page_title: Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+
section_title: Opening rounds
hierarchical_section_title: Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ / Season summary / Opening rounds
caption_attribution_description: Valtteri Bottas
context_page_description: The Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ was a Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car designed and developed under the direction of Aldo Costa, Paddy Lowe, Geoff Willis, John Owen and Mike Elliott to compete during the 2017 Formula One World Championship. The car was driven by three-time World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton, who remained with the team for a fifth season, and Valtteri Bottas, who joined the team after 2016 World Champion Nico Rosberg's retirement from the sport.
  The chassis was originally named the "Mercedes F1 W08" to represent the eighth Formula One car that Mercedes had constructed since 2010. The "EQ Power+" was added to increase exposure of Mercedes' electric road car models, whilst AMG was included to reflect the relationship between Mercedes-AMG and Mercedes-Benz. The car made its competitive début at the 2017 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2017 season. After participating in 19 rounds of Grand Prix racing, the car made its final competition appearance at the season finale race – the 2017 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before retirement.
  The F1 W08 EQ Power+ took twelve wins, fifteen pole positions, nine fastest laps and four 1-2 finishes.
context_section_description: Hamilton took pole position for the season-opening Australian Grand Prix, and held the early lead until the sole round of pit stops. He came out behind Red Bull's Max Verstappen and was unable to overtake him, giving Vettel the opportunity to build a lead which was big enough to emerge ahead of Hamilton after making his only pit stop. Hamilton was unable to catch Vettel and finished in second place. Bottas started third and held his position, securing a podium of his own.
  Hamilton qualified on pole position again for the Chinese Grand Prix, and in a race that saw variable conditions, Hamilton claimed his third career Grand Slam, while Bottas recovered to sixth after an early spin. After the race, Mercedes took the lead in the Constructors' Championship by a solitary point from Ferrari.
  At the Bahrain Grand Prix, Bottas took his maiden Formula One pole position after beating his teammate Hamilton by a quarter of a second, locking out the front row of the grid. During the race, Hamilton was passed by Sebastian Vettel during the start while Bottas stayed in the lead, and they held their positions until the first round of pit stops. Vettel was the first to make a stop and managed to take the lead from Bottas when the latter changed tyres. Hamilton lost a place to Red Bull Racing's Daniel Ricciardo himself and also incurred a time penalty for deliberately blocking Ricciardo in the pit entry. Hamilton rebounded to finish second ahead of Bottas, thus as a result, Mercedes relinquished the championship lead again to Ferrari.
caption: Valtteri Bottas drove the F1 W08 EQ Power+ during Australian Grand Prix and secured his first podium for Mercedes.
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