Mercedes-AMG Petronas Formula One Team

Before the Second World War, Mercedes-Benz competed in Grand Prix motor racing in the 1930s, when the Silver Arrows dominated races alongside rivals Auto Union. Both teams were heavily funded by the Nazi regime. Rudolf Caracciola won three European Grand Prix Championships for Mercedes-Benz.

In 1954, Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One under the leadership of Alfred Neubauer, using the technologically advanced Mercedes-Benz W196. The car was run in two configurations: a conventional open-wheeled form and a streamlined version with 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 recorded an immediate 1–2 victory with Fangio and Karl Kling, with Hans Herrmann also setting the fastest lap. Fangio went on to win three more races that season to claim the 1954 Drivers' Championship.

The success continued into 1955. Fangio took four victories, and his new teammate Stirling Moss won the British Grand Prix. Fangio and Moss finished first and second in that year's championship. The three Grands Prix won by the streamlined W196 — the 1954 French, the 1954 Italian, and the 1955 Italian — remain the only three races in Formula One history won by a closed-wheel car.

The 1955 Le Mans disaster on 11 June killed Mercedes-Benz sportscar driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 spectators, and prompted the cancellation of the French, German, Spanish, and Swiss Grands Prix. At the end of the season, Mercedes-Benz withdrew from motor sport entirely. During this first period, the team won nine races in total.

Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One in 1994 as an engine supplier in partnership with Ilmor, a British independent high-performance engineering company based in Brixworth, Northamptonshire. Ilmor supplied Sauber for one season before switching to McLaren in 1995 for a partnership that would last until 2009. In 2005, Ilmor was rebranded as Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.

The Mercedes–McLaren partnership produced one Constructors' Championship and three Drivers' Championships. During this period Mercedes also supplied Brawn GP and Force India from 2009.

Before the 2010 season, Daimler AG purchased a 45.1% stake in Brawn GP on 16 November 2009, with Aabar Investments acquiring 30%. Brawn GP, under team principal Ross Brawn, had won both the Drivers' and Constructors' Championships in 2009 — with Jenson Button winning six of the first seven races — in the first maiden-season double in the sport's sixty-year history. The team was rebranded as Mercedes GP Petronas Formula One Team, with Malaysian oil and gas company Petronas becoming title sponsor. Ross Brawn continued as team principal, and the team retained its Brackley facility.

The team's entry traces its lineage through Tyrrell Racing (constructor from 1970 to 1998), British American Racing (1999), Honda Racing F1 (2006), and Brawn GP (2009).

Mercedes hired Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, who returned to Formula One after a three-year absence. The team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship in both 2010 and 2011. In 2012, the team became Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team, adding AMG to their name. At the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix, Rosberg gave the team its first win in 57 years — also the first win for a German driver in a German car in Formula One history. Lewis Hamilton joined the team from McLaren for the 2013 season, signing a three-year deal to partner Rosberg. In January 2013, Toto Wolff became an executive director and acquired a 30% stake in Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd, with Niki Lauda as chairman holding a further 10%. Paddy Lowe joined as executive director in June 2013. The team won three races in 2013 and finished second in the Constructors' Championship behind Red Bull Racing.

A major rule change in 2014 mandating V6 turbo-hybrid power units coincided with the beginning of the most dominant period in the team's history. Mercedes won eight consecutive Constructors' Championships from 2014 to 2021 and seven consecutive Drivers' Championships from 2014 to 2020, both records in the sport.

In 2014, Hamilton won the Drivers' Championship 67 points ahead of Rosberg, with the team posting 18 pole positions, 16 wins, and 11 1–2 finishes from 19 races. The average winning margin over the nearest non-Mercedes competitor was 23.2 seconds. The team took their first Constructors' Championship as a works team at the 2014 Russian Grand Prix.

In 2015, Hamilton claimed his second consecutive title at the United States Grand Prix, finishing 59 points ahead of Rosberg. The team again recorded 18 poles and 16 wins from 19 races.

In 2016, Mercedes won 19 of 21 races and took 20 pole positions — a record 95.2% of available poles in a single season. Rosberg won his only Drivers' Championship, finishing 5 points ahead of Hamilton, then announced his retirement. Valtteri Bottas was announced as Rosberg's replacement on 16 January 2017.

Hamilton won his fourth title in 2017 — becoming the first British driver to win four world championships — and added consecutive titles in 2018, 2019, and 2020. Before the 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix, Hamilton was replaced by Williams driver and Mercedes junior George Russell after testing positive for coronavirus.

In 2021, Hamilton led the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix and was on course for his eighth title before a late safety car caused by Nicholas Latifi's crash allowed title rival Max Verstappen to overtake on the final lap under controversial procedures applied by FIA race director Michael Masi. Hamilton finished second in the championship, eight points behind Verstappen. The team still claimed the Constructors' title for a record-extending eighth consecutive season.

For 2022, Russell replaced Bottas alongside Hamilton. Major rule changes reintroducing ground effect led Mercedes to debut a radical "zero-pods" sidepod design. The car suffered from severe porpoising, which was substantially reduced ahead of the Canadian Grand Prix. Despite performance struggles, the team had strong reliability. Russell took his first Formula One win at the 2022 São Paulo Grand Prix, with Hamilton second. The team finished third in the Constructors' Championship.

In 2023, technical director Mike Elliott was replaced by James Allison. Mercedes finished second in the Constructors' Championship but failed to win a race for the first time since 2011. Hamilton finished closest to victory at the United States Grand Prix, where he crossed the line 0.3 seconds behind champion Verstappen before being disqualified for rear skid block wear.

The team revealed a new concept for the W15 in 2024. Consecutive wins followed at the Austrian and British Grands Prix — the latter marking Hamilton's first victory since 2021 and breaking Schumacher's record for most wins at a single circuit. Two further wins followed at the Belgian Grand Prix (inherited by Hamilton after Russell's disqualification) and the Las Vegas Grand Prix. The team finished fourth in the Constructors' Championship.

On 1 February 2024, Mercedes confirmed Hamilton would leave after 12 years, signing a multi-year deal with Ferrari from 2025. Mercedes junior Kimi Antonelli was announced as Hamilton's replacement on 31 August 2024. In 2025, Toto Wolff sold a portion of his shareholding to CrowdStrike CEO George Kurtz, who joined the team's strategic steering committee as technology advisor.

Russell won in Canada and Singapore in 2025, finishing fourth in the Drivers' Championship. Antonelli took his maiden podium in Canada and finished seventh in the championship. Mercedes finished second in the Constructors' Championship.

Ahead of the 2026 season, new regulations were introduced. The Mercedes W17 secured 1–2 finishes in the first two races it entered: Russell won the Australian Grand Prix ahead of Antonelli, and Antonelli won the Chinese Grand Prix ahead of Russell and Hamilton. Antonelli subsequently became the youngest driver in Formula One history to lead the World Championship.

Mercedes has supplied engines to multiple teams throughout its Formula One history. As of 2025, customer teams include Aston Martin, McLaren, and Williams, in addition to the works team. The McLaren partnership, which ran from 1995 to 2014, produced one Constructors' Championship and three Drivers' Championships. Mercedes also supplied Lotus F1 Team for one season in 2015 and Manor in 2016.

The following drivers won the Formula One Drivers' Championship with Mercedes:

Juan Manuel Fangio — 1954, 1955

Lewis Hamilton — 2014, 2015, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020

Nico Rosberg — 2016

This article is based solely on the supplied corpus. No external sources were consulted; claims that could not be substantiated against the corpus were omitted under the drop-the-claim rule.