Mercedes unveils ‘Silver Arrow 01’ and team drivers at Frankfurt Motor Show

Mercedes has unveiled the machine in which it will compete in its debut season of the 2019/20 championship at the Frankfurt Motor Show.

The new FE entrant also confirmed that former HWA driver Stoffel Vandoorne will partner Nyck de Vries as the team’s drivers whilst Gary Paffett will take up a new role as sporting and driver advisor.

As expected the ‘Silver Arrow’ livery closely resembles that of its Formula One brother with the classic silver and black prominent.

“I’m still in my F2 season and the FE season will actually start before the end of the F2 season, which is a bit rare, with a lot of different commitments,” de Vries told Motorsport.com. “But it’s a great opportunity and I’m very thankful for the opportunity from Mercedes.”

Mercedes’ arrival on the FE grid means that there are now four big German manufacturers competing at the top level of electric racing, Porsche also joining BMW and the established Audi outfit.

And although a first foray into the challenge of electric racing represents something of a step into the unknown, there is no doubt that the dominant force in Formula One will also be ready to go when racing resumes in anger at Ad Diriyah on November 22.

The team has been preparing for its FE debut season by testing on at the Varano and Majorca circuits for its allotted allocation of 15 days since March, and will join the rest of the FE field for the all-important group test at Valencia from October 15-18, which will be the first official on-track appearance of the Silver Arrow 01. It then has until the end of October to get its powertrain homologated by the FIA.

The Mercedes Silver Arrow 01 ©Mercedes-Benz EQ Formula E team

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