podiums	Pole Positions	Front row places	Fastest laps	DNF
Mercedes	14	5	10	5	12	3	5
Lewis Hamilton	16	3	7	2	5	3	0
George Russell	4	0	0	0	0	0	2
MB Power	32	12	27	11	23	10	20

 

Technical Stats - Season to Date (Pre-season Testing to Present)
	Laps Completed	Distance Covered (km)	Corners Taken	Gear Changes	PETRONAS Fuel Injections
Mercedes	2,204	12,089.754	39,947	114,096	88,440,000
Lewis Hamilton	1072	5,907.553	19,573	55,676	43,160,000
George Russell	1132	6,182.201	20,374	58,420	45,280,000
MB Power	8,258	45,173.713	148,640	428,599	330,600,000

 

Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
	Starts	Wins	Podium Places	Pole Positions	Front Row Places	Fastest Laps	1-2 Finishes	Front-Row Lockouts
Mercedes (all-time)	300	125	289	137	259	106	59	79
Mercedes (since 2010)	288	116	272	129	239	97	54	77
Lewis Hamilton	339	103	197	104	175	65	N/A	N/A
George Russell	111	1	11	1	9	7	N/A	N/A
MB Power	570	214	590	222	453

Mercedes 75 hp Spider, 1907

Mercedes 75 hp Spider, built in 1907. Studio shot from the front right.

 Mercedes 75 hp Spider, 1907

The Mercedes 75 hp Spider is an outstanding example of automotive history and brand history at the same time. The highly exclusive vehicle documents the innovative strength and high level of quality for which Mercedes-Benz has always stood. The Mercedes 75 hp, presented at the end of 1906, was the first production car from Daimler-Motoren-Gesellschaft (DMG) with a six-cylinder engine. Its in-line engine, consisting of three cast pairs of cylinders, has a displacement of 10.2 litres. The Mercedes top model from 1907 to 1911 was offered in various body variants. The two-seater Spider body underlined the sporty appearance of the high-performance car. In 1909, the designation of the top model was changed to Mercedes 39/80 hp. This corresponded to the actual output of 59 kW (80 hp) and followed an agreement between the German car manufacturers: after the introduction of the luxury tax for automobiles on 1 July 1906, prospective buyers were to be able to recognise the displacement-related tax class by the type designation. For four-stroke engines, one “tax hp” corresponded to a displacement of 261.8 cubic centimetres, so that the 10.2-litre engine had 39 tax hp.

Technical data Mercedes 75 hp Spider, 1907

Engine: 6/in-line

Displacement: 10,180 cc

Output: 59 kW (80 hp) at 1,300 rpm

Maximum speed: 95 km/h

Daimler Reitwagen ("Riding Car"), 1885

 Reitwagen (“Riding Car”) by Gottlieb Daimler, 1885. Authentic replica. Studio shot from the right from an elevated position.

Daimler Reitwagen (“Riding Car”), 1885

In 1885, Gottlieb Daimler and Wilhelm Maybach advanced the development of the four-stroke engine for vehicle propulsion. Compared to Nicolaus August Otto’s engine, the engine speed was significantly increased, and the automotive pioneers had at the same time greatly reduced the size and weight of the engine. The compact engine with an upright cylinder was called “grandfather clock” because of its characteristic appearance. Now it was time to test it in a vehicle. The choice fell on a two-wheeler with a wooden frame and wooden wheels. This is how the Daimler Reitwagen (“Riding Car”), in fact the first ever motorcycle in the world, was created. The single-cylinder engine developed 0.37 kW (0.5 hp) at 600 rpm from a displacement of 264 cubic centimetres. Power was transmitted by a leather belt that could be placed on two differently sized pulleys when stationary – a simple form of two-speed transmission. On August 29, 1885, Gottlieb Daimler had this “Riding Car” with a “gas or petroleum engine” patented (DRP 36423). In November, his younger son made his first trip from Cannstatt to Untertürkheim, reaching speeds of up to 12 km/h.

Technical data Daimler Reitwagen (“Riding Car”), 1885

Engine: 1/standing

Displacement: 264 cc

Output: 0.37 kW (0.5 hp) at 600 rpm

Maximum speed: 12 km/h

Imola Grand Prix Results, 2024

 

Formula One - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Emilia Romagna GP 2024. George Russell

Formula One - Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, Emilia Romagna GP 2024. George Russell

• Lewis Hamilton finished P6 with George Russell P7 in Sunday’s Emilia Romagna Grand Prix.
• Both drivers started on the Medium compound tyre, George lining up P6 with Lewis P8.
• Lewis made immediate progress passing Tsunoda for P7, with our duo running line astern and with similar pace to the cars ahead for the opening 20 laps.
• George began to see his Medium tyres dropping off and was the first of the top-10 to stop, switching to the Hard tyre on lap 21.
• Lewis meanwhile extended his opening stint and, after stopping for the Hard tyre on lap 27, was able to run a one-stop race to the end.
• Having pitted earlier than others, the team had some concerns over George’s Hard tyres making it to the end. He therefore made a precautionary stop for the used Medium tyre, dropping behind his team-mate, but then utilised it to take the fastest lap of the race point.
  

