Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance

The Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance is a Formula One racing car designed and constructed by the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team under the direction of James Allison, John Owen, Mike Elliott, Loïc Serra, Ashley Way and Jarrod Murphy to compete in the 2020 Formula One World Championship.[2][3][4][5] The car is being driven by Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas, who remained with the team for an eighth and a fourth season, respectively.[6] 2020 Williams Racing driver and Mercedes protege George Russell also drove for the team at the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix after Hamilton was forced to miss that event having tested positive for SARS-2-coronavirus.[7] The car was planned to make its competitive debut at the 2020 Australian Grand Prix, but this was delayed when the race was cancelled and at least seven upcoming events on the calendar were postponed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.[8][9] The F1 W11 made its competitive debut at the 2020 Austrian Grand Prix. The delay to the start of the season allowed the team to address concerns they had about the car's reliability.[10]

Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance
Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance

The Mercedes AMG F1 W11 Performance in its updated livery, driven by Lewis Hamilton during the 2020 Tuscan Grand Prix
Category	Formula One
Constructor	Mercedes
Designer(s)	James Allison (Technical Director) John Owen (Chief Designer) Mike Elliott (Technology Director) Loïc Serra (Performance Director) Ashley Way (Head of Chassis Design) Jarrod Murphy (Head of Aerodynamics)
Predecessor	Mercedes AMG F1 W10 EQ Power+
Technical specifications[1]
Engine	Mercedes-AMG F1 M11 EQ Performance (AMG HPP M11) 1.6 L (98 cu in), 90° - V6 turbocharged engine, limited to 15,000 RPM, in a mid-mounted, rear-wheel drive layout
Electric motor	Motor Generator Unit–Kinetic (MGU-K), Motor Generator Unit–Heat (MGU-H)
Transmission	Mercedes co-developed with Xtrac 8-speed semi-automatic seamless-shift sequential gearbox + 1 reverse gear
Battery	Mercedes lithium-ion battery solution
Fuel	Petronas Primax
Lubricants	Petronas Syntium and Tutela
Tyres	Pirelli P Zero (dry) Pirelli Cinturato (wet)
Clutch	ZF carbon fibre reinforced carbon plate
Competition history
Notable entrants	Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team
Notable drivers	44. Lewis Hamilton 63. George Russell 77. Valtteri Bottas
Debut	2020 Austrian Grand Prix
First win	2020 Austrian Grand Prix
Last win	2020 Bahrain Grand Prix
Last event	2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix
Races Wins Podiums Poles F.Laps 17 13 25 15 9
Constructors' Championships	1 (2020)
Drivers' Championships	1 (Lewis Hamilton, 2020)

The pandemic also prompted the delay of technical regulations that had been planned for introduction in 2021. Under an agreement reached between teams and the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile, 2020-specification cars—including the F1 W11 EQ Performance—will see their lifespan extended to compete in 2021.[11] The 2021-specification car will be known as the Mercedes-AMG F1 W12 E Performance.[12]

As of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, the W11 has taken thirteen wins (eleven for Hamilton and two for Bottas), fifteen pole positions (ten for Hamilton and five for Bottas), nine fastest laps (six for Hamilton, two for Bottas and one for Russell), twelve front-row lockouts and five 1–2 finishes across 17 races.

Background

The W11 has a system which Mercedes have developed called Dual Axis Steering (DAS) which allows the driver to adjust the toe of the front wheels to optimise mechanical grip by pulling or pushing on the steering wheel. DAS will allow the drivers to warm the car's tyres more efficiently by having a zero toe but allows for better cornering ability by using a positive toe, a feature which will be of particular significance on circuits with long straights.[13] DAS will be removed from the car after the 2020 championship as the system will be banned for 2021.[14] The design of the rear suspension was changed from that used in the previous car with the goal of reducing understeer.[15]

The W11 in its original livery, driven by Lewis Hamilton during the pre-season testing.

