Focus on safety: Mercedes-Benz and Michael Schumacher - Facing the future together

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Mercedes-Benz and Michael Schumacher today announced a long-term partnership which will extend far beyond motorsport and Formula 1. Michael Schumacher will mainly be involved with topics relating to the future, in particular the further development of the Mercedes-Benz safety and comfort systems “Intelligent Drive”, and represent them as an ambassador. For many years now the seven-times Formula 1 World Champion has been working on road safety; as a partner he will from now on be supporting Mercedes-Benz's involvement in this field.

As a racing driver Schumacher’s motto was “If you don't go forwards, you go backwards”. Again and again he motivated himself and his team throughout his incomparable career to achieve new developments and top performances. Now he is actively placing his expertise at the service of road users by searching for the best solutions for safety on the roads together with Mercedes-Benz.

“The future interests me much more than the present and past. During my Formula 1 time I always believed that you must not allow yourself to rest on your laurels, but that you must continuously try to improve. In so doing I was very often able to rely on the help of all the technologies available to me in the car and use them to my advantage. That is why I am a declared supporter of driving assistance systems both in the racing car and in the road-going car”, said Schumacher of the new partnership.

Dr. Joachim Schmidt, Executive Vice President Mercedes-Benz Cars, Sales and Marketing, added: “We are proud that Michael Schumacher, the most successful and best-known racing driver in the world, is again joining us as our partner. Right from the time when he was a Mercedes-Benz junior and of course in the last three years as a driver in our Formula 1 team, Michael Schumacher has always been committed to our company’s projects. This is why it is only logical for both sides to pool their expertise and know-how and to use them, for instance, for enhancing driver assistance systems and thus improve safety on the roads within a partnership.”

Michael Schumacher will be making his first appearance as a partner of Mercedes-Benz together with Dr. Dieter Zetsche on 1 May 2013 at ‚Handelsblatt PATHFINDER – The future starts today.’. “I wanted to have a clearly defined remit within the new partnership and I find it very exciting to be able to contribute towards further developments and the optimisation of safety together with the inventor of the car”, said the record Formula 1 World Champion of this future working relationship.

Credits: Daimler AG

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REPORT: Michael Schumacher set to be appointed as new Mercedes-Benz brand ambassador

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He retired from Formula 1 last year for the second time in his career and everybody wondered about his future plans. Even though it is still unofficial, there are high chances Michael Schumacher takes on a new role at Mercedes-Benz as brand ambassador.

The information was somehow leaked these days by Ross Brawn, his former chief at MERCEDES AMG PETRONAS, who admited Michael is willing to continue his partnership and work with the German automotive brand. Press representatives from Stuttgart and Schumacher's spokesman Sabine Kehm have not confirmed the rumor yet.

In his new position as brand ambassador, Michael Schumacher will be involved in a series marketing/media campaigns and actions and he will closely contribute to the development of future models wearing the Star. Most likely, his great technical knowledge, gathered in many years of motorsporting, will certainly be very useful for engineering new powertrains and engines, especially when it comes AMG vehicles.

In his past experience with Ferrari, while he was driving in F1 for the Scuderia, Schumacher got seriously in the development process of certain Ferrari models such as the 360 Modena or the F430.

An official confirmation of Michael's new status at Mercedes-Benz should be released in the next weeks.

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Former DTM driver becomes AMG brand ambassador: Maro Engel becomes a new instructor at the AMG Driving Academy

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The former DTM driver Maro Engel has become a new AMG brand ambassador with immediate effect. Additional duties performed by the 26-year-old driver will include acting as an instructor for the AMG Driving Academy, as well as providing support to selected SLS AMG GT3 customer teams.

SLS AMG GT3 customer teams can book Maro Engel for test or racing sessions as part of the driver support programme from AMG Customer Sports and can therefore draw on his great know-how as a racing driver. Maro Engel will be supporting his colleagues Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger, who have accompanied the SLS AMG GT3 throughout its entire development and testing programme and are also available for customer team bookings. 

In his new role for Mercedes-AMG, Engel will be on hand as a point of contact at press and customer events. As a new member of the AMG Driving Academy's team of instructors, he will also be actively involved on location at race tracks. Here too, he will join forces with Bernd Schneider and Thomas Jäger, who belong to the AMG Driving Academy's core team, along with Bernd Mayländer (driver of the official F1™ Safety Car), Karl Wendlinger and Susie Wolff (DTM driver for Mercedes-Benz).

According to Maro Engel: "I am looking forward to some new and exciting roles with AMG. As a brand ambassador and instructor, I will pass on my motorsports know-how to customers of the AMG Driving Academy. And as part of the driver support team at AMG customer sports events in particular, I am also looking forward to passing on my four years of experience as a Mercedes-Benz DTM driver to AMG customer teams, as well as being able to climb into the cockpit of the SLS AMG GT3 myself."

According to Ola Källenius, Chairman of Mercedes-AMG GmbH: "With Maro Engel, Bernd Schneider, Karl Wendlinger, David Coulthard and of course Susie Wolff too, we have a core international team of active and former racing drivers to represent AMG both on and off the race track. Our AMG brand ambassadors are able to combine an appealing mix of competence and approachability. And it's not only the AMG Driving Academy which will benefit from the know-how of Maro Engel, as the SLS AMG GT3 customer teams will benefit too."

Four years of DTM experience with Mercedes-Benz and Formula 3 runner‑up

Like many racing drivers, Maro Engel also started his racing career in the world of karting (1996 - 2000). In 2001 he drove in his first formula racing series. After two years in Formula BMW, Munich-born Engel graduated to the Formula 3 Euro Series in 2003. In 2005 he switched to the Italian Formula 3000 Championship, finishing in seventh place overall. In 2006 and 2007, Engel competed in the fiercely contested British Formula 3 International Championship. He ended the 2007 season in second place overall, with three victories, eight podium positions and four pole positions under his belt. In the three years between 2008 and 2011, Maro Engel drove for Mercedes-Benz in the DTM.

* Official photos and details courtesy of Mercedes-AMG GmbH *

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