May 26, 2022
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Formula One proceeds directly from Barcelona to the principality of Monaco, while the world of GT racing turns its attention to the 24h classic on the Nordschleife.
  • 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 on the podium at Spanish Grand Prix; Lewis Hamilton in fifth
  • DTM: Luca Stolz, Lucas Auer and Maro Engel secure three podium spots in the two races at the Lausitzring
  • ADAC GT Masters: Jonathan Aberdein and Raffaele Marciello finish in Saturday's Top Three at Spielberg
  • ADAC GT4 Germany: Podium finish for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Race 1 at the Red Bull Ring
  • GT World Challenge America: Two podiums for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Avondale
  • GT World Challenge Asia: Mercedes-AMG GT3 takes the win in Race 1 and the runner-up spot in Race 2 at the Sepang International Circuit
  • Endurance Brasil: One-two finish for the Mercedes-AMG GT3 at Interlagos

News snippets

Encouraging signs in Barcelona: The sixth round of the F1 season last weekend was hosted by the Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. It was a second visit of the year to the track where the first set of winter tests took place in February. This time, however, there were World Championship points at stake in the Spanish Grand Prix. The team brought along a number of upgrades for the F1 W13 E Performance, and the initial impression in Friday practice was positive. These encouraging signs were confirmed in qualifying on Saturday, as George Russell and Lewis Hamilton delivered the team's strongest qualifying performance of the season so far to start from fourth and sixth respectively. In the race itself, both drivers put in another fantastic performance. George defended brilliantly against Max Verstappen and Sergio Perez to cross the line in third place, despite overheating problems. It was the team's third podium of the season, two of them for George and one for Lewis at the opening race in Bahrain. It was also the 250th podium finish for the modern-era Mercedes F1 works team. Lewis dropped to the back of the pack on the opening lap after a contact with Kevin Magnussen but then showed exceptionally strong pace for the rest of the race, staging a heroic charge through the field that took him up to P4. Shortly before the end, however, he suffered a water leak that meant that he ultimately had to settle for P5.

Monaco, here we come: From Barcelona, Formula One proceeds directly to one of the season's highlights, namely the Monaco Grand Prix. This year's F1 race will be the 68th in the principality. The record winner on the street circuit on the Côte d'Azur is the legendary Ayrton Senna with a grand total of six victories, closely followed by Graham Hill and Michael Schumacher on five each. Lewis is the most successful of the current crop of drivers in Monaco with three wins. McLaren tops the constructors' table on 15 victories, ahead of Ferrari on nine. The Mercedes F1 Team has won five times in Monaco so far, three in a row with Nico Rosberg (2013 - 2015) at the wheel and twice with Lewis (2016, 2019). A Mercedes-powered car has won twelve times in Monaco since 1998, second only in this regard to Ford whose engines have triumphed on thirteen occasions. The absolute lap record is 1:10.166 minutes set by Lewis in Q3 in 2019; the fastest race lap was also clocked by Lewis - 1:12.909 minutes in the 2021 campaign.

Multiple podium successes for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in the DTM: After the victory scored by Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD's Lucas Auer (AUT) at Portimão in the first round of the season, the Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing outfits maintained their winning ways at the Lausitzring. Auer was again in top form in Saturday morning's qualifying session as he booked pole position for his number 22 Mercedes-AMG GT3. In the race itself, however, an over-long pit stop dropped the DTM veteran back to third place. The main beneficiary of his misfortune was Mercedes-AMG Team HRT man Luca Stolz (GER), who moved up to take the runner-up spot, adding a further podium finish to the one he had secured in the season opener. Twenty-four hours later, Maro Engel (GER) in the #88 GT3 of Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing likewise made it onto the podium. The Mercedes-AMG brand ambassador, who had started the race from third position, finished in P2, 0.347 seconds behind the winner. Engel also posted the fastest race lap, which earned him an additional championship point.

