Words by Shayni Solanki
In 2020, Mercedes’ ‘Silver Arrows’ swapped their traditional silver look for black paintwork, supporting Lewis Hamilton in his stand against racism.
Mercedes have been nicknamed ‘The Silver Arrows’ since their 1934 motorsport debut with the Mercedes-Benz W25 at the Nürburgring in Eifel. The car was deemed to be a kilo over the weight limit and so, in response, the team stripped the white paint off the car, leaving just the aluminium body that from there on became synonymous with Mercedes. The W25 went on to win the race and dominate the field until 1939. Throughout this period of domination, ‘The Silver Arrows’ nickname emerged from the press. The W25’s shiny, silvery aluminium appearance was not just dominant, but it was unique compared to the other race cars.
The foundation of Mercedes’ early success is a sore point for the motorsport giant. Being a German car manufacturer in the 1930s allowed for government subsidies in motorsport to create dominant and powerful race cars. To showcase their power and prominence, the Nazi regime funded two racing enterprises: Daimler-Benz (Mercedes-Benz) and Auto Union. German teams like Mercedes-Benz were pushed to the forefront of motorsport during this era, an era for which the car manufacturer would feel the consequences for decades to come.
The Silver Arrows returned to motorsport in the 1950s after the disruption of the war, winning their first Formula 1 championship with Juan Manuel Fangio in 1954. Mercedes-Benz experienced immediate success, however they were forced to withdraw from motorsport after the 1955 Le Mans disaster: a racing incident that began with a collision between two drivers, causing one to swerve and hit a third driver, causing the cars to skip over the barriers and into the crowd. This crash was the worst in motorsport history, killing 83 spectators and Mercedes-Benz driver Pierre Levegh. After this, Mercedes-Benz was not to be seen in motorsport until 1989.
Mercedes returned to Formula 1 as in 2010 as the Mercedes GP Petronas constructor team. After partnered with McLaren’s Formula One team for 15 championship-winning years, Mercedes sought their own team. With the acquisition of Brawn GP, the Silver Arrows were back on the grid and the glorious silvery aluminium-style body returned. Mercedes’ roster boasted the 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, two German drivers for their German team. Their initial performance was not so great, finishing behind Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull. Their 2011 season was also lacking in performance, being the only year that a Mercedes Formula 1 car failed to secure a podium finish, finishing 4th overall in the constructor’s championship.
In September 2012, Lewis Hamilton left McLaren to join the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team. In one of the most radical and unpredictable moves in Formula One history, Hamilton had left his championship-winning team to join a team that could only bank on hope. At the time, this move was considered to be a huge gamble: The Guardian claimed that it was a risk for Hamilton to move to a team that had no guarantee of success. Luckily for Lewis Hamilton, it paid off.
When sporting regulations changed in 2014, Lewis Hamilton won his first championship with Mercedes and the rest was history. From 2014-2021, Mercedes-AMG won consecutive constructors’ championships with Lewis Hamilton collecting 5 more championship titles. Tied with Michael Schumacher for 7 championship titles, Mercedes and Hamilton created one of the most dominant eras in Formula 1 history.
Throughout his career, Lewis Hamilton has been incredibly vocal about racism, homophobia, and sexism in motorsport. He has always tended to amplify voices in struggle, which came to a head in 2020. The 2020 Formula 1 season was one of many sporting events impacted by the pandemic, delayed from a March start in Australia to July after months of cancelled and postponed races. Furthermore, the 2020 peak of the Black Lives Matter movement impacted sports and people, including Lewis Hamilton, himself took to the streets to protest against police brutality and racism. Hamilton went further, condemning the deafening silence amongst his fellow drivers and teams.
Formula 1 teams typically launch their cars a month before the start of the season. In 2020, Mercedes-AMG launched its car for that year, the W11 EQ Performance, on Valentine’s Day. The W11 was launched in the traditional silver, building upon the features of their previous championship-winning cars. However, when appearing on the track in July, it was black. Having discussed the lack of diversity within their team, Team Principal Toto Wolff and Hamilton opted to reflect their passion for change through the car’s appearance. Mercedes-AMG and Lewis Hamilton announced that their 2020 livery would switch to black in support of the fight against racism. This was the first time that Mercedes strayed from their Silver Arrows aesthetic.
Mercedes-AMG supported Hamilton’s fight against racism, and went beyond what was expected. In 2020, Mercedes-AMG partnered with Hamilton to fund the latter’s motorsport diversity programme, Mission 44. Mercedes-AMG also created its own diversity programme, Accelerate 25. In a similar vein, Formula 1 launched its #WeRaceAsOne initiative to challenge inequality. Thanks to Lewis Hamilton’s groundwork, Formula 1 finally began to see a change in its nature.
Changing the livery from the iconic silver to the sleek black was more than just a stance against racism: it accelerated change on the grid and within their team. Mercedes-AMG was able to make real progress in the fight against racism. The black Mercedes brought Hamilton to his 7th world championship, breaking records across the board. In 2020 Hamilton overtook Michael Schumacher’s record for most podium finishes, most consecutive race points and finishes, most race wins, and most pole positions. He is now the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time.
There’s a popular yet misleading narrative that says Lewis Hamilton has never experienced a bad year in Formula 1, cruising through the sport while others have to “work for it” in a way he never has. Not only is this wrong, but it’s also illogical to suggest that the first and only Black Formula 1 driver wouldn’t have worked for his success.Hamilton has been subjected to racism ever since his debut in Formula 1: a notable example being the use of blackface during the 2008 Spanish Grand Prix. More recently, last year saw former Formula 1 driver and ex-father-in-law-to-be of current F1 champion Max Verstappen, Nelson Piquet, useing racist and homophobic slurs against Hamilton.
Mercedes-AMG changing their car livery to black is much more important than it may seem. Boasting not only the most successful Formula 1 driver of all time, but the first and only Black driver in the history of the sport, has seen Mercedes enter an era of dominance: a once-in-a-generation opportunity. With the action taken by Mercedes-AMG in tackling inequality, perhaps they truly have repented for their past mistakes and misgivings.
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