Monaco is the temple of F1. The most prestigious race on the calendar often brings a plethora of surprises along with it. Teams make a beeline to outshine one another in their efforts towards the race in the principality, and drivers dream of winning the GP here, which is considered equivalent to a championship title. The German team Mercedes, which has seen glory on the streets of Monte Carlo, went a step ahead and outside to unveil their new beast.
The production version of the AMG ONE was unveiled on June 1, 2022. Production was expected to begin in late 2022 and was planned to be limited to 275 units for $2.72 million per unit, all of which had already been sold. Mercedes-AMG received orders more than four times the planned production number, but they refused to increase the production limit to maintain ‘exclusivity’. Production of the AMG ONE began in August 2022. All 275 cars were set to be hand-built by Mercedes-AMG, with deliveries to begin in late 2022. The first car was delivered on January 16, 2023, and had an exclusive paint job inspired by the livery of the F1 W12.
And to honor the customer wishes, the German car manufacturers have made a ‘comeback’ a year later to unveil another concept machine. Lewis Hamilton and George Russell were present at the Unveiling event of Concept Mercedes-AMG PureSpeed in Monaco on May 22, 2024. While this is great news for the brand, their F1 team is still in a fix, with no sign of Lewis Hamilton’s replacement.
“I’m prepared to compromise in certain decisions,” says Mercedes TP Toto Wolff on Lewis Hamilton’s replacement
Lewis Hamilton’s move to Ferrari came as the biggest shock to his current team. Toto Wolff & co. failed to deliver a race-winning car to the man aspiring for his 8th championship, and Lewis, who is at the tail end of his career, decided to move on from F1’s greatest partnership. But who replaces Lewis? Nobody knows yet.
The team has been spoilt for choices as it is one of the few big players that is actively recruiting. From Carlos Sainz to Kimi Antonelli, the team can sign anyone. When asked about the current scenario, Toto said, “I think Carlos has his place in Formula 1. He is a Ferrari race winner in the last two years and someone with huge experience. I’m prepared to compromise in certain decisions and to wait for how the situation ends up over the summer and into autumn.” He added, “In George Russell, we have a great driver that is with us and is fantastic. And then let’s see who is going to be his teammate. But we don’t need to take this decision now.”