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Mercedes signs Axalta as official 2017 supplier

Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport has signed a deal with global premium coatings company Axalta, making them official suppliers to the world championship winning Formula One team in 2017.

The multi-year agreement extends the relationship already in place between the team and one of Axalta's premium refinish coating brands, Spies Hecker.

Axalta's technology means that the paint used on Mercedes' Formula One cars not only weighs less than competing brands, contributing to the overall performance of the car, but also enables the team's brand to be conveyed through the livery.

"We are delighted to be expanding our relationship with Axalta and building on the developments that we have made with their Spies Hecker products over the past few years," said Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff.

"Our Silver Arrow cars are the highlight of the team's brand during the race weekends and the finish achieved by our Paint Shop with the help of these superb products is outstanding.

"That the paint is lightweight and can contribute to saving weight on the car is a real bonus for us. We look forward to working with Axalta and helping them maximise the global reach of Formula One to share their racing passion."

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Partnering with the team will enable Axalta to engage with their customers on a global level, both at the Grand Prix circuits through hospitality, and through the visual impact of the team's race cars.

"We are very excited to expand our relationship with Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport and give millions of racing enthusiasts and our customers around the world the opportunity to see Axalta on the Formula One track," commented Charlie Shaver, the chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Axalta Coating Systems.

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Andrew Lewin

Andrew first became a fan of Formula 1 during the time when Michael Schumacher and Damon Hill were stepping into the limelight after the era of Alain Prost, Nigel Mansell and Aryton Senna. He's been addicted ever since, and has been writing about the sport now for nearly a quarter of a century for a number of online news sites. He's also written professionally about GP2 (now Formula 2), GP3, IndyCar, World Rally Championship, MotoGP and NASCAR. In his other professional life, Andrew is a freelance writer, social media consultant, web developer/programmer, and digital specialist in the fields of accessibility, usability, IA, online communities and public sector procurement. He worked for many years in magazine production at Bauer Media, and for over a decade he was part of the digital media team at the UK government's communications department. Born and raised in Essex, Andrew currently lives and works in south-west London.