How Mercedes Ended Up With The Fastest Car Ever 

Probably the most perfect racing car ever built. People won't appreciate it now, it's too recent...but in 20 years it will be talked about breathlessly like the 919, CLK GTR, Lotus 79, etc.

The W11 with that black & purple helmet is one of the most iconic combinations In F1 history, great vid

The greatest F1 car ever. It is 4s faster than the pole time around Hungary. Spa was just on another level

W11 on the hands of Lewis Hamilton was a killer combo

Mercedes W11, Ferrari F2004, McLaren MP4/4... F1's Holy Trinity.

It will be interesting to see how the W15 turns out with James Allison back in charge.

That W11 pole lap at Mugello will tell you the story

2021 really did ruin f1 forever the fan base have become so toxic since

Having watched Merc dominate starting from 2014 I was understandably bored by this car at the time but looking back I'd love to be back in 2020 watching the peak of this car regardless of all of the bad things going on in the world. The W11 reminds me of a safer, more certain time, irrespective of COVID. Everything turned out okay that year in the end.

The w11 wasn’t just on another level. Lewis was on another level. A driver as good as Bottas, who is as good if not better than Perez, could barely wrangle the car to beat verstappen that year. Meanwhile Lewis was so far ahead

Red Bull fan admiring the greatest rival of his team. Every sports fan should be like this.

A goated car can’t be driven without a goated driver 💜🖤🐐

Apparently Allison has take inspiration from this car for W15 so interesting video to note. 7 time world champion

the w11 was on another level

Theres a channel on RU-vid that simulates different race cars over a lap to see the time difference. They put out a video a little bit ago where he had the last 4 Mercs running a simulation on the same track (Ill link the video in my comment) and the W11 was 4 seconds faster than this years W14.... and gapped the second fastest Merc, which was the W12 by just over 2 seconds over 1 lap..... Truely a legendary race car, course they probably threw an insane amount of money at it, but thats never enough. They had insanely smart engineers put that car together, had a lot of luck, a hell of a driver in Lewis, an amazing team behind the scenes and it all culminated in I think (not 100% sure) but the fastest F1 car of all time? ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-69-F9YGHf5w.html Edit: Forgot to link the video..... Also wanted to say....what a awesome video. You know your stuff, you explained it perfectly, dumbed it down when needed, and added some great visuals. Probably one of the best F1 related videos Ive seen. Youve got a subscriber, even if your a RB fan (Im a Mercedes fan :p)

Would love to see this thing on the Nurburgring to challenge the 919 EVO's all time record, bit something tells me the delicacy of that rear suspension/diffuser setup would be a potential disaster on the bumpy surface and mountain high curbs of the Green Hell.

I love your videos my man, not a whole lot of Americans covering f1 like this, and tbh the ones that are I don’t like the way they narrate so much. You do a great job! Appreciate the content!

bro you deserve more subscribers considering the quality of your videos!

People will hate on it, but Mercedes will go by the far the greatest formula 1 team in history during the hybrid era and creating the fastest machine that has ever produced

What's even more impressive about the Monza lap record is that they had introduced the new ICE rules for this race

Great video! Very concise and insightful. Subscribed 👍

Basically in 2020 Mercedes improve their Engine, Straight-line speed, downforce and chassis 😅

Thank you for making these videos. You’re great 👍

That lap in Spa was on another level

The car was designed to Lewis Hamilton's preference over the years. That's why he was the GOAT. W12 was truly faster or par on race pace than RB16B in the last 4 races.

Here’s thing..Lewis’s lap was only 6 10th/sec.faster than Bottas to get the Pole and title of the fastest lap in f1 history and what was really crazy about this lap was that he was slow in the 1st and 3rd sector of this lap

awesome video and there is a point as i can remember the team stopped developing the car since spa if they improved more and more it would be more mind blowing

Great video. I must say the w11 is on par with the fw14b in my memory of greatest engineering of its time.

whatching from brazil, amazing video mate

Very nice content, keep it up 👏

To me F1 is so beautiful because of the melding of the human side and the technological side. That’s why combinations like this are so special. Like I’m pretty neutral but Hamilton in the W11 will always be special and I hope people appreciate that more later on. It’s hard to love something in the moment, especially when it’s so dominant, but to deny the absolute greatness of this car/driver combo would be stupidity.

yoo, that's my render in the thumbnail. Was really trippy to scroll youtube and find my image being used. Glad you liked it enough to use it as the thumbnail!

