A Flying Visit
Mercedes-Benz brings contemporary and classic Formula 1 racecars to California’s wine country – and sets a new track record at Sonoma Raceway
Article Gary Horstkorta
Images Peter Darnall, Gary Horstkorta
The challenging curves and elevation changes of the Sonoma Raceway, built in Northern California’s wine country in 1968 as a Sports Car Club of America regional road course and local drag strip, have more recently hosted most forms of contemporary and vintage motorsports competition. However, only in the last decade have Formula 1 cars appeared here, and even then, those were long-retired machines racing under the auspices of the Historic Grand Prix vintage F1 organization.
Modern F1 cars had never turned a wheel on this exacting circuit, once known as Sears Point Raceway. That is, until the 2019 Sonoma Speed Festival held its inaugural event May 30-June 2, the latest version of a vintage-racing event held on the track around the Memorial Day weekend every year since 1987.
New organizers, who took over the event late last year, made substantial changes for this year’s festival in pursuit of a redefined mission: “The Sonoma Speed Festival is dedicated to highlighting the best racecars and collections from the international community and the U.S. One of the primary goals of the event is to connect the beauty and sophistication of the wine country to an event that is spectator- and participant-friendly while showcasing the best aspects of Northern California.”
Emulating the model of the Goodwood Revival that takes place near Chichester, England, every September, and highlights the theme, “A magical step back in time,” the Sonoma Speed Festival significantly upgraded the setting for the weekend. A formal paddock with a drivers’ lounge was created to showcase 200 historically correct racecars. Other amenities were added, including trackside suites, food court, wine-tasting pavilion and a variety of exhibits to entertain and educate spectators about racing traditions.
One festival highlight, not announced until April, was a special exhibit presented by Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsports featuring the F1 W07/04 Hybrid championship-winning car driven by Lewis Hamilton to 10 victories in 2016. In addition, the display included two other historic Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix winners, the W154 Silver Arrow of 1939 and the W196 from 1954 in streamlined body form.
Not content to simply display these significant competitors, Mercedes Motorsports brought the Mercedes team technicians and F1 test driver Esteban Gutiérrez to Sonoma for the festival, conveniently scheduled between the Monaco and Montreal Grand Prix races. Chief Mechanic and Head of Heritage Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Matt Deane said the team was “delighted” to be attending the new event. “We look forward to meeting and spending time with both existing and new American Formula 1 fans and to running on track in California for the first time with the Mercedes-Benz W07 Hybrid.” This was a major coup for the organizers and would prove to be the highlight of the race weekend.
The Mercedes-AMG team exhibit was housed in Sonoma Raceway’s driving-school garages, with ample space to display and service the three racecars and prepare the F1 car for its series of exhibition laps during the weekend. The team also ran the W154 during the weekend, with its driver in period racing gear. The W154’s thunderous 3.0-liter, supercharged V-12 engine was audible all the way around the track.
The Mercedes-AMG F1 car was not the only Formula 1 car at this event; there were 16 cars in the Masters Historic F1 race group – FIA 3-liter cars dating from 1966 to 1983 – now raced in vintage series around the world. In fact, Gutiérrez was quite interested when he spotted the Lotus F1 car once driven by Mario Andretti and asked the owner/driver if he could sit in the seat. And team members proved to be avid vintage fans as they walked the paddock taking in the variety of historic racecars from the past 100 years. It’s heartening to see that top racing professionals of today appreciate the racecars of earlier eras.
With Gutiérrez at the wheel, the 2016 Mercedes-AMG F1 car ran exhibition laps Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Weather conditions were ideal with sunny skies, a light breeze and temperatures in the low 70s as Gutiérrez negotiated the 2.5-mile, 12-turn Sonoma Raceway track.
Everyone had their eyes on the track and their fingers on their stopwatches to see what lap times this amazing car could turn. After a couple of familiarization laps in his first session, Gutiérrez picked up the pace and turned in a lap of 1:19.42, which eclipsed the previous official Sears Point/Sonoma Raceway lap record of 1:20.268 set by Allan McNish in an ALMS car in competition back in 2000. The Mercedes-AMG team was pleased with the results of this driver’s first-ever experience on the track – and on hard-compound tires at that.
Knowledgeable racing enthusiasts felt Gutiérrez could do better; he did not disappoint. During Saturday afternoon’s session, he lowered his unofficial lap record by four seconds with a 1:15.430. Many fans wondered what he could have recorded with a fresh set of soft-compound tires. In any event, it was a very impressive performance that delighted all who witnessed the fastest lap ever turned at the Sonoma track: A quick search at YouTube will produce an in-car view of Gutiérrez running the F1 car around the Sonoma track.
The fastest lap recorded during the Masters F1 feature race at Sonoma was 1:29.45 by a 1982 Lotus 91/5; compared with Gutiérrez’s best lap time in the 2016 hybrid, the 14-seconds time differential on a twisting 2.5-mile course is quite an accomplishment – and a graphic indication of how far F1 technology, aerodynamics and tires have progressed in the past four decades.
Captions
1939 Mercedes-Benz W154
Thinning morning fog brings a Lancia LC 2 into focus at Sonoma Speed Festival
Mercedes-AMG F1 mechanics prepare 2016 F1 W07 and 1954 W196 Streamliner for exhibition laps
Mercedes-AMG F1 test driver Esteban Gutiérrez on his way to setting a new lap record at Sonoma Raceway
Every corner of the paddock featured historic machines on display • The 1954 W196 Streamliner in the team garage after demonstration laps
Mercedes-AMG F1 test driver Gutiérrez tries out an ex-Mario Andretti Lotus F1 car
1939 Mercedes-Benz W154