SILVER ARROWS
It was the 2010 Formula 1 season and there was a new team on the grid: Mercedes GP Petronas. With tech guru Ross Brawn at the helm of the operation, the newly-founded factory team would field their new challenger, the W01.
Powered by a 2.4-litre V8 engine making in the realm of 750 PS, the W01 would be piloted by an all-German line-up. The first name needs no introduction: Michael Schumacher. The seven-time Formula 1 world champion, who retired in 2006, was back on the grid with his home team. Alongside the living legend was a prime example of hungry young blood: Nico Rosberg. Their test and reserve driver was the smooth-driving and highly experienced Nick Heidfeld.
Their first season back saw promise with Schumacher being a team-mate and mentor to Rosberg, son of former F1 world champion, Keke Rosberg. The team scored 214 championship points, with Rosberg claiming three podium finishes, including one at the British Grand Prix in Silverstone.
The team’s first win came in 2012 at the Chinese Grand Prix, with Rosberg claiming his maiden victory as well, driving flawlessly from pole position. Clearing out at the start, Rosberg battled tyre degradation and finished 20 seconds ahead of the second- and third-placed McLaren-Mercedes duo. This also happened to be the year the team was renamed ‘Mercedes-AMG Petronas’, and it was simply the beginning of a new era: in 2014, Formula 1 would go turbocharged.
