Mercedes-Benz in Formula One
, a German automotive brand of the Mercedes-Benz Group, has been involved in Formula One as both team owner and engine manufacturer for various periods since 1954. The current Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Limited, competing as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team, is based in Brackley, England, and holds a German racing licence. An announcement was made in December 2020 that Ineos planned to take a one third equal ownership stake alongside the Mercedes-Benz Group and Toto Wolff; this came into effect on 25 January 2022. Mercedes-branded teams are often referred to by the nickname, the "Silver Arrows".
Before the Second World War, Mercedes-Benz competed in the European Championship, winning three titles. The marque debuted in Formula One in. After winning their first race at the 1954 French Grand Prix, driver Juan Manuel Fangio won another three Grands Prix to win the 1954 Drivers' Championship and repeated this success in. Despite winning two Drivers' Championships, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motor racing after 1955 in response to the 1955 Le Mans disaster.
Mercedes returned to Formula One in as an engine manufacturer in association with Ilmor, a British independent high-performance autosport engineering company, which developed their engines. The company won one constructors' title and three drivers' titles in a works partnership with McLaren which lasted until 2009. In 2005, Ilmor was rebranded as Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. In, the company bought the Brawn GP team, rebranding it as Mercedes. Since a major rule shake-up in 2014, which required the use of turbochargers and hybrid electric engines, Mercedes has become one of the most successful teams in Formula One history, winning seven consecutive Drivers' titles from to and eight consecutive Constructors' titles from to, both records. The manufacturer has also collected more than 200 wins as an engine supplier and is ranked second in Formula One history. Twelve Constructors' and fourteen Drivers' Championships have been won with Mercedes-Benz engines.
Constructor
Grand Prix racing before Formula One (1930s)
formerly competed in Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s, when the Silver Arrows dominated the races alongside rivals Auto Union. Both teams were heavily funded by the Nazi regime, winning all European Grand Prix Championships after 1934, of which Rudolf Caracciola won three for Mercedes-Benz.Daimler-Benz AG (1954–1955)
In 1954, Mercedes-Benz returned to what was now known as Formula One under the leadership of Alfred Neubauer, using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196. The car was run in both the conventional open-wheeled configuration and a streamlined form, which featured covered wheels and wider bodywork. Juan Manuel Fangio, the 1951 champion, transferred mid-season from Maserati to Mercedes-Benz for their debut at the French Grand Prix on 4 July 1954. The team had immediate success and recorded a 1–2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling, as well as the fastest lap. Fangio went on to win three more races in 1954, winning the championship.The success continued into the season, with Mercedes-Benz developing the W196 throughout the year. Mercedes-Benz again dominated the season, with Fangio taking four races, and his new teammate Stirling Moss winning the British Grand Prix. Fangio and Moss finished first and second in that year's championship. The 1955 disaster at the 24 Hours of Le Mans on 11 June, which killed Mercedes-Benz sportscar driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators led to the cancellations of the French, German, Spanish, and Swiss Grands Prix. At the end of the season, the team withdrew from motor sport, including Formula One. During this first period of the team's participation in Formula One, Mercedes won 9 races in total, including three Grands Prix won by the streamlined "Type Monza", making them the only three races won by a closed-wheel car in Formula One history.
Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team (2010–present)
Before the start of the 2010 season Mercedes-Benz's parent company Daimler AG bought a minority stake in the Brawn GP team with Aabar Investments purchasing 30% on 16 November 2009. Following the purchase of the team, as well as a sponsorship deal with Petronas, the team was rebranded as Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, and Mercedes would now compete in the constructors' championship for the first time. Ross Brawn continued his duties as team principal and the team retained its base and workforce in the Brackley facility, close to the Mercedes-Benz Formula One engine plant in Brixworth.The team has a complex history and its entry can be traced back to Tyrrell Racing, who competed as a constructor from 1970 until 1998, until being bought by British American Tobacco at the end of so its entry could be transferred to the then new constructor British American Racing in. BAR, who had formed a partnership with Honda, eventually became Honda Racing F1 Team in 2006 when British American Tobacco withdrew from the sport. It again changed hands in 2008, when Honda withdrew, and was purchased by the team's management, naming it Brawn GP after team principal Ross Brawn. Brawn used engines from Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, and despite running on a low budget, Jenson Button won six of the first seven races and ultimately the Drivers' Championship, while Brawn won the Constructors' Championship. It was the first time in the sport's sixty-year history that a team won both titles in its maiden season.
