Mercedes-Benz W25
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| Category | Grand Prix |
|---|---|
| Constructor | Mercedes-Benz |
| Designer(s) |
Hans Nibel Max Sailer Albert Heess Max Wagner |
| Successor | Mercedes-Benz W125 |
| Technical specifications | |
| Chassis | U-Section Pressed Steel Frame |
| Suspension (front) | Double Wishbones w/Coil Springs & Friction Dampers |
| Suspension (rear) | Swing Axle w/Transverse Quarter Elliptic Springs, Friction Dampers |
| Engine | M25 3,360 cc (205.0 cu in) later 4,300 cc (262.4 cu in) I8 supercharged front-engine, longitudinally mounted |
| Transmission | Mercedes-Benz 5-speed |
| Power | 280–494 horsepower (209–368 kW) |
| Competition history | |
| Notable entrants | Daimler-Benz AG |
| Notable drivers |
Rudolf Caracciola Luigi Fagioli Manfred von Brauchitsch |
| Debut | 1934 Avusrennen |
| Drivers' Championships | 1 (1935, Rudolf Caracciola) |
The Mercedes-Benz W25 was a Grand Prix racing car designed by Daimler-Benz AG for the 1934 Grand Prix season, in which new rules were introduced, and no championship was held. In 1935, the European Championship was resumed, and it was won by Rudolf Caracciola in a W25. In modified form, the W25 remained in use until 1937, when it was succeeded by the Mercedes-Benz W125.
For the 1934 season, Grand Prix racing's governing body AIACR introduced a formula limited mainly by a maximum weight of 750 kg, which was considerably less than the weight of Daimler's previous car used in racing, the outdated seven litre Mercedes-Benz SSK. That range of cars had been developed in the 1920s by Ferdinand Porsche, who was by now independent, and proposed his P-Wagen project racing car concept to the chancellor in office since January 1933: Adolf Hitler. He decided to support both the new company Auto Union, who took over Porsche's concept, and Mercedes-Benz, who had more than a quarter century of experience in major international racing.
Despite reducing weight and engine size to roughly half, Daimler engineers soon managed to get more power from the supercharged Straight-8 M25 engine than the maximum 300 hp of the SSK. While the W25 was developed in 1933, the first appearance was scheduled to be at the 1934 Avusrennen in Berlin, held on May 27. Mercedes showed up, but after encountering carburetor or fuel pump problems in practice, withdrew from the race. The next entry a week later, again on home soil, at the Nürburgring Eifelrennen, was successful, with Manfred von Brauchitsch winning. It is often claimed that this race was the beginning of the Silver Arrows, but it since has been proven that already in 1932 at the AVUS, v. Brauchitsch had raced a SSKL covered with streamline aluminium sheets, which had been described as a silver arrow by the media. Besides, both German rounds were run to Formula libre rules to attract more entries.
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