page_title: Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid
section_title: In-season development
hierarchical_section_title: Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid / Design and development / In-season development
caption_attribution_description: English: Lewis Hamilton at the 2015 Italian Grand Prix
context_page_description: The Mercedes F1 W06 Hybrid was a highly successful 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 in the 2015 FIA Formula One World Championship. The cars were driven by 2008 and 2014 World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg, both of whom remained with the team for a third and sixth season, respectively.
  The chassis was named "F1 W06 Hybrid" to represent the sixth Formula One car that Mercedes had constructed since 2010, while the hybrid was marked to recognize the utilization of fully integrated hybrid power units. The car made its competitive debut at the 2015 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2015 season. After participating in 18 rounds of Grand Prix racing, the car made its final competition appearance at the season finale race – the 2015 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before retirement. This was the last Mercedes car to feature sponsorship from BlackBerry.
context_section_description: The car underwent several changes over the course of the season, although not all of them were permanent. The first came at the Chinese Grand Prix, where Mercedes introduced new, square-shaped arches next to the front wing endplates as well as cuts near the rear wing endplates, aiming at a higher top speed. In Spain, the team arrived with narrower sidepots, including a small air duct at the bottom, either to aid cooling or to influence aerodynamics at the diffuser. At the following race in Monte Carlo, in order to improve downforce for the twisty nature of the Monaco circuit, Mercedes increased the size of the so-called "monkey seat", a smaller wing below the main rear wing.
  Another change was made for the next event in Canada: the car received a larger radiator to improve the cooling of the power unit at a track where Mercedes had suffered failures of their ERS unit the year before. The larger part necessitated a bulge on the engine cover. The most obvious aerodynamic change was the curve rear wing which was introduced during 2015 Belgian Grand Prix, the introduction was to allow for a decrease in drag without the associated loss of downforce. The curve rear wing was again used at the notable track: Autodromo Nazionale Monza, hosting the 2015 Italian Grand Prix.
caption: Lewis Hamilton using the curved rear wing at the Italian Grand Prix
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