Following the postponement of the season and the growing worldwide support for the Black Lives Matter movement, it was announced in late June the W11 would feature black as the primary colour instead of the traditional silver that was present on its predecessors. Driver Lewis Hamilton prompted the livery change, saying he wanted the team to show its support for the cause through more than just social media posts, which led to the idea to adopt a new livery and launch a drive to improve diversity within the team.[16]

Season summary

Opening rounds

At the season-opening Austrian Grand Prix, Bottas qualified on pole position. Hamilton initially qualified in second place but prior to the race, he received a three-place grid penalty for failing to slow down sufficiently for yellow flags at the end of qualifying, dropping him to fifth.[17] Despite both drivers having to deal with gearbox issues which developed during the race, Bottas went on the win the race, the eighth of his career. Hamilton quickly recovered to second place but in the closing laps of the race received a five-second time penalty for causing a collision with Alexander Albon. Hamilton crossed the finish line in second but the penalty demoted him to fourth place.[18] Hamilton took pole position at the rain-affected qualifying session for the Styrian Grand Prix, over 1.2 seconds clear of nearest rival Max Verstappen.[19] Hamilton led most of the race and took the W11's second consecutive victory, whilst Bottas overtook Verstappen in the closing laps to finish second, having started fourth on the grid.[20]

At the Hungarian Grand Prix, the pace of the W11 was very apparent when Mercedes easily took a 1–2 in qualifying when Bottas took second by nearly a 0.9 seconds over third-placed Lance Stroll. Hamilton qualified on pole, 0.1 seconds ahead of Bottas.[21] Hamilton would go on to win the race for his second consecutive win and his eighth win at the Hungaroring equalling the record for most wins at one venue. Bottas made a mistake at the start when he moved slightly just before the lights went out then stopped his car and got away slowly, falling to sixth by turn one. He avoided a penalty for a jump start and managed to recover to third place, finishing just behind second-placed Max Verstappen.[22] At the British Grand Prix, Hamilton led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by taking his third consecutive pole position over Bottas by over 0.3 seconds. Bottas took second by over 0.7 seconds over Verstappen who qualified in third.[23] Lewis Hamilton led from pole position at the race start, as he leads Bottas to a large lead. In the dying stages of the Grand Prix, Bottas and Hamilton both suffered tyre delaminations on laps 50 and 52 respectively, which caused Bottas to come into the pits which made him drop to 11th place. Hamilton was forced to limp home, as his tyre delaminated, and the gap to second went from 30 to about 6 seconds when Hamilton won.[24]

At the 70th Anniversary Grand Prix, Mercedes were once again unchallenged in qualifying as Bottas led Mercedes to another front-row lockout by edging Hamilton for pole position by only .063 seconds with Hülkenberg a further 0.8 seconds back.[25] Mercedes struggled with race pace due to high temperatures causing excessive tyre wear and blistering. As a result, Red Bull Racing driver Max Verstappen was able to take the lead of the race and win. This was the first time in 2020 that Mercedes failed to win a race.

Mid season

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Mercedes continued their dominance in qualifying with Hamilton leading a fourth consecutive front-row lockout, qualifying 0.059 seconds faster than Bottas who was over 0.7 seconds faster than third-placed Verstappen.[26] Hamilton took the win in the race itself, leading every lap and coming home over 24 seconds clear of Verstappen in second. Furthermore, Hamilton also set a new Formula One record as he scored his 156th career podium finish, surpassing Michael Schumacher for most all-time. Bottas started poorly and dropped to fourth at the first corner. Although he was able to recover to regain third place, he couldn't overtake Verstappen and lost more ground to him in the drivers' championship.[27]

Closing rounds

Hamilton won at the Bahrain Grand Prix but Bottas finished eighth after a puncture under the safety car. Hamilton was forced to miss the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix following a positive test for coronavirus and was replaced by Williams driver and Mercedes young driver George Russell for that event. Russell started second and led most of the race having overtaken Bottas, who had taken pole,[28] at the start. At the second pit stop, Mercedes made an error and Russell was fitted with Bottas' tyres, forcing Russell to make another pit stop on the following lap. A late puncture then cost Russell a potential podium and win and he finished ninth with the fastest lap. Bottas finished the race in eighth, having poor performance and old tyres at the end of the race.[29] Hamilton returned for the season finale having performed a series negative coronavirus tests ahead of the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix alongside Bottas meaning Russell returned to Williams.[30]

Complete Formula One results

(key)

Year	Entrant	Engine	Tyres	Drivers	Grands Prix																	Points	WCC
					AUT	STY	HUN	GBR	70A	ESP	BEL	ITA	TUS	RUS	EIF	POR	EMI	TUR	BHR	SKH	ABU
2020	Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team	Mercedes-AMG F1 M11 EQ Performance	P	Valtteri Bottas	1^P	2	3	11	3^P	3^F	2	5	2	1^F	Ret^P	2	2^P	14	8	8^P	2	573	1st
				Lewis Hamilton	4	1^P	1^P^F	1^P	2^F	1^P	1^P	7^P^F	1^P^F	3^P	1	1^P^F	1^F	1	1^P		3
				George Russell																9^F

