Formula 1 Mercedes vs. Ferrari – Global Sports Planet

Editorial credit: ZRyzner / Shutterstock.com

Dozens of constructors have participated in Formula 1 since the first championship in 1950. Some of them have had a short stint with more pain than glory, while other teams have raced for several decades, eventually achieving success.

Mercedes and Ferrari are two of the greatest teams to have ever raced in F1. They have won numerous championships, victories, and podiums and have marked some of the most dominant eras in the category. With their successes, they have contributed greatly to the evolution and exposure of the sport.

It would be difficult to tell and understand the history of Formula 1 without mentioning Ferrari and Mercedes, as the category is what it is today largely thanks to great constructors like them. Without further ado, let\’s take a look at these two great manufacturers!

Mercedes vs. Ferrari: A Review Of Their History

Although Ferrari and Mercedes are two of the biggest teams in Formula 1, their stories are far from similar, but both are impressive nonetheless.

Ferrari: The Most Successful Team in F1 History

Ferrari is not only one of the most famous car brands in the world, but it is also the longest-running and most successful team in the history of F1, having participated in the category since the first championship in 1950, achieving more success than any other team. Ferrari is the most iconic team in the category and is synonymous with Formula 1.

Ferrari was founded in 1929 by Enzo Ferrari and was one of the first teams to join the category after its creation, and one of the first to achieve success. Being such a long-lived team, they have had periods with many successes and other difficult and uncompetitive times, but they have always remained steadfast in their commitment to F1.

The 50s, 60s, and 70s were very successful years for the Italians, as they established themselves as one of the best teams on the grid, winning numerous championships and being very competitive, and fighting against other great teams such as Alfa Romeo, Lotus, Brabham, and McLaren. Alberto Ascari, Juan Manuel Fangio, and Niki Lauda were some of the drivers who achieved success with the Prancing Horse.

However, the era of the 80s and 90s was the team\’s darkest era, as in those 20 years they only won 3 constructors\’ titles and no drivers\’ titles. In the 2000s, on the other hand, came their most glorious and dominant days, winning every possible title between 2000 and 2004 with Michael Schumacher.

Ferrari\’s last drivers\’ championship was in 2007 with Kimi Räikkönen, and its last constructors\’ championship was in 2008. After several years of internal restructuring, now in 2022, it seems that the Italians finally have a competitive car for their drivers, Leclerc and Sainz, who will try to lead the team to success again.

Mercedes: The Dominant Silver Arrows

During the 20th century, Mercedes only participated as a constructor in F1 in the 1954 and 1955 championships, dominating both seasons with Juan Manuel Fangio. At the end of 1955, the Silver Arrows withdrew from motorsport after the disastrous accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, in which their driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators were killed.

Mercedes returned to Formula 1 in the 1990s as an engine supplier, but it was not until 2010 that it returned to the category as a constructor, in a historic comeback after the purchase of Brawn GP, with Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg as its drivers.

The team\’s first years after its return were competitive, scoring on a permanent basis and achieving some victories and podiums, but it was from 2014 with the arrival of the V6 turbo-hybrid engines when the Silver Arrows began to write their history.

Since that year, the German manufacturer has won all possible drivers\’ and constructors\’ titles, with the exception of the 2021 drivers\’ title won by Max Verstappen with Red Bull. Mercedes has marked one of the longest dominant stints in history, positioning itself as one of the most successful teams in the category.

With them, Lewis Hamilton has won 6 world championships, equaling Michael Schumacher with 7 and becoming the statistically best driver in F1 history. Only his teammate Nico Rosberg in 2016, and Verstappen in 2021 have been able to beat the Englishman. Mercedes has raced relatively few seasons in F1 but has always been competitive, which makes it an even more impressive achievement.

Mercedes vs. Ferrari: Stats

As mentioned above, Ferrari is the longest-running team in Formula 1, and the most successful in the history of the category. In 72 years of competition, the Prancing Horse has participated in 1041 races, obtaining 239 victories, 782 podiums, 236 pole positions, 257 fastest laps, 16 constructors\’ championships, and 15 drivers\’ championships; figures that seem unmatched.

With these figures, the Italians have won 22.96% of the races in which they have participated, and have achieved 37.56% of podiums, 22.67% of pole positions, and 24.69% of fastest laps.

Mercedes, on the other hand, has only participated in 15 seasons in Formula 1, but surprisingly, the German manufacturer is the third-best team in the history of the category, something totally mind-blowing and hardly unmatchable for any new team that wants to enter the sport.

In a total of 258 races, the Silver Arrows have achieved 124 wins, 269 podiums, 135 pole positions, 94 fastest laps, 8 constructors\’ championships, and 9 drivers\’ championships. This means that they have achieved 48% of the victories, 52.13% of the podiums, 52.3% of the pole positions, and 36.4% of the fastest laps in the races in which they have participated.

Mercedes vs. Ferrari: Their Most Successful Drivers

Driving for Ferrari or Mercedes is the dream of any young driver, as it is almost a guarantee of success. Dozens of drivers have driven for these great manufacturers, some more successfully than others.

