Tales from the paddock: Split strategies at Suzuka and talent spotting in Valencia

The F1 teams and drivers have now left East Asia; meanwhile, Mercedes-AMG is preparing for the Young Driver Test to be held in the context of the AMG #racing Series.

• Split Strategy Secures Solid #suzuka Sunday
• Customer #racing News: Mercedes-AMG organises Young Driver Test as talent spotting exercise
• Anthony Liu Xu wins Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia championship ahead of second-placed Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim
• News snippets: Results and Facts & Social Media News

Split Strategy Secures Solid #suzuka Sunday

Japan hosted its 37th F1 race last weekend. The Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team scored a highly respectable 16 World Championship points in the 16th round of the 2023 F1 season, keeping the loss of points in the battle for second place in the Constructors' World Championship to a minimum.

As in the Singapore Grand Prix a week earlier, strategy once again played a decisive role. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell started a hard-fought Grand Prix from seventh and eighth on the grid.

Having each lost one position on the opening lap, both drivers adopted different strategies as the race progressed, with Lewis calling in the pits twice and George opting for a one-stop strategy. It was a bold decision by the team which succeeded in driving a wedge between the two Ferrari drivers. Lewis eventually finished fifth behind Charles Leclerc but ahead of Carlos Sainz in sixth. George came in next in seventh.

How the strategy decision secured important points: mb4.me/WPlKozQn

After 16 of the 22 races on this year's itinerary, the team occupies second place in the Constructors' Championship with a score of 305 points - 20 ahead of Ferrari. The 2023 campaign resumes on the weekend of 6 - 8 October with the Qatar Grand Prix, a fixture that is featuring on the race calendar for only the second time.

Customer #racing News: Young Driver Test in framework of the AMG #racing Series

Between 7 and 11 November, the AMG #racing Series will be hosted by the Circuit Ricardo Tormo in #valencia. During this week-long track day event, participants can test the limits of their vehicle under the safe guidance of highly qualified engineers and professional #racing drivers.

Mercedes-AMG will be holding a 'Young Driver Test' on 9 and 10 November, in the course of which the Customer #racing Teams will have the opportunity to send promising #racing drivers (male and female) in the 17 ‑ 25 age bracket out on track. Teams can nominate one or maximum two talented youngsters per vehicle. The 'Young Drivers', who must have earned the FIA Gold or Silver rating, will initially demonstrate their skills in an individual time trial. There will be two groups, from each of which the ten fastest youngsters will qualify for a long run. The two most successful drivers will be honoured at the final 'Champions United' event and will also be offered a starting place in a future international GT3 race, when they will be coached by an experienced Mercedes-AMG Performance driver.

Christoph Sagemüller, Head of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport: "Bringing on young talent is very important to us as a manufacturer. Unfortunately, there are very few support programmes in Germany for the motor #racing stars of the future. We want to fulfil our responsibilities in this regard, so we are offering the AMG Young Driver Test as a platform, by means of which youngsters can showcase their talent under professional guidance. In partnership with our Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing Teams, we will give the two best drivers to emerge from the test a starting place in an international GT3 race. In this way, we are not only talent spotting but also specifically giving the most promising newcomers the chance to prove themselves at the highest level - supported by the expertise of a Mercedes-AMG Performance driver."

Anthony Liu Xu wins Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia championship ahead of second-placed Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim

Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia: At last weekend's season finale of the Fanatec GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS on the Sepang International Circuit, Anthony Liu Xu (CHN) won the drivers' championship. Ably assisted by Craft Bamboo #racing team-mate Daniel Juncadella (ESP), with whom he shared the cockpit of the #37 Mercedes-AMG GT3, Liu Xu took second place in Saturday's race. Mikaël Grenier (CAN) and Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim (MAS) in the number 88 Triple Eight JMR car finished third. On Sunday, Liu Xu scored a solitary point after being burdened with a ten-second success handicap, but this was still enough for the three-time race winner to wrap up the drivers' championship. Lifting the runner's-up trophy, five points behind Liu Xu, was Prince Abu Bakar Ibrahim, who once again finished third on Sunday.

Bian Hao and Hu Yuqi (both CHN) were meanwhile clinching the GT3-Am championship. The Climax #racing duo in the number 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3 secured no fewer than four class victories and six further podium finishes in the twelve races contested this season.

