MERCEDES MGP W01

   At the end of 2009, Mercedes acquired Brawn GP, the miracle team fresh from winning both World Championships thanks to the ingenious “double diffuser.” The Mercedes Petronas F1 Team therefore inherited the technical structure of Ross Brawn’s former outfit, but with an entirely new identity: the famous Silver Arrows livery. With the official return of the German manufacturer after 55 years away from Formula 1 (since its withdrawal in 1955), the Mercedes MGP W01 became a crucial car in the modern history of Formula 1.

MERCEDES MGP W01, Michael Schumacher
Melbourne, Australian GP 2010

   The Mercedes technical staff inherited the extremely cohesive group from the former Brawn GP, which had just achieved the 2009 championship miracle, but in 2010 now had to evolve into a fully-fledged factory team supported by the resources of Stuttgart. Norbert Haug (Vice President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport), although not a designer himself, acted as the political, financial, and sporting link between the Stuttgart board of directors and the English factory in Brackley, West Northamptonshire. Strategic and technical leadership, meanwhile, belonged to Ross Brawn (Team Principal), the symbolic figure of the team thanks to his legendary strategic management skills and his deep understanding of the technical regulations, both fundamental in guiding the team into a new era. John Owen, who would later become one of the pillars of Mercedes’ unbeatable hybrid era in the following years, served as the operational Chief Designer, responsible for translating aerodynamic and mechanical concepts into the practical chassis design of the W01. Alongside him worked, among others, Craig Wilson (Head of Vehicle Engineering), Ian Wright (Chief Vehicle Dynamicist), and Russell Cooley (Chief Engineer). The aerodynamic department remained under the direction of Loïc Bigois (Head of Aerodynamics), a highly experienced French engineer who defined the lines of the W01, including bold new solutions such as the airbox. As during the Brawn GP era, Ben Wood (Chief Aerodynamicist) continued working alongside him, primarily operating within the wind tunnel department. On the pit wall there were also other key figures, including Jock Clear, Senior Race Engineer and race engineer for young German talent Nico Rosberg, and Andrew Shovlin, currently Mercedes’ Trackside Engineering Director, but in 2010 tasked with the epic and extremely difficult role of race engineer for seven-time World Champion Michael Schumacher, who had been convinced to return to Formula 1 at the age of 41. While the chassis was built in Brackley, the engines were developed in nearby Brixworth, where Andy Cowell (Engineering Director of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines) oversaw the design and development of the powerful and highly competitive FO 108X V8. The main limitation of this technical staff was not competence, but rather the relatively small number of personnel compared to giants such as Red Bull, Ferrari, and McLaren.

MERCEDES MGP W01, Nico Rosberg
Melbourne, Australian GP 2010

   The new MGP W01 was a direct descendant of the 2009 World Championship-winning Brawn GP 001, with only a few targeted modifications. The front wing featured highly complex multi-element flaps, with endplates designed to direct airflow outward around the front wheels (outwash), reducing the harmful turbulence generated by tire rotation. The nose was raised significantly and sculpted underneath, creating an inverted “V” profile aimed at freeing the car’s central section and channeling as much undisturbed airflow as possible toward the flat floor and rear diffuser. With the new regulations banning refueling during races, the W01 also had to adopt a 150 kg fuel tank, compared to the 90 kg tank used in 2009, inevitably resulting in longer and bulkier sidepods. The radiators were tilted even further, while the sidepods were heavily undercut in their lower section. This channel allowed airflow striking the central part of the car to move rapidly along the bodywork, converging toward the narrowed rear section and blowing directly over the diffuser. Despite having invented the double diffuser the previous year as Brawn GP, Mercedes’ 2010 diffuser was surpassed by the competition — especially Red Bull — and the airflow reaching the rear end lacked sufficient energy, limiting the car’s stability through high-speed corners. During the season, following McLaren’s example, the W01 was also hastily equipped with the F-Duct system, which channeled air from the front of the cockpit through an internal duct within the bodywork to the rear wing. This interrupted the boundary layer of airflow tightly attached to the wing surface, causing a controlled aerodynamic stall that reduced drag and increased top speed by approximately 10 km/h. Despite these developments, the W01 suffered from chronic understeer, only partially reduced by a wheelbase extension introduced from the Spanish Grand Prix onward. By moving the front axle forward, engineers attempted to alter the car’s weight distribution and aerodynamic map to improve stability and corner-entry precision, though this compromise never fully solved the car’s fundamental issues.

MERCEDES MGP W01, Michael Schumacher
Shanghai, Chinese GP 2010

   The mechanical side of the car represented its true engineering heart. It was in this department that the foundations for the team’s future successes were laid, thanks to the excellence of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines in Brixworth combined with the chassis developed in Brackley. The FO 108X V8 was regarded as the benchmark engine on the grid thanks to its low fuel consumption and ability to tolerate extremely high operating temperatures. The gearbox casing was built entirely from composite materials and structurally integrated with the rear suspension. This solution provided exceptional torsional rigidity at the rear end, crucial for maintaining stable suspension geometry under the enormous loads generated by the double diffuser. The suspension layout retained the classic push-rod configuration at both the front and rear, featuring carbon-fiber double wishbones, torsion bars, and adjustable inboard dampers. With the new 245 mm front tires (270 mm in 2009), the W01 struggled to generate sufficient front-end mechanical grip, drastically reducing the optimal operating window of the tires and triggering the chronic understeer that particularly penalized Michael Schumacher.

MERCEDES MGP W01, Michael Schumacher
Melbourne, Australian GP 2010 

   The car’s potential immediately proved to be solid but limited, turning 2010 into a year of mixed fortunes. Over a single qualifying lap, only Rosberg consistently managed to extract the car’s full potential, almost always qualifying inside the top ten. In race trim, however, the car displayed two distinct personalities, heavily influenced by the new no-refueling regulations. At the start of races, with more than 150 kg of fuel onboard, the W01 was heavy, sluggish through direction changes, and tended to destroy its front tires prematurely due to sliding during corner entry. As the fuel load decreased, the outstanding efficiency of the Mercedes engine and the car’s mechanical balance improved significantly. During the final stints, both Schumacher and Rosberg were often able to lap at record pace, very close to the leaders, but the time lost during the first half of the race was impossible to recover. Rosberg’s three third-place podium finishes in Malaysia, China, and Great Britain represented the team’s best results of the season, while Schumacher achieved no better than fourth place, which he secured three times. Fourth place in the Constructors’ Championship perfectly reflected Mercedes’ season: best of “the rest,” behind the dominant forces of Red Bull, McLaren, and Ferrari. In the Drivers’ Championship, Rosberg finished seventh with 142 points, two places ahead of Schumacher, who scored only 72 points.