AFTER YEARS as McLaren’s engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz is all set to step into the ring to fight alone this season with the Brawn team they took over in November last year.

Motor racing became increasingly popular after the World War-I as cars became progressively more powerful and tracks were created, normally on closed public roads. The Nazi regime in Germany had recognised the propaganda value that racing offered and both the Mercedes-Benz and Auto Union teams were encouraged to build the fastest and most exciting cars possible to race against each other.
Those days were a period of intense, dramatic and incredibly dangerous racing. The speed and performance of racing cars was completely unmatched by any safety provisions.
Racing was suspended during the war and it took some time for Mercedes-Benz to return to the racing battlefield. It was in the 1951 race in Argentina that Neubauer re-entered the racing scene with three pre-war race cars. A full return was made to the new Formula One category in 1954 with the beautiful W196, adapted from the 300 SL sports car and powered by a fuel injected eight cylinder in-line engine. Drivers Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling scored a commanding one-two victory in the car’s very first outing at the 1954 French Grand Prix and Fangio won the World Championship. In 1955 Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motor sport following a massive accident at the 24 Hours Le Mans race when Pierre Levegh of

Mercedes-Benz somersaulted into a stand at over 241 km/h after a collision and 79 spectators were killed. The company only returned to motor sport again in 1984, entering a touring car and then a sports car racing.