Mercedes are one of Formula One’s most iconic names, with the Silver Arrows having massive success as a factory team in two different eras.
First era in Formula One (1954-1955)
After racing pre-war with legendary figures such as Rudolf Caracciola, Manfred von Brauchitsch, Luigi Fagioli and Hermann Lang, Mercedes returned to Grand Prix racing in 1954 with the same manager, the iconic Alfred Neubauer, and one of Formula One’s greatest drivers in Juan Manuel Fangio. Their streamlined W196 was dominant. Despite only entering the 1954 season at the fourth round, Fangio won all but two races.
He had three teammates that season in Karl Kling, Hans Herrmann and Lang, but combined they scored two podiums. 1955 was incredibly dominant as with Fangio and Stirling Moss, they scored three 1-2 finishes from the six races and won all but one race that year they participated in. After the tragic Le Mans disaster in 1955, Mercedes left F1.
Second era in Formula One (1994-)
Partnered with Ilmor, founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan, Mercedes re-entered F1 in 1994 with Sauber, with the team scoring 12 points. McLaren, the legendary F1 team, announced they were partnering with Mercedes from 1995 onwards, beginning a partnership which would last 20 seasons. During the first decade, McLaren and Mercedes took two drivers’ titles with Mika Hakkinen and a constructors’ title with Hakkinen and Coulthard. On top of this, they won 33 Grand Prix (20 with Hakkinen, 11 with Coulthard and two with Kimi Raikkonen). Further success came with Lewis Hamilton, who took his first championship with the team in 2008.
In 2009, Mercedes made a big step up, contributing engines to Brawn GP, McLaren and Force India. They took yet another title with Brawn and Jenson Button in what was their only season before they were bought over by Mercedes themselves. In this season, Brawn and McLaren won 10 times in 17 races, with the other seven being won by Red Bull-Renault (six times) and Ferrari (once).
Return as a factory team, continuing engines for customer teams (2010-)
Mercedes returned to F1 in style, with an all-German lineup with Nico Rosberg and the legendary Michael Schumacher. They scored podiums in their opening two seasons, as McLaren fought for the title in 2010, falling off in the second half of the season. In 2012, Mercedes took their first win since 1955 in F1 with Nico Rosberg in China. When Schumacher retired, Lewis Hamilton left McLaren to join Mercedes. Hamilton would go on to win six titles with the team, with him and Rosberg having a bitter rivalry which created tension. Still, Mercedes won eight consecutive constructors’ titles from 2014-2021, and seven consecutive drivers’ titles from 2014-2020. This was because Mercedes had developed one of the greatest Formula One engines of all time for the beginning of the turbo-hybrid era in 2014.
As for customer results, McLaren left at the end of 2014, with Williams joining in the same year. Force India and Williams were consistently scoring points in this time. They also supplied Lotus (2015) and Manor (2016) to less success. They still remain with Force India, later known as Racing Point and now known as Aston Martin, and will be with them until the end of the 2025 season when they will switch to Honda. They are still with Williams too. McLaren returned to Mercedes power in 2020, and won the constructors’ title in 2024. In 2026, they will begin supplying Alpine.