Here are the most successful Ferrari and Mercedes drivers, and their stats with the team. As you can see, these drivers are some of the best in history, achieving multiple victories, podiums, and championships. Of particular note are Michael Schumacher with Ferrari and Lewis Hamilton with Mercedes, who are the two best drivers in F1 history.

Mercedes vs. Ferrari: Which Teams Do They Supply Engines To?

Mercedes and Ferrari are two big constructors, but they are also engine suppliers to other teams, called \”customer teams\”. These teams build and develop their chassis (or they can also buy them), but they do not make their own engines, but buy specifications from big manufacturers.

In the history of Formula 1, there have been numerous engine suppliers, such as Ford, Maserati, Porsche, Peugeot, BRM, and Vanwall, although currently there are only 4: Ferrari, Mercedes, Renault, and Red Bull Powertrains.

Ferrari supplies engines to Alfa Romeo and Haas, while Mercedes supplies engines to McLaren, Aston Martin, and Williams. Renault is Alpine\’s engine, and Red Bull Powertrains is the engine of Red Bull and its second team, AlphaTauri, which is developed together with Honda after the Japanese manufacturer left the category at the end of 2021.

Mercedes vs. Ferrari: The 2022 Championship

Since the beginning of the hybrid era in 2014, Mercedes has had the best car on the grid, which has allowed its dominance, while Ferrari has been varying its performance, having seasons with the second-best car and others with very uncompetitive cars.

However, in 2022 the roles have been reversed, and Ferrari has a very competitive car to stand up to Red Bull, the best team, while Mercedes seems to be the third-best team. With 9 races held, the Italians have achieved 2 victories and 7 podiums, while the Silver Arrows have achieved only 5 podiums. However, until the end of the season, the performance of both teams can vary a lot, so either could finish in front.

This change in performance is largely due to regulatory changes in the aerodynamics of the 2022 cars. The new Mercedes W13 has a very aggressive design, with almost non-existent sidepods and very small air intakes that, in theory, allow to generate a much more powerful aerodynamic flow around it, which in turn allows to improve the performance of the underbody and diffuser.

However, this has been inefficient so far, as with the return of the \”ground effect\”, the German team has had excessive \”porpoising\” problems that have been holding them back, causing handling and balance issues.

On the other hand, the Ferrari F1-75 has been much faster and more balanced so far, with great cornering speed, although it lacks a bit of top speed on the straights. The new car is very fast on one lap, as Charles Leclerc has demonstrated by taking 6 pole positions, although its greatest asset is reliability, which has led to 3 retirements, including a double retirement at the Azerbaijan GP.

Formula 1: The Best Ferrari vs. The Best Mercedes

Mercedes and Ferrari have built some of the best and most dominant cars in history, however, like any collection, each has its own shining pearl. The one considered the best Ferrari of all is the F2004 of the 2004 season, which is the most dominant car in history, with which Michael Schumacher won his seventh championship.

On the other hand, the best Mercedes is the Mercedes W11 of the 2020 season, which also dominated the season and is in fact the fastest F1 car in history.

Ferrari F2004

The Ferrari F2004 is one of the most iconic cars in F1 history, as it was the pinnacle of Ferrari\’s golden days in the category. It was driven by Michael Schumacher and Rubens Barrichello and was designed by Rory Byrne, Ignazio Lunetta, Aldo Costa, Marco Fainello, John Iley, and James Allison.

The F2004 was designed to be a qualifying car, so it did very short runs and had to make frequent pit stops for refueling. It has a wheelbase of 3050 mm, and an overall length of 4545 mm. It is 1.8 meters wide and weighs 605 kg. It has a V10 engine that can complete about 800 km and needs about 180 kg of fuel to complete the entire race distance.

In 18 races, the F2004 achieved 15 victories, 12 pole positions, and 14 fastest laps.

Mercedes W11

The Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 EQ Performance, or simply the Mercedes W11, is the fastest car in the history of Formula 1, due to the numerous track records it set which have not been beaten since, making it one of the greatest race cars of all time.

The W11 has a wheelbase of 3726 mm, a length of 5773 mm overall, and 2 meters wide, making it much larger than the F2004. At 745 kg, it is 140 kg heavier than the F2004.

Its aerodynamics are much more complex and the difference in weight is explained by the new safety elements introduced, such as the halo, and above all by the greater weight of the turbocharged V6 engine, which is much more complex than the V10. The V6 engine produces about 1,000 hp (about 100 more than the F2004), is capable of running over 6,000 km, and is limited to 110 kg of fuel per race.

In 17 races, the Mercedes W11 scored 13 victories, 15 pole positions, 9 fastest laps, 12 front-row lockouts, and 5 one-two finishes.

\"\" — Editorial credit: PatrickLauzon photographe / Shutterstock.com

Conclusion

It would be difficult to understand the history of Formula 1 without Mercedes and Ferrari. The two great manufacturers are an essential part of the category and have contributed substantially to the evolution of the sport.

Not only have they designed and built some of the best and most innovative cars in history, but they have taken many drivers to the top, making them legends of the sport, such as Michael Schumacher, Lewis Hamilton, and Niki Lauda. As long as major manufacturers such as Mercedes and Ferrari remain in the category, the show is assured.