[Gallery] 125 Years of Mercedes-Benz motorsport at FOS
There’s very little Mercedes-Benz hasn’t achieved in the world of motorsport. Sportscars, touring cars, land speed record breakers, IndyCar, Formula 1 and early grand prix racing, Mercedes-Benz has been there, done that, and been rather successful, too.
2019 marks 125 years since Mercedes-Benz first ventured into motorsport, and so Mercedes decided to mark that landmark by bringing some of its most prized and successful racers along to the 2019 Festival of Speed presented by Mastercard, as well as some of its drivers, past and present.
What cars, exactly? A Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR, W125, W165, W196, C11, 190 E 2.5-16 Evolution II DTM, C63 AMG DTM, the Blitzen Benz, a 1908 Grand Prix car and the Sauber-Mercedes C9. Oh, and let’s not forget Michael Schumacher’s 2011 W02 F1 car and the 2017 Mercedes W08 EQ Power+.
As for drivers, current Mercedes F1 pilot Valtteri Bottas and reserve driver Esteban Ocon were here to shred tyres, and Mercedes legends Jochen Mass, Bernd Mayländer, Karl Wendlinger and Ellen Lohr to name just a few.
Photography by Tom Shaxson, Ocon and Bottas images by Drew Gibson.