Motivated by a belief and desire to succeed, Hans Werner Aufrecht and Erhard Melcher laid the foundation for AMG back in 1967. Boundless passion for motorsports paved the way for legendary achievements and continues to leave its mark on the spirit of our brand to the present day.
With currently eight consecutive Constructors’ and seven Drivers’ World Championships, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team has an unparalleled track record in the pinnacle of motorsport. Headquartered in Brackley in the UK, the team builds on Mercedes-Benz’s heritage in racing: back in 1954 and 1955 already, the Silver Arrows were represented in Formula One and won the drivers’ crown with Juan Manuel Fangio in both years. In 2010, Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One with its own works-team and ran under the Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team banner. Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg were the driver pairing.
In 2012, the team competed for the first time with its current designation as “Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team”. The driver line-up remained unchanged while Rosberg secured the team’s maiden victory in the 2012 Chinese Grand Prix. Following Michael Schumacher’s retirement, Lewis Hamilton joined the team in 2013 and was crowned World Champion in 2014 while Rosberg was the year’s runner-up. With three rounds to spare, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team had already secured the FIA F1 Constructors’ World Championship for the first time. In 2015, the Drivers’ World Championship title again went to Lewis Hamilton while the team successfully defended its constructors’ title.
The next season, 2016, was one for the history books: the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team racked up a total of 765 points and secured 19 race wins and 20 pole positions from 21 races – F1 records that resulted into a repeated constructors’ title win. Nico Rosberg was crowned the World Champion and therefore became the third Silver Arrows champion in F1 history after Fangio and Hamilton.
After Nico Rosberg had stepped down, Valtteri Bottas became the new race driver alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2017. In spite of the revised line-up, the Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team remained on course for success: The team won the World Championship double in each of the years 2017 to 2020. By winning his seventh World Championship title, Lewis Hamilton drew level with record champion Michael Schumacher. Just one of many records Hamilton set in a Silver Arrow.
In the Eifel Grand Prix, Lewis also scored his 91st F1 race win and thus matched Michael Schumacher’s record for the most race wins. In the Portuguese Grand Prix a fortnight later, Lewis again was the fastest driver in the field and has been the sole record holder ever since. With the strong achievements, the team improved its own F1 record: no other team in the sport’s 70-year history managed to score seven consecutive World Championship doubles.
For 2021, the records kept on coming for Lewis, and he also became the first driver to reach 100 wins and 100 pole positions in the sport’s history. Lewis finished second in the Drivers’ Championship, just missing out on the title to Red Bull’s Max Verstappen after a hard-fought, season-long battle, and helped Mercedes to its eight consecutive Constructors’ title.
The 2022 season marked the dawn of a new era in Formula One, which presented the team members at the Brackley and Brixworth technology centres with a set of huge challenges. The changes to the Technical Regulations were the biggest in a generation, and so the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team entered its 13th season with a brand-new race car, which, like the following year 2023, was to prove challenging and character-building.
Nevertheless, there were also some highlights: Lewis Hamilton was joined by a new teammate in the shape of George Russell, who has been part of the Mercedes-AMG Motorsport family since 2017 - including three seasons in F1 with Mercedes customer team Williams Racing. George scored his first Grand Prix victory at the penultimate race of the 2022 season in Brazil. Lewis completed Mercedes' 59th double victory in F1.
In the 2024 season, George and Lewis will once again take the wheel of the new Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE and contest their third season together.
The Next Phase
Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE
Exactly 15 days before the start of the 2024 Formula One season, the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team unveiled the new Mercedes-AMG F1 W15 E PERFORMANCE at the Silverstone circuit, with which Lewis Hamilton and George Russell will tackle the longest F1 season in the history of the sport
In the immediate aftermath of a disappointing 2023 Bahrain Grand Prix, the team looked hard in the mirror at every aspect of our operations. A new direction was set, beginning a period of renewal. Despite the limitations of the W14’s pre-existing architecture, there was tangible progress. A hard-fought, year-long battle netted second in the Constructors’ Championship.
