Tales from the Paddock: Act III of triple-header at Spielberg, dress rehearsal at Misano and stage debut in New York

While Formula One was rounding off the first triple-header of 2021 at Spielberg, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team was gearing up for their debut on the streets of New York City

• 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: Valtteri Bottas finishes Austrian Grand Prix in second place
• GTWCE Sprint Cup: Two runner-up spots for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Misano

News snippets

Triple-header number one: The first triple-header of the 2021 Formula One season concluded with the Austrian Grand Prix at Spielberg last weekend. The Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team missed out on victory in the French Grand Prix at Le Castellet and the double feature at Spielberg but did produce at least one podium finish at each of the three race events, including last weekend when Valtteri Bottas claimed the runner-up spot and a second podium in a row. His team-mate Lewis Hamilton lost out on a potential P2 due to a severe loss of downforce after his car took damage from a kerb at Turn 10. After a race-free week, the next date on the calendar is the British Grand Prix (16 ‑ 18 July) at Silverstone, not far from the team's factories at Brackley and Brixworth.

New York, here we come: The third-to-last race weekend in Season 7 of the ABB FIA Formula E World Championship takes the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team to the Big Apple this week, where the New York City E‑Prix will be staged for the fourth time on a 2.32km circuit in Brooklyn. Mercedes-EQ will make their debut on the street circuit in the Red Hook district. The last time the city hosted the race was in 2019 (Season 5), and Stoffel Vandoorne was one of the contestants. The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team travels to New York for the double-header leading the team championship and with Nyck de Vries and Stoffel occupying sixth and seventh in the drivers' standings. Don't miss any of the action this weekend. You can follow the team on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter. Or, head here to find out how to watch all sessions live in your region.

Still in contention for title after successful dress rehearsal for Spa: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport enjoyed a rewarding third round of the Sprint Cup in the fiercely contested GT World Challenge Europe series, with two second places at the Misano World Circuit Simoncelli. In the first of the two races, the Mercedes-AMG Team Toksport WRT pairing of Maro Engel and Luca Stolz (both GER) took the runner-up spot. On Sunday, Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) and Raffaele Marciello (ITA) of Mercedes-AMG Team AKKA ASP matched that result in a showdown with the elite of GT racing.

For the majority of the Customer Racing teams, the trip to the Italian Adriatic coast was a dress rehearsal for the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa (29 July ‑ 1 August). The 24-hour race on the circuit in the Belgian Ardennes is the highlight of the GT World Challenge Europe season. It proved to be an especially rewarding practice outing for the AKKA ASP team: in addition to the P2 secured by Boguslavskiy and Marciello, there was a class victory in the Silver Cup for Jim Pla (France) and Konstantin Tereschenko (RUS) in the number 87 sister car which finished Race 1 as overall sixth.

The most sensational action of the weekend was delivered by Dominik Baumann (AUT) and Valentin Pierburg (GER) in the number 20 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of SPS automotive performance. The duel for the Pro-Am class win in the second race on Sunday came to such a dramatic head on the final lap that Pierburg crossed the finish line wheel-to-wheel with an opponent. The driver of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was pipped to the post by the tiniest margin of thousandths of a second. Despite narrowly missing out on a class win this time, the SPS automotive performance duo still lead the championship standings in the Pro-Am class of the Sprint Cup.

The leading title contenders among the Mercedes-AMG contingent in the Pro classification of the Sprint Cup are Timur Boguslavskiy and Raffaele Marciello after their third podium success of the season: the Russian-Italian duo are in second place with four races still to come.

Top Five finishes in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: In the latest round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship staged at Watkins Glen, Michael de Quesada (USA) and Daniel Morad (CAN) in the number 28 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Alegra Motorsports finished fifth. Gilbert/Korthoff Motorsports, a new addition to the Customer Racing ranks, had an encouraging debut with the Mercedes-AMG GT3. Guy Cosmo and Shane Lewis (both USA) in the number 32 car came home in seventh place at the end of 2 hours and 40 minutes of racing.

Team WINWARD Racing finished in the Top Five in the Michelin Pilot Challenge race held at the same venue. Indy Dontje (NED) and Russell Ward (USA) in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT4 were fourth.

Race and class wins in Great Britain and Brazil: Richard and Sam Neary (both GBR) of Team ABBA Racing celebrated a milestone victory in the fourth round of the British GT Cup Championship. The father-and-son duo in the #88 won the second of the two 40-minute races at Oulton Park. It was the 25th occasion on which the team's Mercedes-AMG GT3 had finished a race in first position.

In the third round of the Endurance Brasil at Velopark, the Customer Racing teams booked multiple podium successes. Sixth place overall was enough for Ricardo Baptista and Cacá Bueno (both BRA) of Team RC to ascend the third spot on the podium in the GT3 class. In the GT4 category, Atila Abreu and Leo Sanchez (both BRA) in the #15 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of AMG CAC Competições secured class victory for the third time this season. The Autlog Racing Team with Cássio Mello and André Moraes Jr (both BRA) finished third in this class.

Social Media News

#TheJourneyContinues: Lewis Hamilton and Toto Wolff talk about Lewis's new two-year contract and the continuation of a relationship that has become the most successful team-and-driver pairing in F1 history.

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wqATFu_LhV8

#FactoryFriday: We take a look behind the scenes at our factory in Brackley and show what goes on in the various departments there. First up, the paint shop...

Watch video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C_vn7lHRI0c