Lewis Hamilton’s car at the US Grand Prix has a tribute to one of their engineers — David Perry — who recently passed away due to cancer. Mercedes have put his name on their car in Austin to remember his contribution to their team’s success in F1.
The Silver Arrows posted on their social media accounts a picture of Perry’s name written under Hamilton‘s #44 on his W15. Their post caption read, “Our much-loved colleague David Perry lost a brave battle with cancer earlier this month.” The caption added,
“His courageous spirit leaves an indelible mark on us all – and we are proud to carry his name this weekend on the W15 he helped to create”.
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Perry was a composite laminator for Mercedes. For the unaware, a composite laminator usually works with materials used for the manufacturing of the car — which are carbon fiber, polymer, and kevlar among others.
Perry’s job required him to work with these materials to produce the required composite materials such as carbon fiber-reinforced polymer from which the team makes the chassis of the car. Furthermore, there is also a composite material of kevlar and rubber used to make the fuel tank of the F1 car.
Perry’s role is among the most crucial when related to building the car at Mercedes. While it may be a ground-level operational role at the Brackley outfit, usually all engineers and technicians in cohesion decide a team’s success in F1.
While his LinkedIn page has been deleted, Google has kept an honorary carousel of it to honor the Mercedes engineer. Moreover, the Silver Arrows would like to make the US GP weekend a memorable one to further pay tribute to Perry.
