The Mercedes MGP W01 (originally known as the Brawn BGP 002) was a

Formula One Formula One (F1) is the highest class of worldwide racing for open-wheel single-seater formula Auto racing, racing cars sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). The FIA Formula One World Championship has been one ...

motor racing An engine or motor is a machine designed to convert one or more forms of energy into mechanical energy. Available energy sources include potential energy (e.g. energy of the Earth's gravitational field as exploited in hydroelectric power gene ...

car designed and built by the Mercedes GP

Petronas Petroliam Nasional Berhad, commonly known as PETRONAS (stylised in all caps), is a Malaysian Multinational corporation, multinational petroleum, oil and natural gas, gas company headquartered in Kuala Lumpur. Established in 1974, it is a lega ...

team for the season and was driven by the returning seven-time World Champion

Michael Schumacher Michael Schumacher (; born 3 January 1969) is a German former racing driver, who competed in Formula One from to and from to . Schumacher won a record-setting seven Formula One World Drivers' Championship titles, tied by Lewis Hamilton in ...

and Nico Rosberg.

Mercedes buyout and development

The car was revealed at the

Circuit Ricardo Tormo Circuit Ricardo Tormo, also known as ''Circuit de Valencia'' is a motorsport race track located in Cheste (Valencian Community, Spain) and built in 1999. The track is named after Spanish, two-time world champion Grand Prix motorcycle racing, Gr ...

near

Valencia Valencia ( , ), formally València (), is the capital of the Province of Valencia, province and Autonomous communities of Spain, autonomous community of Valencian Community, the same name in Spain. It is located on the banks of the Turia (r ...

at the first official test of the year on February 1. The team's silver livery was officially unveiled at the

Mercedes-Benz Museum The Mercedes-Benz Museum is an automobile museum in Stuttgart, Germany. It covers the history of the Mercedes-Benz brand and the brands associated with it. Stuttgart is home to the Mercedes-Benz brand and the international headquarters of the Merc ...

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on January 25, 2010 on the chassis of a Brawn BGP 001 following Mercedes' purchase of the championship winning team of 2009, marking the team's return to F1 for the first time since their last appearance in 1955. Some parts of the W01 were revised as part of the upgrade at the Spanish GP; increasing the

wheelbase In both road and rail vehicles, the wheelbase is the horizontal distance between the centers of the front and rear wheels. For road vehicles with more than two axles (e.g. some trucks), the wheelbase is the distance between the steering (front ...

of the car to improve the

weight distribution Weight distribution is the apportioning of weight within a vehicle, especially cars, airplanes, and trains. Typically, it is written in the form ''x''/''y'', where ''x'' is the percentage of weight in the front, and ''y'' is the percentage in t ...

, as well as changing the engine cover design. The shorter wheelbase was used again at the next grand prix, deemed more suitable for the narrow streets of the Monaco GP circuit.

Racing history

The team's achievements in their first season did not come close to the results those of Brawn the previous year and of the Mercedes team in 1954 and 1955, with the Mercedes battling

Renault Renault S.A., commonly referred to as Groupe Renault ( , , , also known as the Renault Group in English), is a French Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automobile manufacturer established in 1899. The company curr ...

for the title of 'best of the rest' behind the leading three teams of

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello. Founded in 1939 by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988), the company built Auto Avio Costruzioni 815, its first car in 1940, adopted its current name in 1945, and be ...

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited ( ) is a British auto racing, motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. The team is a subsidiary of the McLaren Group, which owns a majority of the team. McLaren is best known a ...

and

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

. Rosberg finished on the podium three times, at Sepang,

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and

Silverstone Silverstone is a village and civil parish in the West Northamptonshire unitary authority area of Northamptonshire, England. The village is about south-southwest of Towcester and northeast of Brackley, both accessed via the A43 road, A43 main ...

. Schumacher's best finishes were three fourth places. He did not score a race win, podium, pole position or fastest lap for the first time since his début season in 1991, and also scored the worst finish of his F1 career at

, where he finished fifteenth. Schumacher was penalised for dangerous driving after forcing his former

team-mate

Rubens Barrichello Rubens Gonçalves Barrichello (; born 23 May 1972) is a Brazilian racing driver and sports broadcasting, broadcaster, who competes in the Stock Car Pro Series for Full Time Sports. Nicknamed "Rubinho" (), Barrichello competed in Formula One fro ...

towards the pit wall at in

Hungary Hungary is a landlocked country in Central Europe. Spanning much of the Pannonian Basin, Carpathian Basin, it is bordered by Slovakia to the north, Ukraine to the northeast, Romania to the east and southeast, Serbia to the south, Croatia and ...

. At the last race in

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Schumacher spun while trying to overtake Rosberg and was hit by Vitantonio Liuzzi's Force India. The team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with 214 points

Complete Formula One results

( key) (results in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap) Driver failed to finish, but was classified as they had completed >90% of the race distance.

Gallery

File:Nico Rosberg 2010 Spain.jpg, Nico Rosberg at the 2010 Spanish Grand Prix File:Nico Rosberg 2010 Japan Race.jpg, Nico Rosberg leads teammate Michael Schumacher at the 2010 Japanese Grand Prix File:Schumacher abu dabi 2010.jpg, Michael Schumacher at the 2010 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix

References

External links

{{F1 cars 2010 MGP W01