Mercedes-Benz in Motorsport

Have steed will race was normal stuff when equine horsepower was brought into discussion and the same translated itself into sport when vehicles powered by the internal combustion engine appeared on European roads. Within ten years of the first cars from Karl Benz and Gottlieb Daimler hitting the roads, motor sport activity began with gusto and both German brands were right in the thick of things. In fact, a Daimler was among the field which tackled the world’s first motor race, the 1894 Paris to Rouen and it was noteworthy that this car came equipped with a steering wheel – the first such in the history of the automobile.

From the early town-to-town races and then to the organized events like the Gordon Bennett Cup races and finally on to the French Grand Prix, Mercedes and Benz cars began to impress with their technological advancements and impeccable preparation. They made news when they didn’t win and the 35HP Mercedes which Emil Jellinek had ordered was the world’s first sports car. It was brutally rakish and immensely successful to be termed beautiful and the legend of Mercedes-Benz in motor sport commenced from there on.

The wins in the 1908 and 1914 French Grand Prix races put the Mercedes name on the top of the automotive pile and the German firm followed this up with wins in the Indianapolis 500 later in the decade. Benz stunned everyone on either side of the Atlantic with its Blitzen Benz racers which later turned record breakers. After the First World War, Mercedes stroked to a win in the Targa Florio while Benz tackled Grand Prix racing with rear-engine racers clothed with aerodynamic bodywork, years before Auto Union appeared on the scene. It was Mercedes-Benz all the way to Grand Prix glory in the mid to late 1930s apart from a few hiccups in 1935 when Auto Union came on strong.

After World War II, Mercedes-Benz re-entered motorsport, first with sports cars, winning the Carrera Panamericana and the Le Mans 24 Hours before they entered Grand Prix racing and demolished one and all to win both drivers and constructors crowns in 1954 and 1955. Sadly the Le Mans disaster of 1955 made the Daimler-Benz management sit up and question the firm’s involvement in the sport and at the end of 1955 the silver arrows pulled out of F1 and sports car racing.

Rallying continued from there on as did saloon car racing and when the firm made its re-entry back into motor sport in the mid-1970s; it was with a team in the London-Sydney Marathon rally which it won quite effortlessly. More forays into WRC events happened, not so successful I might add but they helped the firm to understand modern motorsport. Getting back into world championship sportscar racing was productive, the Sauber-Mercedes cars winning Le Mans and also the world championship. F1 beckoned from there on and after a hesitant start, Mercedes-Benz engines are among the fastest and the most reliable in the F1 world today, powering not just McLaren and Mercedes Grand Prix but also our very own Force India teams. On rich heritage and technological strengths, no one comes close, to besting the three-pointed star out on the motorsport world.