Driver	Grid	Result	Fastest Lap	Start Tyre	Stop One	Stop Two
Lewis Hamilton	P8	P6	1:20.331	Medium	Hard (L27)	-
George Russell	P6	P7	1:18.589	Medium	Hard (L21)	Medium (L52)

Lewis Hamilton

My race was generally good. I had one moment which cost me about five seconds, but my race pace was generally strong so I’m happy with how it went. I made a good start and that was important to get past Tsunoda. From there, I was able to extend my opening stint and that helped me make the one-stop strategy work.

We’ve taken a small step forward this weekend and we have improved. Unfortunately, that is slightly masked by the step forward others such as McLaren and Ferrari have taken. We will keep pushing to bring more updates that can add performance. Until then, we will make sure we are scoring as many points as we can.

George Russell

We had some concerns over the Hard tyre being able to go to the end so made a second pit stop. Of course that means I lost a position to Lewis, but we were able to score one extra point as a team. It was quite a lonely race for us. We’ve slightly closed the gap to Red Bull and extended our advantage over the midfield. However, McLaren and Ferrari have also found similar gains so we are aiming to bring more performance and bigger steps as soon as we can. We’re never going to be satisfied with P6 and P7, but this is where we are at the moment.

Everyone is super motivated and it’s very inspiring to see. Everyone at Brackley and Brixworth are working so hard to bring improvements and it’s great to see. We’ve got to keep on pushing. This weekend we maximised the package we had, and we will continue to aim to do that moving forward.

Toto Wolff, Team Principal & CEO

It’s not possible to see it in terms of the result, but we have taken a small step forward this weekend. Our closest competitors have also done so recently, but we have closed the gap to the front a little. We still have a lot of work to do and of course, we are all frustrated finishing P6 and P7. There is more to come though, and it is all about making incremental gains. These are what we need to keep delivering if we are to get ourselves in the fight with the three teams ahead of us.

With George’s second stop, our wear forecasts showed that he may struggle to make it last to the end of the race on the Hard tyre. We had the opportunity to pit and get out ahead of Perez, and therefore opted to stop him. That also enabled us to go for the fastest lap point. It cost George a place to Lewis but ultimately the team was able to score an additional point.

Andrew Shovlin, Trackside Engineering Director

It’s clear we have made progress this weekend, but our nearest competitors are also pushing hard. The race today confirmed that we need to continue to make these gains to be in the fight with the top-three teams. We are continuing to work on that, with the factory flat out on development. We will look to continue to bring updates to subsequent races. 

Today, the Grand Prix didn't throw us any opportunities. There were no Virtual Safety Cars or Safety Cars, so as much as P6 and P7 is frustrating, it is what our pace deserved. We're not lacking any determination or effort to improve, and over the last few weeks it has been encouraging to see the efforts that every team member has put into the drive to get back to the front.

The Mercedes-Benz 240 D 3.0 Introduced 50 Years Ago

 

The Mercedes-Benz 240 D 3.0 (W 115) with the 59 kW/80 hp three-litre five-cylinder OM 617 engine made its debut on 12 July 1974. It was the most powerful diesel passenger car of its time and also the world’s first five-cylinder series-produced passenger car. Shot of the crankshaft with five pistons. 

12 July 1974 – 50 years ago

Premiere of the first five-cylinder diesel engine passenger car in the 240 D 3.0 “Stroke Eight”

• The world’s most powerful diesel passenger car to date had an output of 59 kW (80 hp)
• Technically closely related to the four-cylinder 240 D model
• The suffix “/8” was added to all new models in 1968

The Mercedes-Benz 240 D 3.0 with the 59 kW/80 hp three-liter five-cylinder OM 617 engine is one of the sought-after representatives of the “Stroke Eight” model series 114 and 115, production of which started in 1968. On 12 July 1974, 50 years ago, the 240 D 3.0 was presented in Frankfurt/Main and Hockenheim. The mid-size saloon of the E-Class tradition was the most powerful diesel passenger car and also the world’s first five-cylinder series-produced passenger car. The engine had the same stroke-bore ratio and the same cylinder spacing as the four-cylinder engine of the 240 D with 48 kW/65 hp. From 1974 to 1976, 53,690 units of the 240 D 3.0 were produced. The OM 617 continued to be built in the 300 D of the 123 model series until 1985. The term “Stroke Eight”, which is commonly used in classic car circles today, was created due to the addition of “/8” in internal Mercedes-Benz publications for all models released in 1968. However, the abbreviation is only used for the 114 and 115 model series in classic car parlance.