page_title: Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+
section_title: European and Canadian rounds
hierarchical_section_title: Mercedes AMG F1 W08 EQ Power+ / Season summary / European and Canadian rounds
caption_attribution_description: f1
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: At the fourth round of the season – the Russian Grand Prix, Mercedes struggled to be at the forefront, with Bottas and Hamilton qualifying only 3rd and 4th respectively as Ferrari locked out the front-row of the grid, the worst qualifying result since the 2015 Singapore Grand Prix. In the race, Bottas grabbed the lead at the start in Sochi and pulled away through a mighty first stint, but then came under increasing pressure as Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel closed rapidly in the closing stages. Bottas held off Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel by six tenths of a second, to secure his maiden victory in his Formula 1 career. On the other hand, Hamilton continued to struggle on pace, hampered by overheating issues, during the whole course of the race, finishing fourth. Having completed one-fifth of the season, Mercedes took back the lead in the Constructors' Championship by just a solitary point over their closest rivals, Ferrari.
  Although Ferrari had shown a dominating performance during winter testing and had achieved a front-row lockout in Sochi, Hamilton managed to defeat Vettel for pole in the qualifying of the Spanish Grand Prix by the tiny margin of 0.051 s. After having to deal with technical issues on his car before and during FP3, Bottas managed to take P3, 2 tenths behind his teammate. Vettel managed to overtake Hamilton at the start of the race and led the early stages but Hamilton was later able to take advantage of a virtual safety car period to pit for new soft tyres which helped him overtake Vettel soon after. Hamilton, despite being on a lengthy stint on those same tyres, was able to keep Vettel (who was on medium tyres) at bay to win his second race of the season and took his 12th career hat-trick. Bottas escaped a collision with Räikkönen at the start without damage but later retired due to an engine failure while running third which cost Mercedes a double podium finish.
  The Monaco Grand Prix saw both Mercedes struggle for traction and pace which resulted in Bottas and Hamilton qualifying 3rd and 14th respectively. At the race, Red Bull's Daniel Ricciardo managed to overcut Bottas by taking the last podium position. Meanwhile, Hamilton stayed out until lap 46 to make his sole pit-stop and managed to grab 7th place after starting from 13th on the grid. Mercedes subsequently lost the lead in the Constructors' Championship by 17 points, as neither of the two drivers finished on the podium for the first time since the 2016 Spanish Grand Prix.
  At the Canadian Grand Prix, Hamilton matched Ayrton Senna's second-place record of 65 pole positions. In the process, he set the fastest lap ever at the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve (1m 11.459s), smashing Ralf Schumacher’s qualifying lap record of 1m 12.275s from 2004 by 0.816 s. Bottas took P3, behind Vettel but ahead of Räikkönen. Mercedes earned their first 1-2 finish of the season with an easy win from Hamilton, his third of the season and sixth overall in Canada. Hamilton recorded his fourth career Grand Slam - equalling his idol Senna again - and his second in 2017 after the Chinese Grand Prix. Bottas completed the 1-2 with a controlled second-place finish but had some luck when Verstappen retired while running second in the early laps. Mercedes also took back the lead in the Constructors' Championship over Ferrari.
  Mercedes achieved their second front row lockout of the season during qualifying for the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in a dominating performance. With a phenomenal last lap Hamilton snatched pole position back from his teammate by over 4 tenths. Both Ferraris couldn't get within 1 second of the pole time. Hamilton's 66th career pole left him just two shy of matching Michael Schumacher's all-time record. Hamilton started well while Bottas collided with his rival countryman - Kimi Räikkönen, causing a puncture on his front right tyre. Bottas was forced to stop, falling one lap behind his teammate. The race continued with lots of drama, 3 safety cars and 1 red flag period due to clashes of other cars and debris on the track. After a 20-minute red flag period, the race was res
caption: Hamilton achieved his fifth career Grand Slam and his third of the season during the British Grand Prix.
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