File:Nico Rosberg 2010 Malaysia race.jpg|thumb|left|Nico Rosberg scored Mercedes's first podium finish as a works team since 1955 at the 2010 Malaysian Grand PrixTeam Mercedes GP hired German drivers Nico Rosberg, and seven-time world champion Michael Schumacher, who returned to Formula One after a three-year absence, and Nick Heidfeld as the test and reserve driver. Of Brawn's 2009 drivers, Jenson Button signed for McLaren, whilst Rubens Barrichello moved to Rosberg's former seat with Williams team for 2010. With the acquisition of Brawn, the team ended its involvement with McLaren, parent company Daimler AG sold back the 40% shareholding in the McLaren Group, while continuing to supply engines to the team. The team's performance during 2010 was not so competitive as under Brawn, with the team behind the leading three teams of Ferrari, McLaren, and Red Bull. Their best results came from Rosberg finishing on the podium three times, scoring third places at Sepang, Shanghai, and Silverstone. Rosberg eventually finished in seventh place, but Schumacher had a disappointing return, being beaten by his teammate and finishing the season without a single race win, podium, pole position, or fastest lap for the first time since his début season in. He also was involved in a controversy in Hungary after nearly squeezing former Ferrari teammate Rubens Barrichello into the wall at. Ultimately, the team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship, with 214 points.
Prior to the start of the 2011 season, Daimler and Aabar purchased the remaining 24.9% stake owned by the team management in February 2011. Using the new MGP W02, the ended when Schumacher and Rosberg both retired due to crash damage on laps 19 and 22 respectively. In Malaysia, Rosberg qualified ninth and Schumacher again failed to make Q3, qualifying eleventh. Schumacher scored the team's first points of the season with a ninth-place finish, whereas Rosberg had a quiet race and finished twelfth. In China, Rosberg and Schumacher showed strong form, with Rosberg finishing fifth as well as leading fourteen laps during the race, while Schumacher ended the race in eighth place. Rosberg added another fifth place in Turkey, while in Spain, Schumacher finished in sixth place, ahead of Rosberg.
After scoring no points at the, Schumacher equalled his best finish for the team in Canada, finishing fourth after running as high as second. In Valencia, Rosberg finished seventh, and Schumacher seventeenth, after contact with Vitaly Petrov. Rosberg and Schumacher both finished in the points at the following two races in Great Britain and Germany. Gearbox issues stopped Schumacher from scoring at the, but Rosberg managed to finish in ninth place. At the, Schumacher moved from the back of the grid – after losing a wheel in qualifying – to finish fifth, while Rosberg finished sixth, having led the race in its early stages. Again, the team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship just as in 2010, with 165 points with no wins, podiums, or poles.
File:Michael Schumacher pole lap monaco 2012.JPG|thumb|left|Michael Schumacher at the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix
For 2012, the team removed the GP from their name and added the name of AMG, the high performance brand of Daimler AG, to their title. The team would officially get the designation Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. At the start of the season Mercedes was the subject of protest over the use of a "radical" rear wing concept on the Mercedes F1 W03 racing car, which was not settled until the third race in China when the stewards unanimously rejected the protest. At the third race of the season in China, Rosberg took the team's first pole position as a works team since Fangio in ; Schumacher finished the session third, but moved up to second after a grid penalty for McLaren team's Lewis Hamilton. The team secured its first win in 57 years when Nico Rosberg finished first in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. This marked also the first win for a German driver driving a German car in Formula 1 history. At the 2012 Monaco Grand Prix, Michael Schumacher set the fastest time in qualifying, but started sixth after a five-place grid penalty was imposed for having caused an avoidable collision with Bruno Senna during the Spanish Grand Prix, the previous round. In addition to that, Rosberg became the first German driver to win a Grand Prix driving a German vehicle since Hermann Lang's victory at the 1939 Swiss Grand Prix. On 28 September 2012, it was announced that McLaren driver Lewis Hamilton would join the Mercedes team from the season onwards, having signed a three-year deal to partner Nico Rosberg in the team. In January 2013, Toto Wolff became an executive director of the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team, with his business partner Rene Berger becoming non-executive director. In addition to joining the team as managing partner, he also acquired 30% of Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, with a further 10% held by Niki Lauda, chairman of the board, and 60% by the parent company.
Wolff took over the co-ordination of all Mercedes-Benz motorsport activities, a responsibility previously held by Norbert Haug.
The following season on 26 May 2013, Nico Rosberg capitalised on a pole position to award the team its first win of 2013 at the Monaco Grand Prix. Paddy Lowe moved to the team as executive director on 3 June 2013. Mercedes then went on to take third place in the Canadian Grand Prix courtesy of Hamilton, followed by another win for Rosberg at the British Grand Prix after the team took 1–2 in qualifying. The team then celebrated their third win of the season after Hamilton took his first victory for the team at the Hungarian Grand Prix, resulting in second place behind Red Bull Racing in the Constructors' Championship.