This archive report was first published on 29 July 2019.
On a weekend meant to celebrate 125 years of motorsport involvement and their 200th start as a constructor, Mercedes' Formula One team suffered a crushing defeat at the German Grand Prix.
July 29, 2019, was supposed to be a day of triumph, but the dominant champions were left licking their wounds after a chaotic, rain-hit afternoon.
Mercedes scored just two points, with Lewis Hamilton finishing 11th but elevated two places due to penalties for the Alfa Romeo drivers, while Valtteri Bottas crashed out.
It was their worst result since last year's Austrian Grand Prix, where neither car made it to the checkered flag.
Mercedes' team principal, Toto Wolff, attributed their poor performance to karma, saying, "I do believe in karma and when you want to do particularly well things can go wrong."
Wolff also acknowledged that the team's distraction and deviation from their usual routine might have contributed to their downfall.
Despite the disappointing result, Wolff remained optimistic, saying, "At the end we will learn and summarize it rationally tomorrow."
