zzdcar
Home
/
Reviews
/
Racing
/
The 2017 Mercedes F1 Car Is The Gorgeous Racer With The Dumb Name We've All Been Waiting For
The 2017 Mercedes F1 Car Is The Gorgeous Racer With The Dumb Name We've All Been Waiting For-July 2024
2024-02-19 EST 22:11:25

The Mercedes Formula One team has won an incredible 51 out of the past 59 races since 2014 by nailing the switch to turbocharged V6 hybrid engines and forcing everyone else to play catch-up. But did they also nail the 2017 F1 spec? Here’s the new F1 car of 2017, complete with the name of a vacuum cleaner: the Mercedes W08 EQ Power+.

Mercedes its newest, shiniest Silver Arrow at Silverstone today, letting drivers Valtteri Bottas and Lewis Hamilton take it out on track. Only 17 percent of the components on the car were carried over from last year’s Mercedes W07, according to the team.

“EQ Power+” refers to the new M08 EQ Power+ power unit—the all-new fourth iteration of Mercedes’ all-conquering turbo V6 hybrid, which Mercedes says was built to withstand more intense physical loads and a more severe duty cycle than its predecessors. Cars are expected to spend 10 percent more time at full throttle this year, and Mercedes doesn’t want to have another round of like those suffered by Lewis Hamilton throughout 2016.

“EQ” is Mercedes’ new brand buzzword for its electric cars, and stands for “electric intelligence,” because “intelligence” starts with the letter Q. You’ll see this name popping up soon on all of Mercedes’ plug-in hybrid road cars. Flowing lines of electric blue have been worked into the W08's livery accordingly.

By now, the features common on 2017-spec F1 cars are starting to feel familiar: a hyper-complex front wing, wider tires, lots of curious aerodynamic forms on the barge boards in front of the sidepods, and rear wing uprights that are angled back ever so slightly.

Mercedes’ vestigial is more of a subtle mohawk on the top of its engine cover, standing in sharp contrast to the meat cleaver attached to the top of.

There’s a very good chance that we’re going to grow tired of seeing this car, so let’s enjoy it while it’s still fresh. If Mercedes continues their streak of utter domination after winning 51 of the past 59 races since 2014, it will just feel like business as usual at this point. We’ll see far too much of this car leading the pack, and I’ll regret having woken up at 5 a.m. to catch an uninteresting race.

If Mercedes doesn’t continue their hellbent warpath of total F1 annihilation, no shortage of ink will be spilled on whatever may be to blame. Did they not spend enough time on the car? Do the drivers hate each other? How can Merc boss Toto Wolff get his groove back? A flood of takes will soon smother us all as if we were the .

Development of the new car started before the new regulations were even finalized, and a concept was already in the wind tunnel before the final race of 2016. Since then, it has had over 2,000 runs in the wind tunnel.

Wolff also expects Hamilton and Bottas to compete against each other just as fiercely as Hamilton raced his now-retired teammate . We’ll see if erupts between these two.

Comments
Welcome to zzdcar comments! Please keep conversations courteous and on-topic. To fosterproductive and respectful conversations, you may see comments from our Community Managers.
Sign up to post
Sort by
Show More Comments
Racing
Nearly Half The Dakar Rally Hasn't Run Because Of Bad Weather, Massive Landslide
Nearly Half The Dakar Rally Hasn't Run Because Of Bad Weather, Massive Landslide
Yet stage of this year’s Dakar Rally has been cancelled. Today’s 607-mile Stage 9 from Salta to Chilecito has been cancelled due to a landslide blocking the route, according to Mini. A whopping 42 percent of the Dakar Rally route has been run due to inclement weather. A massive landslide...
Jul 5, 2026
Huge Formula E Sim Race At CES Ruined By Fanboost Glitch
Huge Formula E Sim Race At CES Ruined By Fanboost Glitch
One of the gimmicks Formula E uses to try getting fans more involved is Fanboost: fans vote for their favorites to give them a boost in-race. During the series’ first-ever eRace that pit Formula E pros against professional gamers, however, the controversial gimmick had perhaps its biggest failure yet. Ten...
Jul 5, 2026
Daniel Suárez Becomes First Mexican To Compete Full-Time In NASCAR's Top Series
Daniel Suárez Becomes First Mexican To Compete Full-Time In NASCAR's Top Series
One fast Mexican has become NASCAR’s reminder that driving talent knows no borders. This year, Daniel Suárez became the first Mexican driver to win a NASCAR national series race, and later the first foreign-born driver to win a NASCAR national series title. Now he’s riding that wave of firsts into...
Jul 5, 2026
NASCAR Driver Points To Concussions As A Reason For Leaving Racing
NASCAR Driver Points To Concussions As A Reason For Leaving Racing
NASCAR fan favorite Carl Edwards announced he’d be from full-time racing today, and made sure to note that he wanted to do so while he still has his health.“I don’t like how it feels, the hits that we take,” Edwards during today’s press conference. “I’m still sharp,” Edwards noted early...
Jul 5, 2026
Williams May Receive Mercedes' Technical Wizard In Exchange For Letting Bottas Go
Williams May Receive Mercedes' Technical Wizard In Exchange For Letting Bottas Go
The Mercedes Formula One team that their technical-side Executive Director Paddy Lowe will be leaving the team after three and a half years. His likely (though still unconfirmed) destination is Williams, reports . Williams has to receive someone in exchange for letting Finnish driver Valtteri Bottas go, and are saying...
Jul 5, 2026
Take A Look At All The Rad Cars Running The 24 Hours Of Daytona This Year
Take A Look At All The Rad Cars Running The 24 Hours Of Daytona This Year
IMSA’s big test weekend ahead of the 24 Hours of Daytona, the Roar Before the 24, was this weekend. Videos from the Roar have been trickling onto the internet, showing those of us who weren’t there all of the sweet new endurance cars that will try to win one of...
Jul 5, 2026
Copyright 2023-2026 - www.zzdcar.com All Rights Reserved