The first race weekend of the 2022 DTM Trophy was also held as part of the supporting programme at the Lausitzring. In the two 30-minute races, the BWT Mücke Motorsport brace of cars finished in the Top Ten. Rodrigo Almeida (POR) took fifth place twice in the Mercedes-AMG GT4 #19, while Edouard Cauhaupé (FRA) in the number 18 GT4 came home eighth on both days.

MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF third in the ADAC GT Masters: After a P3 and a P4 in the season opener at Oschersleben, Jonathan Aberdein (RSA) and Raffaele Marciello (SUI) were again on the podium at the Red Bull Ring. Sharing the cockpit of the number 48 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF, they took third place in the first of the two 60-minute races. Despite a disappointing P14 on Sunday, the duo travel to the next event at Zandvoort (25th/26th June) occupying third place in the drivers' standings.

Sharing the billing with the ADAC GT Masters at Spielberg in Austria was the ADAC GT4 Germany support series. Marek Böckmann (GER) and Miklas Born (SUI) in the number 18 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Schnitzelalm Racing made a podium appearance for their P3 finish on Saturday.

Further successes in different GT World Challenge events: The second round of the 2022 GT World Challenge America was contested at NOLA Motorsports Park last weekend. In the first of two 90-minute races, Colin Braun and George Kurtz (both USA) finished third overall, thereby claiming victory in the Pro-AM class. On Sunday, the two drivers in the number 4 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of CrowdStrike Racing by Riley Motorsports earned themselves another class podium with a P3. In the same race, Steven Aghakhani (USA) and Loris Spinelli (ITA) in the #6 US RaceTronics car finished third overall.

The 2022 GT World Challenge Asia was meanwhile also getting underway at the Sepang International Circuit. H.H. Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim and Jazeman Jaafar (both MAS) in the #99 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Triple Eight JMR made the ideal start to the new season, putting in a magnificent performance in Saturday's one-hour race to claim overall victory after starting from fifth position. The second race on Sunday was almost as successful for the team, with the number 888 sister car driven by Nick Foster (AUS) and H.H. Prince Jefri Ibrahim (MAS) finishing second.

Three class wins for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in the GT Open: The second event of the 2022 International GT Open was held at Circuit Paul Ricard last weekend. In the two races, Martin Konrad and Alexander Hrachowina (both AUT) in the number 25 car of MANN-FILTER Team LANDGRAF achieved two outstanding wins in the AM classification. The strong performance of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 was underlined by another class win for the number 18 car of Theeba Motorsport; Reema Juffali (KSA) and Adam Christodoulou (GBR) took a creditable third place overall in Sunday's race, which was enough to hand them victory in the Pro-AM class.

One-two win for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing in the Endurance Brasil: The Autódromo José Carlos Pace in Interlagos was the venue for the second round of the 2022 Imperio Endurance Brasil. In the four-hour race, reigning champions Ricardo Baptista and Cacá Bueno (both BRA) in the #27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Team RC mounted an impressive charge through the field. After starting the endurance event from 16th on the grid, the duo steadily worked their way up to first place as the race progressed. A great weekend was rounded off by Marcos Gomes and Xandinho Negrão (both BRA) in the #9 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Mattheis Motorsport; they finished second to make it an outstanding one-two win for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing.

Social Media News

#F1RaceDebrief: There are certainly plenty of talking points after the Spanish Grand Prix: an incredible fightback from Lewis, a resolute defence from George and the progress that has been made with the W13. James Vowles talks about these matters and more in our Akkodis F1 Spanish GP race debrief.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJ8opTU-hWI

#MonacoGP: Monaco... there's nothing quite like it! A track that requires intense concentration and focus. Lewis Hamilton and Marcus Dudley explain how the drivers and teams approach this unique challenge!

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=bwi1W_liMOo

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Mercedes-Benz Group AG published this content on 26 May 2022 and is solely responsible for the information contained therein. Distributed by Public, unedited and unaltered, on 26 May 2022 11:18:07 UTC.