A new car enables the team to make bigger alterations that are not possible during the season. These changes include a new chassis, and new gearbox casing. Aerodynamically, as ever, the focus has been on efficiency. The endless quest for finding more downforce with less drag and delivering it to the track in a manner that complements the function of the suspension and tyres. A big focus has been on improving the previous car’s unpredictable rear axle.
Another visible difference with the W15? The livery. In a year when the iconic Silver Arrows mark their 90th anniversary, the famous silver returns to complement the iconic black of recent seasons. The nose section therefore transforms to silver, with the iconic three-pointed star pattern on the engine cover. The distinguished INEOS ‘Toto Rosso’ red features predominantly on the rear-wing and roll hoop in a nod to INEOS Sport, with PETRONAS green providing a dynamic flow across the car.
The development of the Power Unit is restricted by the regulations, so that the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains team in Brixworth was able to concentrate fully on reliability and software improvements.
Vehicles from Mercedes-AMG have been improving safety at Grands Prix since 1996, firstly with the Official FIA F1® Safety Car which leads the Formula One field in bad weather or when there's an incident and then with the Official FIA F1® Medical Car which can immediately reach the scene of an accident.
The safety car with the three-pointed star has been a constant feature for 26 years now, and during that time, high-performance models, including the Mercedes-Benz CL 55 AMG, the Mercedes-Benz C 36 AMG and the spectacular SLS AMG gullwing specially developed by Mercedes-AMG, have all been utilised.
Since the 2022 F1 season the Mercedes-AMG GT Black Series (fuel consumption combined: 12.8 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 292 g/km)[1] leads the field as the safety car. At the same time, the Mercedes-AMG GT 63 S 4MATIC+ (fuel consumption combined: 13.5-13.0 l/100 km, CO2 emissions combined: 308-295 g/km)[2] made its debut as the medical car. These two F1 safety vehicles are the most powerful ever used and will sport the same distinctive red livery as in previous years.
Since 2010, GT racing has been decisively contributing to our international race track achievements. The Mercedes-AMG Customer Racing programme delivers technical expertise and support to customer teams and drivers around the world.
The Customer Racing era started with the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. In the following years, we expanded our race car portfolio with the Mercedes-AMG GT3, the Mercedes-AMG GT4 and the Mercedes-AMG GT2. The holistic model range is supplemented by limited editions, focusing on club sport and track day customers. One of these high-performance track tools is the new Mercedes-AMG GT2 PRO, which made its track debut in 2023. All of our Customer Racing GT race cars stand out for their intuitive drivability, outstanding ergonomics and high safety standards.
The more than 400 GT racing cars built in Affalterbach have completed over 12,000 race starts in around 150 race series since the start of our customer sports programme. On this journey, they have achieved more than 750 overall race wins, scored around 1,000 class wins and celebrated over 300 championship titles (as of April 2024).
Our sporting milestones include the “Grand Slam” in 2013 with overall wins in all major GT3 endurance classics, as well as the quadruple victory at the 2016 Nürburgring 24-hour race. In the same year, Maximilian Götz became the inaugural GT3 champion in the prestigious DTM. More recent achievements include the successful title defenses in the 2023 Intercontinental GT Challenge and the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe, the overall win in the legendary 24 Hours of Spa in 2022 and the back-to-back victories in the Bathurst 12 Hour in 2022 and 2023. Furthermore, we achieved class wins in the 2023 and 2024 IMSA season opener at Daytona. With our fourth victory at the FIA GT World Cup in Macau, we successfully defended the title at the Guia Circuit in 2023 – a feat that no other manufacturer has ever achieved. In the current 2024 season, Mercedes-AMG is celebrating 130 years of motorsport history under the sign of the star.
These sporting achievements are based on a comprehensive programme that - just like the cars - is constantly being developed further. The guiding principle is always clear: To support our teams fast and professionally with the aim of contributing to the greatest possible joint success.
