Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport at Sonoma Speed Festival - 2019

W07/04 at Circuit of The Americas during Friday pitstop practice at the 2016 USGP

While many of the cars appearing at the Sonoma Speed Festival will have significant racing history, none will have competed on as big a stage with their factory so recently as the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport Team when they run the 2016 W07/04 Formula 1 car.

One of our highlights at the festival, and an extremely rare event worldwide for a current Formula 1 World Championship winning team to demonstrate their modern era race winning turbo hybrid car, this is a not to be missed chance to see and experience the team preparing, firing up and running on track during the weekend’s events.

Formula 1 is often compared to a space race in terms of the development, costs, and technology used to compete at this extreme level, and while breathtaking to behold in competition, it’s also part of the reason why it’s so rare to see a car like run this anywhere outside of a factory visit or an F1 race itself. This team and car running at Sonoma Speed Festival represent a truly unique opportunity to get very close to the beating heart of not only the sport but also some of the best people who work in it.

Here’s a short intro to the team’s championship-winning 2015 engine, with Andy Cowell, Head of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains:

Running as it did in 2016, the W07/04 is powered by the updated PU106C race engine used that season, in full turbo hybrid spec, something that has not been lost on our organizers as equipment, materials, and logistics have been sorted out in preparation for this unique demonstration. Many of the team members on site will be competing at the upcoming Montreal Grand Prix and will have recently finished a race weekend in Monaco just before the festival.

The Sonoma Speed Festival has been working closely with the team’s Heritage Department to create a fan-friendly experience with this unique opportunity set away from the pressures of a race weekend, so the team and driver will be available to engage with fans, answer questions about their work, meet fans of the sport and share their passion for racing.