Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class leaks ahead of official debut

There’s quite a bit of hubbub about the BMW X7 at the moment, as it’s the first uber-large SUV in the brand’s history. However, it’s a newcomer to an already established class of cars and, while impressive, will have some very difficult competition. Especially in the form of the all-new Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class, which has just been leaked ahead of its official debut.

While this is all-new, the GLS-Class has been around for awhile (previously known as the GL-Class). In fact, along with the Range Rover, the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class has been the main player in the segment. So now that the X7 is here, it’s set to take on the newest version of an established contender, which is no easy task. It’s actually an especially difficult task with the GLS because Mercedes-Benz has been making SUVs for a lot longer than BMW has and knows a thing or two more than BMW about make a luxury off-roader.

So how does this new Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class look? Well, it looks like a Mercedes-Benz SUV, only bigger. That’s not a bad thing, as it’s a handsome car. It’s big, smooth and premium looking. Its design features are nicely rounded and it looks as expensive as it will be. Personally, I like a lot of its design more than the BMW X7. While a great car in its own right, the exterior styling of the X7 just doesn’t blow my skirt up. Still, I can understand some customers preferring the Bimmer’s sharper, more aggressive style over this GLS’s smoother, more elegant design.

On the inside, it’s very much a modern Mercedes-Benz. In the same way that the X7 sports a predictable, if a bit more luxurious, BMW interior design, the GLS-Class has a predictably Mercedes-like interior. It’s handsome and elegant enough and customers will likely love it.

Powering the Big Benz will be a choice of the brand’s new inline-six engines, all of which will have 48-volt mild-hybrid setups. There will likely be a standard model, an AMG-lite ’43’ model and then possibly even a plug-in hybrid. The latter of which might actually use a four-cylinder but we don’t know for sure. Then, there will be the hot AMG model, which will pack a 4.0 liter twin-turbocharged V8. This makes us wonder if BMW will ever pull the trigger on a proper BMW X7 M. All GLS models will use nine-speed automatics and have 4Matic all-wheel drive.

The BMW X7 is a very good car, one that’s far better than we anticipated it being. However, the Bavarians should be watching this GLS-Class closely because this is Mercedes territory and this first time BMW is competing in it. So the Mercedes-Benz GLS-Class will have a lot to do with how successful the BMW X7 is.

Podium Success at the California 8 Hours Gives Mercedes-AMG a Double Lead in the IGTC

After third place in the season-opening race in Bathurst, Mercedes-AMG also scored a podium finish at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in the second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) last weekend in the California 8 Hours. The No. 999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing entry of Maximilian Buhk, Maximilian Goetz and Raffaele Marciello finished second in the California 8 Hours. As a result, the trio also moves up into the lead of the driver standings. In total, three Mercedes-AMG GT3s finished in the top-10 of the endurance race. With the good result, the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach also extends its lead in the IGTC manufacturer standings.

In excellent weather and track conditions, spectators at the legendary WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca Raceway witnessed a thrilling second round of the IGTC, in which the Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams secured strong results.

The No. 999 entry of Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing had an exceptional start at the 8-hour race. From 10th place on the grid, Buhk gained five positions right away. After the first driver change, Goetz completed a faultless double stint, followed by Marciello, who drove the Mercedes-AMG GT3 up into the podium positions for the first time. As the race went on, the trio established itself among the frontrunners in the field. In the final third of the race, Goetz, Buhk and Marciello increased the pressure on the leaders more and more.

In his final double stint, finishing driver Marciello cemented second place, which he brought home after 327 laps. With this podium finish, the three Mercedes-AMG drivers now have a total of 36 points each and jointly move up into the lead of the Intercontinental GT Challenge driver standings.

With Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing’s No. 888 sister car, Maro Engel, Yelmer Buurman and Luca Stolz started from 11th place on the grid. Having gained positions in the opening stages, the trio incurred a time penalty for overtaking under yellow and lost places again. In the remainder of the race, the team worked its way back up into the top-10 but was unable to make it all the way up to the front of the 20-car field.
Final driver Maro Engel eventually crossed the finish line in sixth place.

The No. 43 Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 rounds out the triple top-10 result for Mercedes-AMG. Christina Nielsen, Dominik Baumann and Adam Christodoulou started the race from 15th place on the grid. With consistently good laps and trouble- free changes, the trio continuously moved up throughout the eight hours of the race and saw final driver Baumann completing the good result of the Mercedes-AMG GT3s in the California 8 Hours by finishing in 10th place.

Having started 12th, the No. 44 car of the Mercedes-AMG Team Strakka Racing with Gary Paffett, Tristan Vautier and Lewis Williamson had bad luck. After a good start by Paffett, defending IGTC champion Vautier moved the car up into a temporary podium position. Halfway through the race, however, a steering issue forced the team to retire.

