Red star in honour of Lauda stays on Mercedes

Since the death of Niki Lauda in May 2019, there has been a red star on the bodywork of the Mercedes in honour of the Austrian. According to James Vowles, Mercedes' chief strategist, it will stay there.

During the last race of the season in Abu, Dhabi Mercedes drove with a different design, so not everyone could find the red star immediately. "We had some questions about the red star, the Niki Lauda star", Vowles told Motorsport-Total.com. "It was still on the bodywork, just in a slightly different position. If you look at the left side of the bodywork and look at the car from the back, it's now towards the driver's helmet and the roll bar, but it's still there."

Reason for moving the star was a special design on the Mercedes during the last race of the season. All two thousand names of Mercedes employees could be found on the car. "It was the names of everyone involved in the project to win the championship that year", said Vowles. Of course, Vowles' name was also on the car. "For me personally, it was a very proud moment to see my name on the car.”