That car was an absolute monster

I absolutely love your videos! Thank you for these. Such well researched and well framed explainers!

W11 in the hands of Lewis Hamilton. My God it was an absolute monster. FLATOUT on Pouhon and Mugello. Peaking 5-6G forces. Yes the car is an absolute masterpiece of an engineering but without a proper pilot it will be nothing. Imagine the constant Gforces Lewis's neck had to endure every race while fast cornerning.

Best video I have ever seen in a while

Informative! This is what we want. Technological insight.

This car was the peak of developing with that regulamency and the top on F1 performance cause the team were free tò do anything with the Cars and the aero..Just thinkin this car can do flat MOST of Mugello Is Crazy.

My god that car was a dream to watch ❤

Great explanation

I'm really trying to get into f1 as much as possible to the point where I wanna be a driver, though I know it's definitely not a simple process and requires some type of luck but I finally found a passion since basketball and i'm late but mannnnn. If any advice what's the best videos, anything I can watch to learn and grow. I plan on getting a race set up so I properly play sim games with a race wheel and not a controller :( but other than i'm all ears right now. Any really good channels that can help a beginner like me down to every detail

Fantastic video

James Allison is still technical director.

Great video

Som the W11 Holds the lap record at all tracks still. Ferrari fell off the cliff when the FIA slapped them down behind closed doors with the engine power.

If i'm correct, they didn't even brought aerodynamic updates on the car during the season, but red bull and co did

Love the w11, I want to see a video on the w12 now

The man behind W11 is Aldo costa

Dude you've gotta make a video about RB19 now! 🏎

Pls make a vid about the sf 23

Imagine how fast the W12 would of been without the 2021 floor regs being changed mid season....

Loving your videos Jonny, can you make a video on just how lucky RedBull were able to get Max? When Mercedes offered him backup when they were at their peak, like how insane is the story of Max getting to where he is now both on track and behind the scenes

i know the cars are different nowadays and a lot slower, and they probably already tried it, but like, would it be possible for them to adapt the w11 aero to the 2022 rules? i mean that's probably what they tried with the w13 and we know the tractor it was, but still i cant believe that the team that made the fastest ground vehicle ever was able to make the w13 and 14

vettles red bull back in 2011 was the original op car that nobody seems to remeber

He’s talking about Mercedes and he’s got a red bull hat.

Per: Maybe you should get DAS back Ham: DAS? Per: DAS Nutz

W11 has a legal cheat code known as dual axis steering

W11 marked the perfect end for the Mercedes dominance era

Renault getting the cold blowing right is one of the reasons why Red Bull was so dominant in the years preceding the Merc era. So i've got to disagree that the engine and the chassis manufacturer has to under be the same team to be successful

2021 ruined Formula 1 forever, couldn't have said it better!!! Loved every bit of the analysis....nice

That clever iterpretations fo the rules is happening right now with redbull rb19 and now that TD018 has maneged to stop them like the ferrari was stoped in 2019

So glad things changed in 2021!!!!!

I'd say, give the Ferrari F1 2004 todays tires and well see what it can do against the rest of todays cars. The Red Godess was sheer speed on straight and corners. The W11 might be better, but again, im just saying to give it todays tires and a driver that can handle it

And then came 2023 and we saw the all conquering RB19. Maybe not technically and historically as fast as the W11, but relative to other cars that year, it was untouchable.

Imagine if Lewis had a tow in Monza, for the past several years we've had crazy qualifying sessions at Monza as everyone wants a tow, Mercedes were so fast they just went out first as they were so much faster they didn't need the tow

It's surprising Merc is still as Competitive as they currently are given how many key personal have been Poached from Mercedes by other Teams over the last few years... James Vowles being a HUGE loss

the unfortunate thing about F1 is exactly this. it is not about the drivers. it's about the engineers and the cars.