As the best-placed Mercedes-AMG cars, the No. 999 and the No. 888 scored valuable points for the IGTC manufacturer standings. The performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach extends its lead and already has a margin of 19 points after two of five rounds.

Maximilan Buhk, Driver – No. 999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The race was top. I made a super start, although it was a bit tight in the first two corners, but I made it through quite well. All in all, it was a very hard race without a safety car, without a single neutralization. As a result, we had to drive in a strategically clever way, which we managed. We also handled the increasing temperatures well and had the right tire management. Second place is great, but of course, we are looking at the overall situation in the championship. Therefore, the points we scored today were very important.”

Maximilan Goetz, Driver – No. 999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “We are super happy with second place. It was a really close race with a very good field of drivers. Max had a mega start that was the basis for our result. We didn’t make any mistakes and made it through very well. Raffaele, Max and the entire team have all done a great job. This is a huge step ahead for us in the championship.”

Raffaele Marciello, Driver – No. 999 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “After P3 at Bathurst, Saturday’s second place is super for the championship, of course. Consistency is the key to success. We can’t win every race, but when we keep going on like this, we are in a good position. In any case, today, we did everything right.”

Maro Engel, Driver – No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “First of all, congratulations to the number 999 sister car, they drove a great race, made it through very well and have scored valuable points. For us, things didn’t run entirely flawless, the first stint already was a bit difficult.

Nevertheless, we are still quite happy with P6 in the end. We have also scored some good points, both for the manufacturer standings and for ourselves as the drivers. Thanks to everyone who has contributed to this.”

Luca Stolz, Driver – No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “In the opening stages, we had some issues and a penalty that cost us a better position. We certainly could have finished in the top five, a podium would have been within reach as well. We will learn from this and come back stronger. But all in all, it was a good weekend for Mercedes-AMG.”

Christina Nielsen, Driver – No. 43 Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “This was my first race weekend for Strakka Racing together with Adam Christodoulou and Dominik Baumann. Of course, there was a lot for me to learn, but all in all, we have made good progress. We discovered where we are strong already and what we still have to work on. We can certainly build on this top-10 result. Many thanks to Mercedes-AMG for the great support.”

Adam Christodoulou, Driver – No. 43 Strakka Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: “That was a very tough weekend for us and particularly for Christina as the only silver- rated driver in a field almost entirely made up of manufacturer-supported Pro cars.

Nevertheless, we have shown our competitive spirit. We came from P15, but we were in the top-10 at the end, leaving some big names behind us. From that perspective, we are very happy.”

Stefan Wendl, Head of Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing: “We are celebrating second place like a victory with both teams. That was yet another unbelievably hard race, something we know from the IGTC events meanwhile. A battle until the very last minute and at the end, we are overjoyed with being in the lead of the driver standings and having extended our lead in the manufacturer standings. That allows us to head home with a good feeling.”

Chinese GP: Lewis Hamilton starts and finishes for dominant Mercedes

World champion moves to the top of 2019’s title race for the first time – and credits fast getaway for his second win in a row

Lewis Hamilton lauded Mercedes’ “fantastic” Chinese GP as he put an end to his early-season startline problems to claim the race win and world championship lead.

As Mercedes emphatically maintained their unblemished record of one-two race finishes at the start of the season, Hamilton turned the tables on team-mate Valtteri Bottas on race day in Shanghai to cap a weekend in which his performance and speed progressively improved.

Mercedes introduces new front wing endplate for Chinese GP

Having started pre-season testing with a launch spec that had an endplate that appeared to direct airflow inwards, Mercedes switched to its race-spec front wing design for the second week which aimed to recoup the commonly-exploited outwash effect.

This came with a small rectangular cutout in the top corner closest to the wheel, helping air to rotate and spill out around the front tyres.

The team has now built on this concept, seeking to develop that outwash further without compromising on its front wing ethos, which draws more downforce from the outboard portions.

As seen from Giorgio Piola’s exclusive shots from the Shanghai pitlane, the length of the endplate has been cut away slightly to produce a curved trailing edge.

This leaves the trailing edge corner of the uppermost element exposed, opening up the space between the wing and the front tyre.

As a result, the outwash effect can be observed much earlier, and the exposed element generates a stronger tip vortex as a result of the high pressure flow on top having the chance to roll underneath into the low pressure area.

While this trims the overall downforce output, the oncoming airflow can turn the tip vortex around the front wheel to strengthen the desired outwash effect.

The two allowable strakes on the underside of the wing are also positioned far outboard, helping to further enhance the effect of pushing rotational airflow around the car, which also counts on the footplate ending earlier on the endplate’s geometry.

