The Mercedes W03

The first of the new-era Silver Arrows to hit its target

- Stewart Williams

Mercedes returned to Formula 1 in 2010 after a 55-year break, to high hopes all round. They took over the champion Brawn GP team and lured seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher out of retirement to join the talented Nico Rosberg. Now all they needed was a car to make them winners again.

In truth, this long-awaited comeback didn’t bear fruit straight away, with only three podiums for Rosberg in 2010 and none at all in 2011. Despite their hugely experienced staff and the advantage of having their own engine plant in nearby Brixworth, it was time to step performances up a notch.

Taking advantage of a relatively stable set of regulations, 2012’s Mercedes F1 W03 was largely based on the previous car, the MGP W02. There were, however, two significant regulatory changes that did affect the 2012 cars. The first of these was a ban on blown diffusers, and the second, which would profoundly alter the look of the cars, was a change to the maximum height of the front bodywork. The latter resulted in the distinctive stepped-nose designs of nearly all of the cars, and Mercedes’ take on this was to feature two bumps on either side of the front of the monocoque to create smoother airflow over the center line of the car.

Team principal Ross Brawn was confident that the W03 was just what was needed. “Last year, we produced a very bold car,” he admitted. “Although its more radical elements didn’t always deliver the results we had hoped for, the experience we gained has been invaluable to the design of the 2012 car.

The F1 W03 is also a more integrated package, which reflects the ever-strengthening ties between our technical teams in Brackley and Brixworth, and is taking the next step forward in terms of on-track performance.”