Ilmor Engineering was established in 1983 by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan — the company name derived from their surnames — with initial funding from IndyCar team owner and chassis manufacturer Roger Penske. The business began building engines for IndyCar racing before pivoting toward Formula One.
Daimler-Benz acquired General Motors' 25 percent share of Ilmor in 1993. In 2002, Daimler increased its stake to 55 percent and renamed the company Mercedes-Ilmor. By 2005, Daimler became the sole owner and renamed the entity Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines. In December 2011, following the incorporation of the Mercedes-AMG sub-brand into the wider Mercedes motorsport operation, the company became Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.
When the restructuring occurred, the Special Projects division — which had been contracted to co-develop and tune Honda IndyCar engines between 2003 and 2011 — split away to form a separate independent company once again known as Ilmor Engineering Ltd., owned by Illien and Penske.
Ilmor first entered Formula One in 1991 as the engine supplier to the Leyton House team, formerly March. In 1992 the team reverted to the March name and continued using Ilmor units, with Tyrrell also receiving engines that season. March scored 3 championship points and Tyrrell 8 with Ilmor-powered cars.
Mercedes-Benz and Sauber jointly planned their Formula One entry together, signing with Ilmor to produce their engines. Initially Mercedes stepped back, with the engines carrying only the slogan "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" and being officially badged as Sauber units. After Sauber's unexpectedly fast 1993 performance, Mercedes committed to an official presence in 1994. Ilmor also supplied the Pacific GP team in 1994 with older 1993-specification engines; Pacific qualified only seven times in thirty-two attempts.
In 1995, Ilmor repositioned itself by ceasing its independent supply program and becoming the exclusive engine builder for McLaren under the Mercedes-Benz badge. The partnership took its first victory at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. Mika Häkkinen won back-to-back Drivers' Championships in 1998 and 1999, and McLaren claimed the Constructors' title in 1998. After a winless 2006 season, McLaren and Mercedes returned to championship form when Lewis Hamilton won the 2008 Drivers' title.
In 2001, co-founder Paul Morgan was killed in a vintage aircraft accident at Sywell Aerodrome in Northamptonshire, prompting Mercedes-Benz to deepen its financial involvement in the company.
Mercedes supplied the Brawn GP team with engines in 2009, the year Brawn won both championships. The Mercedes factory Formula One team, which had taken over Brawn GP, began using HPP engines from 2010. HPP also supplied Force India from 2009, Williams from 2014, Lotus in 2015, Manor Racing in 2016, Racing Point from 2018 through 2020, and Aston Martin from 2021 to 2025.
The 2014 regulatory shift to 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 hybrid power units — incorporating both a kinetic energy recovery system (MGU-K) and a heat energy recovery system (MGU-H) — gave Mercedes HPP a decisive early advantage. Mercedes-powered cars took pole position in 155 of 259 races and won 146 of 259 races between 2014 and the 2026 Barcelona-Catalunya Grand Prix. The Mercedes factory team won seven consecutive Drivers' and Constructors' Championships between 2014 and 2020.
HPP-built engines also powered McLaren to Constructors' Championships in 2024 and 2025, with Lando Norris taking the 2025 Drivers' title in a McLaren-Mercedes. From 2026, Alpine joined the list of HPP customer teams.
During the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020, Mercedes HPP collaborated with UCL Mechanical Engineering and the UCL Institute of Healthcare Engineering to produce Continuous Positive Airway Pressure (CPAP) breathing aids for patients. Using machinery ordinarily dedicated to manufacturing pistons and turbochargers, HPP produced 600 CPAP devices on its first day of production, with output subsequently scaling to 1,000 units per day.
Mercedes AMG HPP remains one of the most successful engine manufacturers in Formula One history. Its twelve Drivers' Championships and twelve Constructors' Championships are spread across McLaren (four Drivers', three Constructors'), the Mercedes factory team (seven Drivers', eight Constructors'), and Brawn GP (one of each). The evolution from the independent Ilmor Engineering operation of 1983 to the HPP entity that powered an era of Mercedes dominance in the hybrid age represents one of the most consequential arcs in motorsport manufacturing history.