The Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid was a Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car designed and developed under the direction of Paddy Lowe, Aldo Costa, Geoff Willis, Loïc Serra, Russell Cooley, John Owen, Mike Elliottand Jarrod Murphy to compete in the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship. The cars were driven by Nico Rosberg and the reigning World Champion Lewis Hamilton, who remained with the team for a sixth and third season, respectively.
The chassis was named "F1 W06 Hybrid" to represent the sixth Formula One car that Mercedes had constructed since 2010, while the hybrid was marked to recognize the utilization of fully integrated hybrid power units. The car made its competitive debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2015 season. After participating in 18 rounds of Grand Prix racing, the car made its final competition appearance at the season finale race – the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before retirement.
Design and development[]
The F1 W06 Hybrid was the successor of the highly successful F1 W05 Hybrid, which has been described as one of the most dominant in the sport's history. The new car was seen as an evolutionary design, with Lewis Hamilton declaring that "it is difficult to pick up any differences" between the two.Differences in design, apart from regulated changes for noses and front wings, were minimal, such as changes to the upper part of the suspension.
Season development[]
The car underwent several changes over the course of the season, although not all of them were permanent. The first came at the Chinese Grand Prix, where Mercedes introduced new, square-shaped arches next to the front wing endplates as well as cuts near the rear wing endplates, aiming at a higher top speed. In Spain, the team arrived with narrower sidepods, including a small air duct at the bottom, either to aid cooling or to influence aerodynamics at the diffuser.At the following race in Monte Carlo, in order to improve downforce for the twisty nature of the Monaco circuit, Mercedes increased the size of the so-called "monkey seat", a smaller wing below the main rear wing.
Another change was made for the next event in Canada: the car received a larger radiator to improve the cooling of the power unit at a track where Mercedes had suffered failures of their ERS unit the year before. The larger part necessitated a bulge on the engine cover. The most obvious aerodynamic change was the curve rear wing which was introduced during 2015 Belgian Grand Prix, the introduction was to allow for a decrease in drag without the associated loss of downforce. The curve rear wing was again used at the notable track: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, hosting the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.
Season resume[]
The performance of the F1 W06 Hybrid was statistically the most dominant in any F1 season, earning a record number of 703 constructor's points out of a possible 817; they lost just 114 points across the whole season (earning 86.0% of points available). Both cars finished on the podium for 9 consecutive races, matching the record held by Ferrari – from the 1952 Belgian Grand Prix to the 1953 Belgian Grand Prix. The team clinched their second consecutive Constructors' Championship at the Russian Grand Prix, the 15th race of the season. Hamilton clinched his third Driver's championship one race later at the United States Grand Prix after gaining his tenth win of the season. In the nineteen races, the F1 W06 Hybrid took sixteen wins (ten for Hamilton and six for Rosberg), eighteen pole positions (eleven for Hamilton and seven for Rosberg), thirteen fastest laps (eight for Hamilton and five for Rosberg), fifteen front row lockouts and twelve 1–2 finishes. The competitiveness and performance of F1 W06 Hybrid set numerous records throughout the season, following Mercedes' successes the previous year.
Season results[]
| Year | Entrant | Engine | Tyres | Drivers | Grands Prix | Points | WCC | ||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| AUS | MAL | CHN | BHR | ESP | MON | CAN | AUT | GBR | HUN | BEL | ITA | SIN | JPN | RUS | USA | MEX | BRA | ABU | |||||||
| 2015 | Mercedes AMGPetronas F1 Team | Mercedes-BenzPU106B Hybrid | P | Nico Rosberg | 2 | 3 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 2 | 8 | 2 | 17† | 4 | 2 | Ret | 2 | 1 | 1 | 1 | 703 | 1st |
| Lewis Hamilton | 1 | 2 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 3 | 1 | 2 | 1 | 6 | 1 | 1 | Ret | 1 | 1 | 1 | 2 | 2 | 2 | ||||||