This is the car they made especially for Roger Federer’s farewell

Roger Federer has retired from professional tennis and his last match at the Laver Cup was an event where emotions beat the game. The tears of the Swiss, but also those of his wife in the stands or that of his eventual partner and eternal rival, Rafael Nadal They left images that went around the world in seconds.

The Basel player has had a extensive and fruitful business relationship with Mercedes-Benz throughout his professional career, which he has already 14 years during which he has been a lead actor in various advertising campaigns, a brand ambassador and even a source of ideas. The image of the Swiss player and the German cars have been reproduced an infinite number of times, and according to reports, this will not only continue to happen, but will increase even more. Beyond his retirement from the courts, Federer will maintain his link with the Stuttgart house.

According to the EFE news agency, Federer’s contract with Mercedes amounts to five million dollars per year and it was planned to spread until 2027, even if the time came when he eventually decided to quit playing professional tennis. The same source assures that, in addition, Federer has the right to renew his car every six months, and that is the reason why it is often seen behind the wheel of various Mercedes-Benz models, from the avant-garde electric ones such as the EQC or the most recent EQS, to the sportier ones in “gull-wing” and convertible versions.

Among the models that stand out the most from the list of those known to him are three very special ones such as a AMG CLS 63 6.2-liter V8 with 514 hp, a AMG GLE 63 coupe 5.5-liter V8 with 557 hp and a AMG SLS Roadster.

But for this very special tournament that meant professional farewell to tennis, Mercedes has produced a unique car of its kind, one of the famous “one-off”which will be part of a program that together, player and company, will carry out for charitable purposes for the world of this sport.

The new initiative has been called “Neon Legacy”and will begin with the auction of this vehicle that could be seen during the Laver Cup this weekend. It’s about a Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S E Performance which was painted from neon yellow colorthe same color as tennis balls, and bears the player’s initials, the famous RF letters logo.

The GT 63 SE Performance has a 4.0-liter twin-turbocharged V8 of displacement, but being a plug-in hybrid car, it adds an electric motor that allows it to reach a combined power of 831 CV and a staggering 1,470Nm of torque. It is capable of going from 0 to 100 km/h in just 2.9 seconds and hitting 200 km/h in less than 10 seconds. The top speed of the car is 304 km/halthough that is due to an electronic limiter, otherwise it is estimated that it could reach 350 km / h.

“Roger influenced and inspired entire generations with his game and his fairness,” he said. Britta Seeger, Member of the Board of Management of Mercedes-Benz Group AG. “We will all remember a sentence from his last visit to Stuttgart in which he said that ‘Short-term plans are motivating, while long-term strategies are inspiring’. We all wish Roger all the best for the future and look forward to becoming even closer in our cooperation within the framework of our Neon Legacy initiative.”

That the chosen car was a plug-in hybrid that combines a V8 engine with an electric motor is much more symbolic than the neon yellow color with which this GT 63 SE Performance was painted. The vehicle represents the legacy and the future, the same axes on which the project that will start from now on moves. Mercedes-Benz y Roger Federer. Just as the Swiss has retired with all the glory, the German combustion engine is also reaching its final time in the name of the decarbonization of the planet, and surely its retirement will also be with all the honors.

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