Mercedes-Benz's involvement in Formula One stretches to 1954, when the marque debuted under team manager Alfred Neubauer using the technologically advanced W196. Juan Manuel Fangio transferred from Maserati mid-season and immediately won three further Grands Prix, taking the 1954 Drivers' Championship. The success continued into 1955, with Fangio winning four races and Stirling Moss adding the British Grand Prix. A catastrophic accident at the 1955 24 Hours of Le Mans, which killed works driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators, prompted Mercedes-Benz to withdraw from all motorsport at the end of that season. During those two years, the team won nine races in total, including three with the streamlined closed-wheel "Type Monza" configuration — the only closed-wheel car wins in Formula One history.
Mercedes returned to Formula One in 1994 as an engine manufacturer in partnership with Ilmor, supplying Sauber for one season before switching to McLaren in 1995 for a partnership that lasted two decades. That collaboration yielded three Drivers' Championships: Mika Häkkinen in 1998 and 1999, and Lewis Hamilton in 2008. Ilmor was rebranded as Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains in 2005.
In November 2009, Daimler AG acquired a 45.1 percent stake in Brawn GP — the team that had improbably won both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in its maiden season with Jenson Button behind the wheel — with Aabar Investments purchasing a further 30 percent. The team was rebranded as Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team for 2010, with Nico Rosberg and returning seven-time champion Michael Schumacher as drivers. Early results were modest; the team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship in both 2010 and 2011.
In 2012, AMG's name was added to the title and the team became Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team. Rosberg took the team's first pole position as a works constructor — the first since Fangio in 1955 — and then won the Chinese Grand Prix, the team's first victory in 57 years. Lewis Hamilton was announced as Rosberg's partner from 2013 onwards, with Toto Wolff joining in January 2013 as executive director and acquiring a 30 percent stake in the team. Niki Lauda became chairman of the board. The team took three wins in 2013.
The introduction of V6 turbo-hybrid power units in 2014 transformed Mercedes into the sport's dominant force. With 18 pole positions, 16 race wins, and 11 one-two finishes from 19 races, the team finished 296 points clear of second-placed Red Bull in the Constructors' Championship. Hamilton won the Drivers' title 67 points ahead of Rosberg.
The following years saw the team maintain its position at the front. Hamilton won consecutive titles in 2015, then Rosberg claimed the 2016 championship by five points before announcing his immediate retirement. Valtteri Bottas replaced Rosberg for 2017, and Hamilton won four further championships in 2017, 2018, 2019, and 2020, bringing his total with Mercedes to six. The team's eighth consecutive Constructors' title came in 2021, even as Hamilton narrowly lost the Drivers' title to Max Verstappen on the final lap of the season in a controversial Abu Dhabi Grand Prix.
Major regulation changes for 2022, reintroducing ground effect aerodynamics, disrupted Mercedes's supremacy. A radical "zero-pod" sidepod concept proved difficult to optimise, and the team finished third in the Constructors' Championship with a single win — George Russell's victory at the Sao Paulo Grand Prix. The team recovered to finish second in 2023 despite not winning a race, and secured further wins in 2024 before Hamilton confirmed his departure to Ferrari from 2025. Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli was announced as his replacement.
For 2026, new technical regulations again favoured Mercedes. The team secured back-to-back one-two finishes in the opening two rounds of the season, with Russell and Antonelli dividing the victories.
Mercedes-Benz has supplied engines to various teams beyond its own works entry. Long-term customer McLaren resumed its partnership in 2021 after a six-year gap, while Aston Martin and Williams have also raced Mercedes power. For 2025, Mercedes supplied Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams in addition to the works team.