Red Bull conducted back-to-back testing of front wings during the Bahrain tests, and have emerged in China with the specification used during the race weekend at Sakhir.

That specification featured a small slit on the inboard side of the third wing element, where the top two flaps were also truncated slightly to manage vorticity further along.

This was tested against the launch spec wing, where those top two elements extended further downwards – while the endplate featured a small cutout, unlike the eventual Bahrain specification.

Mercedes AMG F1 W10 front wing detail

Lewis Hamilton cruises to secure sixth F1 Chinese Grand Prix

• Mercedes driver overtakes teammate Bottas on lap one
• Finn finishes second for one-two ahead of Vettel

All weekend in China, Formula One has been celebrating the grand achievement of reaching its 1,000th world championship race. For Lewis Hamilton, who has competed in almost one quarter of those meetings, the race in Shanghai was less about the big picture than the detail, the execution. His judgment in doing so was proved correct with a dominant win that takes him to the world championship lead. What it did share with many of the races that preceded it in the 70 seasons since 1950 however was a single decisive moment.

As Hamilton celebrated his 75th win from 232 starts, and Mercedes their third consecutive one-two – the first time a team have opened a season so strongly since the all conquering Williams of 1992 – Ferrari were left licking their wounds. With Sebastian Vettel in third, 13 seconds down on Hamilton and his Ferrari teammate Charles Leclerc in fifth they must yet again consider why they cannot consistently unlock the pace of their car. Worse still, they threw in team orders – never popular with fans and done to no great effect – when Leclerc was ordered to let Vettel pass.

There are no alarm bells as yet at the Scuderia and Vettel still believes their car is fundamentally strong, but they are yet to learn how to manage it. Mercedes, too, are still coming to terms with their new ride but have carved out what would appear to be an unlikely advantage in the opening meetings. Hamilton now leads Valtteri Bottas by six points but is 31 points in front of Vettel.

Hamilton enjoyed a victory that had not looked on after he struggled to extract the best from his car over the weekend until it really mattered: in qualifying, second, and in the race. On Sunday he made a lightning getaway as Bottas suffered wheelspin on his start-line paint and Hamilton had the lead up the inside into turn one. It was the move that mattered and he did not relinquish the lead until the flag.

He accepted that, including the win he inherited after Ferrari’s mechanical problem in Bahrain, his team’s dominance had been perhaps against the odds but was confident they still had a great deal to offer.

“Through testing, we knew that it was very close, we knew that it was within a couple of tenths, but we did think that they had the upper hand,” he said. “There are still so many races to go and their car might work better in other places. Definitely with three one-twos I think we are a little bit over-delivering but there is still more to come.”

Ferrari had to manage their drivers and a yawning gap to Mercedes. They ordered Leclerc to let Vettel past on lap 11 to the former’s clear disappointment but having done so Vettel could not make any real dent in the Mercedes advantage and appeared to struggle, repeatedly locking up.

Immediately after the race Leclerc said he would seek an explanation from his team. Ferrari have said they would only favour Vettel in 50-50 situations and adjudged that this case merited the move. But Vettel was surprisingly defensive after the race, initially suggesting he would not discuss the issue because he believed his answers would be misquoted by the press.

“I knew the moment it happened that I would have to face these questions,” he said. “I’m not sure I want to answer because I’m a little bit against the way you – all of you – work, because you take bits out of answers here and there and put it into the wrong light.”

He did go on to state his case, but was unable to explain why he could not catch the leaders. “I felt I was faster in the car, I was asked if I can go faster. I answered that I felt I can,” he said. “I was a bit surprised when I was in free air – not surprised but I was struggling a bit to put the laps together. Once I found a rhythm, I was able to chip away. Obviously the objective was to try and catch Mercedes. At that point the gap was already quite big.”

Mercedes had indeed been able to stretch their legs out front in a race that Hamilton had taken hold of from the moment the lights went out. He has endured some poor starts in the past but has worked on his getaways and it paid off.

Their lead was never really threatened and even when a likely one-stop turned into a two-stopper as Red Bull pulled the trigger for a second stop for Max Verstappen who was fourth, Mercedes executed perfectly. They even managed to stack their cars through their second stop and ultimately maintain their one-two.

It was not the celebratory thriller F1 would have wanted for their 1,000th race but Hamilton and Mercedes will not care. They leave China once more firmly on the front foot with Ferrari yet again having to consider why they could not stay closer to their rivals and whether the numbers on their strategy calls really added up.

Red Bull’s Pierre Gasly was in sixth and took fastest lap, in front of the Renault of Daniel Ricciardo, his first finish this season. Racing Point’s Sergio Pérez was in eighth, Kimi Räikkönen in the Alfa Romeo ninth and an impressively strong 10th for Alexander Albon having started his Toro Rosso from the pitlane.