Tales from the paddock: Double podium, a one-two and a brace of Top Three finishes within the space of 24 hours

Successful weekend in Budapest, Spa and London: A double podium in F1, a historic one-two finish in the Spa 24h and two podiums in Formula E.

• This is what happened: Results and facts
• News from the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport teams

This is what happened: Results and facts

• F1:Lewis Hamilton and George Russell finish second and third in the Hungarian GP
• Formula E:A podium apiece for the Mercedes-EQ Formula E duo in the two London races
• Intercontinental GT Challenge:Historic one-two victory for Mercedes-AMG in the 24-hour race at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps
• GT4 European Series:Top Three finish for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Race 2 at Spa-Francorchamps

News snippets

Double podium in Budapest:Last weekend, the F1 teams and drivers travelled to the Hungaroring on the outskirts of Budapest for the last Grand Prix before the summer break. Despite a tough start to the proceedings on Friday, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team went on to secure its first pole position of the year in Saturday's qualifying and its first since the 2021 Saudi Arabian GP. Mercedes-AMG is now the first engine manufacturer to book at least one pole in 26 consecutive Formula One seasons. For George Russell, it was the first P1 start of his F1 career. Lewis Hamilton was out of luck on his final run in Q3, as his DRS failed and he could only manage P7 on the grid. Lewis set matters straight in the race itself, however, putting in an impressive performance to finish as runner-up. George in third made it a second double podium for the team in the space of a week. The podiums were number ten and eleven for the team this season (Lewis on 6, George on 5). The first race after the summer shutdown will be held at Spa-Francorchamps on the weekend of 26 - 28 August.

A podium each in London:Two podiums in successive races and an even bigger lead in both World Championships! On the penultimate race weekend of the 2021/22 ABB FIA Formula E World Championship in London, the Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team delivered strong performances in both races. On Saturday, Stoffel Vandoorne took second place, his 14th podium finish in Formula E and his seventh of the season, and was followed across the finish line by team-mate Nyck de Vries in third place. However, Nyck was subsequently handed a five-second time penalty which demoted him to sixth. He had a smoother ride on Sunday, gaining two positions from fifth on the grid and nailing the podium spot that he had lost out on the previous day. It was Nyck's third Top Three finish of the season and his eighth in Formula E. Stoffel mounted a heroic charge through the field in the second race, working his way up from 13th on the grid to fourth, a result that saw him extend his lead over Mitch Evans in the Drivers' World Championship to 36 points. The Mercedes-EQ Formula E Team leads the Team Standings by a similar 35-point margin ahead of Venturi Racing. The next and final event on the Season 8 calendar of the all-electric racing series is the Seoul E-Prix on the streets of the South Korean capital.

Historic one-two finish at the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa: This year's 24 Hours of Spa will go down in the annals of the Mercedes-AMG brand for multiple reasons. Raffaele Marciello (SUI) driving the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 fielded by AKKODIS ASP initially qualified second on the grid in Friday's Superpole, but it was then established that the putative pole-setter had strayed outside the track limits. Race control then adjusted the starting grid and awarded P1 to the number 88 car. Never before had a manufacturer succeeded in securing the front spot on the grid in four consecutive years. This run, which began with Maro Engel (GER) in 2019, has been continued by Marciello at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps in each of the three successive years.

Another - and even more important - milestone was passed when the nine Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing teams lined up on the grid with a fleet of no fewer than 14 Mercedes-AMG GT3s. It has been a long nine years since the brand last enjoyed victory in the general classification of the world's biggest GT3 race. This time, there was the added satisfaction of celebrating the first one-two for Mercedes-AMG in the history of the prestigious endurance event. The trio of Marciello, Jules Gounon (FRA) and Daniel Juncadella (ESP) sharing the cockpit of the #88 Mercedes-AMG GT3 were strong contenders for overall victory throughout the race, and they eventually crossed the finish line on Sunday afternoon a full 40 seconds ahead of second-placed GetSpeed drivers Maximilian Götz (GER), Steijn Schothorst (NED) and Luca Stolz (GER) in the number 2 Mercedes-AMG GT3. A third high-performance Mercedes-AMG, the #55 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Team GruppeM which adopted an alternative strategy and was also in contention for overall victory, ultimately finished fourth.

There were further successes to celebrate in the individual classifications. Reema Juffali (KSA), George Kurtz (USA), Tim Müller and Valentin Pierburg (both GER) in the #20 GT3 entered by SPS automotive performance took victory in the Bronze Cup. Having started from the pit lane due to an engine change, Dominik Baumann (AUT), Philip Ellis (SUI), Kenny Habul (AUS) and Martin Konrad (AUT) in the #75 car of SunEnergy1 by SPS steadily worked their way forward to join the front-runners and secure second place in the Pro-Am category. A further class podium went to Eddie Cheever (ITA), Chris Froggatt (GBR), Jonathan Hui (HKG) and Loris Spinelli (ITA) in the number 93 Tempesta Racing for their P3 in the inaugural Gold Cup.

Class wins and podiums in the GT4 series also hosted by Spa:The support programme on the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa weekend also included races in the GT4 Scandinavia and the GT4 European Series, with a total of 14 Mercedes-AMG GT4s in the line-ups. In the second GT4 European Series race of the weekend, Lluc Ibañez (ESP) and Enzo Joulié (FRA) in the number 15 car of NM Racing Team took third place overall. Eric Debard and Simon Gachet (both FRA) in the #81 AKKODIS ASP meanwhile secured third place in the Pro-Am class and Benjamin (FRA) and Mauro Ricci (ITA) in the number 61 sister car took third place in the AM class. All three driver pairings come away from the event still leading the overall standings in their respective classes.

In the GT4 Scandinavia, RMS celebrated class wins in the two races contested. Håkan Ricknäs and Calle Ward (both SWE) driving the #221 Mercedes-AMG GT4 won the AM Cup on Friday and then again on Saturday.

Two class wins for CV Performance at the Nürburgring:On the third race weekend of the GTC Race series at the Nürburgring, two victories for CV Performance took them to the top of the GT4 classification. Julian Hanses (GER) first triumphed in the one-hour race on Saturday partnered by Philippe Denes (USA). On Sunday, he delivered an outstanding solo drive in the #85 GT4 to win the first of the two Sunday races.

Two class wins for Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing at Auto Polis International Racing Course:On the fourth weekend of the Japanese Super Taikyu season, Endless Sports and Team 5ZIGEN claimed victory in their respective classes. Shintaro Kawabata, Ryo Ogawa, Togo Suganami and Riki Tanioka (all JPN) in the number 3 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Endless Sports won the ST-Q class, while fellow Mercedes drivers Toshihiro Kaneishi, Kakunoshin Ohta and Ryuichiro Otsuka (all JPN) in the number 500 GT4 of 5ZIGEN ran out winners in the ST-Z category.