2:42 that car looks so crazy in all black🔥

I don’t think it was 8 back to back championships. Could you elaborate on that?

Not more power but max power right out of the gate

Shame you didnt give any comparisons on how was itwas to other cars or even from today's car.

Its just absurd.. seeing it flatout through pouhon and savelli

The 2019 Ferrari super engine surprised Mercedes and they built a monster car to go to war with Ferrari. Sadly Ferrari never showed up.

I keep on saying W11 was a beast of a car a monster on a road the most perfect...

Lewis and that car is like Senna and his McLaren Honda or Lewis and his McLaren Mercedes 🤙🏼

I was about to ask if yall forgot about the RB19, but I guess mercedes fans won't admit that the W11 was topped

the fastest car, but never the most dominant

This video reminded me just how much I hate barge boards.

You’ve got one of the very best F1 channels on RU-vid, and I mean that sincerely. BUT. You mispronounced “Super Saiyan”.

2019-2021 (Especially 2020) F1 cars were the best looking cars in the history of the sport... Change my mind

The W11 used an Infinity Stone!

and now how can't they build a competitive car? 😭😭😭

The greatest F1 car in all time 💪💜️

It's nice to see that money dominantion is over and it's driver dominantion.

I deserve more subs, glad i found you

Wait, you said the the current red bull cant be compared because the W11 was consistently 1 second quicker than everyone else in the field. You do realize that this years red bull (i say "this years" because i forget what number RB it is) is consistently 1 or more seconds per lap faster as well right?

w11 had the Hyper and Ultra soft compound tires and it really helped with it's traction

Nice job nephew

Mercedes was Ross Brawn and Schumacher’s final swan song. They built that team and sent them on their way in very capable hands. Both are the goats at what they did

have you seen the RB19

Mercedes asked for that kind of engine (in 2014), that's why they were faster and faster through the years. Second, FIA didn't make anything to slow them, to change some of the rules like previous times with other dominat cars. Mercedes turbo era is just power on the straights with looong and wide cars, no racing spirit (no braking later, no sliding in corners...nothing, just saving tires and straight power [who will press harder on the accelerator])

The W11 is truely and Engineering Marvel and will go down in history as the fastest car in f1 cause I dont think any faster car will be never produced.

How? By getting an FIA official to give them secret info. And hiring brilliant engineers. If Max or Alonso had been at Merc, we'd have 10-time WDCs easily.

Ferrari always think good for their competitor even if it's there strategist or engine dept😂

Verstappen got more out of the Rb19 than Hammilton from the W11.

Incorrect. The 1993 Williams FW15C will forever be considered the best race car ever built. And this will never be beaten. It incorporated technologies never seen before or after. It was a moment in history that will almost certainly never be replicated again. DAS, mass dampers, KERS, double diffusers, and things like that are no where near as revolutionary as what the FW15C acheived. A perfect race car in every sense of the word.

Because they wrote the regulations and rule book and had the FIA in their pocket

What didn't get ENOUGH credit for how amazing it was...Mercedes Dual Axis Steering. It put them in a league of their own. So simple yet so genius and everyone got triggered even though it was totally within the rules. It should be legal today.... that's what innovation is about.

while it certainly isn't the outright fastest formula one car in history, nor is it close, you have to admit the RB19 is probably the most complete car we've seen since the W11, and probably second only to the W11 in recent times. in the beginning of 2023 their only slight weakness was slow speed corners which they held a small deficit in to ferrari. by the summer break they were dominating every area of every track, whether it be low, medium, high speed corners, straights, direction changes, wet, you name it. only downside I can think of is, similar to the pre-W11 mercs, being too gentle on tires, which has lost them a few race starts and pole positions, the latter of which I could count on one hand. given completeness is what was discussed in this video I think the RB19 should get some credit. great analysis though!

Great video but that last point is definitely not true. Adrian Newey himself said the redbull was faster and the better car over the course of the season.