Notes

References

1. Coch, Mat (26 November 2018). "Pirelli to remain F1 tyre supplier until 2023". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Archived from the original on 21 August 2019. Retrieved 10 February 2019.
2. "James Allison". Mercedes. Mercedes. 12 October 2017. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 12 October 2017.
3. "John Owen". Mercedes F1. Retrieved 1 August 2020.
4. "Mike Elliott". Mercedes. Mercedes. Archived from the original on 28 April 2019. Retrieved 9 September 2018.
5. "Jarrod Murphy". LinkedIn.
6. "F1 – 2020 Provisional Entry List". Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile. 30 November 2019. Retrieved 30 November 2019.
7. "George Russell to replace Hamilton at Mercedes for Sakhir Grand Prix". Formula1.com. 2 December 2020. Retrieved 2 December 2020.
8. Coch, Mat (13 March 2020). "Confirmed: F1 cancelled at Australian Grand Prix". Retrieved 13 March 2020.
9. "Bahrain and Vietnam Grands Prix postponed". formula1.com. 13 March 2020. Retrieved 13 March 2020.
10. Kalinauckas, Alex (25 November 2020). "How COVID-19 played a part in Mercedes' domination". autosport.com. Retrieved 25 November 2020.
11. Herrero, Daniel (20 March 2020). "Formula 1's new regulations delayed until 2022". speedcafe.com. Speedcafe. Retrieved 20 March 2020.
12. "Champions Mercedes confirm launch date for 2021 F1 challenger". Formula1.com. 2 February 2021. Retrieved 2 February 2021.
13. "DAS explained: what we know so far about Mercedes' steering system". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 21 February 2020.
14. Benson, Andrew (31 March 2020). "Formula 1: Mercedes revolutionary 'DAS' steering remains banned for 2021". BBC Sport. Retrieved 31 March 2020.
15. Hughes, Mark (16 November 2020). "MPH: Hamilton's slick strategy — 'He just knows what to do'". Motor Sport. Retrieved 1 January 2021.
16. "Phone call from Hamilton led to Mercedes' black livery switch · RaceFans". RaceFans. 30 June 2020. Retrieved 8 February 2021.
17. "Hamilton handed three-place grid penalty for Austrian GP after Red Bull protest". formula1.com. Formula One. 5 July 2020.
18. "Bottas beats Leclerc and Norris to win dramatic Austrian GP as Hamilton is penalized". formula1.com. Formula One. 5 July 2020.
19. Collantine, Keith; Rencken, Dieter (11 July 2020). "Hamilton: Dominant pole position lap was "close to perfect"". racefans.net. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
20. Collantine, Keith (12 July 2020). "Hamilton wins as Bottas passes Verstappen for Mercedes one-two". racefans.net. Retrieved 12 July 2020.
21. "Qualifying report: Electric Hamilton beats Bottas to Hungarian Grand Prix pole". Formula1.com. 18 July 2020. Retrieved 19 July 2020.
22. "Hamilton romps to eighth Hungarian Grand Prix win, as Verstappen recovers to second". Formula1.com. 19 July 2020.
23. "Qualifying report: Hamilton recovers from spin to take record seventh Silverstone pole". Formula1.com. 1 August 2020.
24. "Race report: Hamilton limps home to take record 7 home gp wins". Formula1.com. 2 August 2020.
25. "Qualifying report: Bottas beats Hamilton to 70th Anniversary GP pole as Hulkenberg stars". Formula1.com. 8 August 2020. Retrieved 8 August 2020.
26. "FORMULA 1 ARAMCO GRAN PREMIO DE ESPAÑA 2020 - QUALIFYING". Formula1.com. 15 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
27. "How the Spanish Grand Prix unfolded". bbc.co.uk/sport. 16 August 2020. Retrieved 17 August 2020.
28. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/55200937
29. Richards, Giles (6 December 2020). "Sergio Pérez wins Sakhir F1 GP after pit error robs George Russell". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 6 December 2020. Retrieved 7 December 2020.
30. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/55264873

External links

• Car profile on the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team website