The Mercedes F1 W07 Hybrid was one of the most successful Mercedes-Benz Formula One racing car designs of all-time, designed and developed under the direction of Aldo Costa, Paddy Lowe, Geoff Willis, Mark Ellis, John Owen and Mike Elliott to compete in the 2016 FIA Formula One World Championship. The cars were driven by three-time World Drivers' Champion Lewis Hamilton, and Nico Rosberg, both of whom remained with the team for a fourth and a seventh season, respectively. In addition, it was the last Formula One car driven by Rosberg, following his announcement on his retirement from the sport after clinching his first World Drivers' Championship title.
The chassis was named "F1 W07 Hybrid" to represent the seventh 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 2016 Australian Grand Prix, the opening round of the 2016 season. After participating 20 rounds of grand prix racing, the car made its final competition appearance at the season finale race – 2016 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, before retirement.
With a total of 19 wins, 20 pole positions, 33 podium finishes and a total of 765 constructors championship points in a single season, the F1 W07 Hybrid is statistically the second most dominant Formula One car in the history of the sport with a win percentage of 90.47% against the sport's most dominant car, the 1988 McLaren MP4/4 with a record of 93.75%.
Sir Lewis Carl Davidson Hamilton MBE HonFREng (born 7 January 1985) is a British racing driver. He currently competes in Formula One for Mercedes, having previously driven for McLaren from 2007 to 2012. In Formula One, Hamilton has won a joint-record seven World Drivers' Championship titles (tied with Michael Schumacher), while he holds the outright records for the most wins, pole positions and podium finishes, amongst others.
Born and raised in Stevenage, Hertfordshire, Hamilton was signed to the McLaren young driver programme in 1998. This later resulted in a Formula One drive with McLaren in 2007, making Hamilton the first black driver to race in the sport. That season, Hamilton set numerous records as he finished runner-up to Kimi Räikkönen by one point. The following season, he won his maiden title in dramatic fashion—making a crucial overtake on the last corner of the last lap in the last race of the season—to become the then-youngest Formula One World Champion in history. After four more years with McLaren, Hamilton signed with Mercedes in 2013.
Changes to the regulations for 2014 mandating the use of turbo-hybrid engines came at the start of a highly successful period for Hamilton, during which he has won six further drivers' titles. Hamilton won consecutive titles in 2014 and 2015 during an intense rivalry with teammate Nico Rosberg to match his hero Ayrton Senna's three World Championships. Following Rosberg's retirement, Ferrari's Sebastian Vettel became Hamilton's closest rival in two intense championship battles, and Hamilton twice overturned mid-season points deficits to claim consecutive titles again in 2017 and 2018. Hamilton won his third and fourth titles in a row in 2019 and 2020, respectively, equalling Schumacher's record of seven drivers' titles.