How Mercedes turned another 'diva' into a star
JAKE BOXALL-LEGGE gets under the skin of the car that powered Lewis Hamilton and Mercedes to a 2018 championship double
"A bit of a diva" was Toto Wolff's now-infamous assessment of Mercedes' 2017 car, the W08.
A championship winner, no less, and yet it was prone to the odd mood-swing; the long-wheelbase concept struggled to perform on the full gamut of circuits on the calendar, especially compared with the more amenable and rapier-sharp Ferrari SF70H.
Share Or Save This Story
More from GP Racing
Can Alpine’s latest regime change shift its course?
Why long Sainz courtship was only one factor in eventual Williams union
How F1’s tech war has transformed in 2024
The apparently humble F1 component with remarkable attributes
The statistical F1 anomaly Verstappen will seek to remedy in Singapore
The hard-to-shift narratives Mercedes needs Antonelli's next steps to dispel
How Alonso played designer in Aston’s new limited edition special
F1 uncovered: A weekend behind the scenes with a team physio
Latest news
The 30-year reunion that brings Barrichello back to his F1 happy hunting ground
DAMS joins F3 for 2025, replacing Jenzer Motorsport
How F1’s spending rules left Red Bull’s hands tied over top staff departures
How McLaren went from back to front in 18 months
Autosport Plus
How McLaren went from back to front in 18 months
Jon Noble: The one thing McLaren must leave behind for the title run-in
Ranking the real 2025 F1 driver line-up pecking order
Will Sauber's C44 go down as F1's best point-less car, or are there better contenders?
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.