News snippets: Results and Facts & Social Media News

DTM: At the Red Bull Ring, the Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing teams were battling it out for championship points on the seventh race weekend of the 2023 DTM. The best-placed Mercedes-AMG driver in Saturday's race was Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER's Maro Engel (GER) in fifth. Luca Stolz (GER) in the #4 GT3 took seventh place, while his Mercedes-AMG Team HRT team-mate Arjun Maini (IND) crossed the line in 14th position. Lucas Auer (AUT), who started from 27th on the grid, also secured a point after an immaculate charge through the field to 15th place. Maini (10th), Auer (11th) and Engel (12th) again finished in the points in Sunday's race.

Fast Fact: Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD performed the fastest pit stop of the race on Saturday. The mechanics serviced the #27 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of David Schumacher (GER) in just 6.08 seconds. It was the third time this season that the team scored the full three points towards the DTM Pit Stop Challenge. Going into the season finale at Hockenheim, Mercedes-AMG Team WINWARD are in second place in this classification, three points behind the leaders. In Sunday's race, Mercedes-AMG Team MANN-FILTER delivered the second-fastest pit stop. Maro Engel in the number 48 GT3 was sent on his way after 6.46 seconds, earning the team two points towards the DTM Pit Stop Challenge.

More about the DTM at the Red Bull Ring: amg4.me/news_en

ADAC GT Masters: The Landgraf Motorsport pairing of Salman Owega (GER) and Elias Seppänen (FIN) travel to the season finale at the Hockenheimring as overall leaders in the ADAC GT Masters. After finishing sixth in Sunday's race in Spielberg, their lead over the current runners-up is 20 points. Performance driver Philip Ellis (SUI) and Petru Umbrarescu (ROU) in the #3 GT3 of Haupt #racing Team claimed the third podium spot on Sunday. The final two races will be contested at the Hockenheimring on the weekend of 21/22 October.

GT World Challenge America: Colin Braun and George Kurtz (both USA) are still in with a good chance of winning the Pro-Am championship in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS. Sharing the #04 Crowdstrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3, the duo finished third in their classification in both races at the Sebring International Raceway. This puts them in second place in the Pro-Am drivers' standings, three points behind the leaders, going into the season finale at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

In the first of the GT America races forming part of the supporting programme, Memo Gidley (USA) of TKO Motorsports secured his sixth win of the season ahead of CRP Racing's Jason Daskalos (USA) in second. On Sunday, the two swapped positions to chalk up another one-two. Michai Stephens (USA) and Jesse Webb (CAN) of Conquest Racing/JMF Motorsports contributed a further victory for the brand in the third GT4 America race.

International GT Open: The International GT Open held its penultimate race event of 2023 at the Autodromo Nazionale Monza last weekend. In Sunday's race, Reece Barr (IRL) and Mikaeel Pitamber (RSA) celebrated an overall victory. Having originally finished in second place, the duo in the #20 SPS #automotive performance Mercedes-AMG GT3 moved up to first place after the interim winners were handed a retrospective time penalty. It was the first win of the 2023 International GT Open for Barr and Pitamber. On the previous day, Aaron Walker and James Wallis (both USA) driving the number 6 car fielded by Team GetSpeed had finished third overall. Axel Blom (FIN) and Steve Jans (LUX) in the #911 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of GetSpeed also contributed a win and a podium finish in this class. Two more class podiums in the AM category for GetSpeed duo Kiki Sak Nana (THI) and Adam Osieka (GER) and for Team Motopark with Heiko Neumann and Timo Rumpfkeil (both GER) rounded off a set of gratifying results for the Mercedes-AMG Customer #racing teams this weekend.

GT4 France: On the fifth GT4 France race weekend of the 2023 season, this time hosted by the Circuit de Lédénon, Vic'Team secured two class podiums. In the first of two one-hour races, Olivier Jouffret and Eric Tremoulet (both FRA) in the #64 Mercedes-AMG GT4 took second place in the Pro-Am category. In Race 2, the duo went one better and took the class win. As a result, Jouffret and Tremoulet take over at the top of the Pro-Am drivers' standings, while Vic'Team lead the Pro-Am team standings by a margin of twelve points.

#RaceResults - All the results from the most recent motorsport weekend:

#HotLap: One lucky fan at the Japanese Grand Prix was surprised and delighted to be taken on a hot lap of the #suzuka International #racing Course by Mick Schumacher.

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=6paAL1XNsAs

#JapaneseGP: Suzuka is a tradition-steeped F1 track - the only one on the race calendar with a figure-of-eight layout. A real driver's circuit. George Russell takes on the challenge of drawing it from memory - blindfolded!

Watch video: www.youtube.com/watch?v=dZegBdk6d_A

#StayTuned: Race events this coming weekend with Mercedes-AMG participation: