Tales from the paddock: Next step along the way to Formula E debut

Mercedes-AMG Motorsport experience a mix of highs and lows at Spa-Francorchamps and Hockenheim

• 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

• 24hr Spa: Mercedes-AMG GT3 trio Yelmer Buurman, Maro Engel and Luca Stolz finish third
• 24hr Spa: Mercedes-AMG wins Total 24 Hours of Spa manufacturer's trophy

News snippets

125 Years of Motorsport: There were two reasons why this year's Mercedes-Benz German Grand Prix was an historic race for the team - it was the 200th Grand Prix for Mercedes and, at the same time, the 125th anniversary of the manufacturer's involvement in motorsport. On Saturday, Lewis Hamilton booked his 87th Formula 1 pole, his fourth of the season and his third in Germany. He looked to be ideally placed to deal with the inevitable chaos of a race that got underway in heavy rain. Unfortunately, Sunday proved to be a disappointment for the team, with only P9 and a DNF to show for their efforts. But if 125 years of racing have taught us anything, it's that moments like this are part and parcel of the sport. At the Hockenheimring, fans had the opportunity to discover more about the history of motor racing and to take a close-up look at the historic racing cars on display, from the very earliest times to the first venture of the brand into Formula One in the 1950s and through to the modern age. Team members also wore 1950s-style outfits at the weekend.

Help wanted: During the 2019 Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix of Germany, our official team partner PETRONAS began the search for a new Trackside Fluid Engineer. The successful candidate will provide onsite technical support, monitoring and conducting analysis on PETRONAS Primax Fuel, PETRONAS Syntium Lubricant and PETRONAS Tutela Functional Fluids - ensuring full compliance with FIA regulations and optimum on-track performance. Last year, PETRONAS received more than 7,000 applications for the job. The successful candidate in 2018 was Stephanie Travers. For further information on how to apply, visit http://mb4.me/o3KmyPNE

Formula E testing in Mallorca: Preparations are currently in full swing for Mercedes' entry into the ABB FIA Formula E Championship which goes into its sixth season later this year. Following the shakedown and the first tests at Varano (Italy), the Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E Team commences testing in Mallorca this Wednesday for its debut season in the electric racing series. Taking turns at the wheel of the Mercedes-Benz EQ Silver Arrow 01 will be Edoardo Mortara, Stoffel Vandoorne and Esteban Gutiérrez. The first competitive outing is due to take place on 22nd November when Saudi Arabia hosts the season opener.

Podium finish, class successes and manufacturer's trophy in the Total 24 Hours of Spa: Mercedes-AMG Motorsport can look back on a successful weekend at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps. The Customer Racing teams coped admirably with the wildly varying weather conditions, which included a halt to the action to allow a thunderstorm to pass over. With strong performances in the overall result and even more so in the separate classifications, the teams ensured that the manufacturers' trophy - the Coupe du Roi - went to Affalterbach, as it had in the previous year. A Mercedes-AMG GT3 made it into the overall Top Three for the first time since 2017. The Mercedes-AMG Team BLACK FALCON trio of Yelmer Buurman (NED), Maro Engel (GER) and Luca Stolz (GER) started the 24-hour endurance classic from pole position and eventually finished third. Engel and Stolz now lead the Blancpain GT Series drivers' championship and, together with Buurman, are currently second in the Endurance Cup. Maximilian Buhk and Maximilian Götz (both GER) defended their lead in the Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) with a consummate performance. Ably assisted by Lucas Auer (AUT), the GruppeM Racing duo in the number 999 Mercedes-AMG took tenth place. In addition to successes in the overall rankings, Mercedes-AMG also excelled with strong class results: for example, Nico Bastian (GER), Timur Boguslavskiy (RUS) and Felipe Fraga (BRA) in the number 90 AKKA ASP car who mounted a spirited charge through the field to finish second in the Silver Cup, a result that was enough to guarantee them the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup championship for their class ahead of the season finale. What's more, Bastian extended his lead in the overall standings of the Silver Cup of the series and is now well placed to win the title at the end of the season. BLACK FALCON's Abdulaziz Al Faisal (KSA), Hubert Haupt, Patrick Assenheimer (both GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA) in the number 6 car finished third in class to join their fellow Mercedes-AMG GT3 drivers on the Silver Cup podium. Also contributing to a highly satisfactory weekend for the performance and sports car brand from Affalterbach was a double podium in the Pro-Am category: second place went to Darren Burke (GBR), Christiaan Frankenhout (NED), Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR) and Remon Vos (GBR) NED) of RAM Racing, followed home in third by David Fumanelli (ITA), Jack Hawksworth (GBR), Richard Heistand (USA) and Christina Nielsen (DEN) in the number 43 car fielded by Strakka Racing.

The GT4 France series was also on the billing at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps last weekend. In the second race on Saturday, the AKKA ASP pairing of Jean-Luc Beaubelique and Jim Pla (both FRA) finished fourth overall and third in the Pro-Am class.

One-twos in China and a class win in Brazil: Mercedes-AMG dominated the China Endurance Championship race weekend, registering one-two victories in both the first and second race. Melvin Moh (MAS), Han Songting and Xu Wei (both CHN) driving the number 77 ABS Project M Racing car pulled off a lights-to-flag victory in Saturday's 140-minute race at Tianjin, having started from pole position. In second place were James Winslow (GBR) and Eric Zang (CHN) in the Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by Toro Racing. On Sunday, it was the turn of Winslow and Zang to ascend the top rung of the podium where they were joined by the runners-up in the number 18 car entered by T.K.R. Racing.

In the Endurance Brasil series, the Scuderia 111 pairing of Júlio Campos and Guilherme Figueiroa (both BRA) driving the number 8 Mercedes-AMG GT3 finished second overall, a result that was enough to give them victory in the GT3 class where they were joined on the podium by team-mates Xandy and Xandinho Negrão (both BRA) in the number 9 Mercedes-AMG GT3. Negrão and Negrão continue to lead the drivers' standings in the GT3 classification. Scuderia 111 also had two top rankings in the GT4 class: Alexandre Auler and Leandro Romera (both BRA) were second in their class, while Sergio Jimenez and Leandro Ferrari (both BRA) finished third.

Overall victory at the Lausitzring and podium finishes in the ESET V4 Cup: Kenneth Heyer, Marcus Suabo (both GER) and Wim Spinoy (BEL) of Schütz Motorsport made it a very special debut for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in the DMV NES 500, winning the event at the first attempt. The number 595 Mercedes-AMG GT4 started from P1 on the Lausitzring grid and, at the end of the three-hour race, was the first car to cross the finish line.

Mercedes-AMG managed no fewer than four podium finishes in the ESET V4 Cup at Rijeka in Croatia. Making the biggest impression on the weekend was Libor Milota (CZE) of GT2 Motorsport, who finished on the podium in all three races and currently ranks third in the GT3 sprint classification. The fourth podium appearance was made by Olimp Racing's Stanislaw Jedlinski (POL) for his third place.

Social Media News

#Motorsport125: It's a Mercedes-Benz paintjob that has been 125 years in the making. A special anniversary deserves a special look, and in this video, we tell the story behind the livery that was designed for the German GP to symbolise our rich racing heritage.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=Btzdu1qd3ac

#24hAMG / #Spa24h: An exciting end to the race resulting in a podium finish - the closing stages of the 24-hour race at Spa.

Watch video: www.facebook.com/MercedesAMGCustomerRacing/videos/1391367251003962/

#24hAMG / #Spa24h: Fireworks, race interruptions and lots of rain - the night stints in the Total 24 Hours of Spa made heavy demands on our drivers.

Watch video: www.facebook.com/MercedesAMGCustomerRacing/videos/337121283857345/

#24hAMG / #Spa24h: What is the ideal racing line on the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps? Mercedes-AMG drivers Adam Christodoulou and Maximilian Götz explain how they navigate their way around the Ardennes roller-coaster.

Watch video: www.facebook.com/MercedesAMGCustomerRacing/videos/355916335101550/