Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (previously known as Ilmor Engineering and Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines) is a Formula One engine manufacturer, owned by Mercedes-Benz.

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains Ltd
TypePrivate
Founded11 October 1983 (1983-10-11)
FounderMario Illien
Paul Morgan
Headquarters
Brixworth, Northamptonshire
,
United Kingdom
Area served
Worldwide
Key people
  • Ola Källenius (chairman & Daimler AG board member)
  • Andy Cowell (managing director)
ParentDaimler AG
Websitemercedes-amg-hpp.com

The company supplied Sauber during the 1994 season, McLaren from 1995 to 2014 and from 2021, Force India from 2009 to 2018, Brawn in 2009, the Mercedes factory team since 2010, Williams since 2014, Lotus in 2015, Manor Racing in 2016, Racing Point Force India in 2018, Racing Point from 2019 to 2020 and Aston Martin from 2021. Their engines have won nine Formula One Constructors' Championships and eleven Drivers' Championships.

Background
A 2004 McLaren powered by the Mercedes-Ilmor 3.0 litre V10

Ilmor was founded by Mario Illien and Paul Morgan in 1983, as an independent British Formula One engine manufacturer. The company name was taken from the surnames of the founders. It originally started building engines for IndyCars with the money of IndyCar team owner and chassis manufacturer Roger Penske.[1]

Daimler-Benz acquired General Motors' 25% share of Ilmor in 1993. In 2002, Daimler AG increased its share to 55% and renamed the company Mercedes-Ilmor.[1] In 2005, Daimler became the sole owner of Ilmor and renamed the company first to Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, then to Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines. In December 2011, the company was renamed to Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains along with the renaming of Mercedes GP to incorporate the Mercedes-AMG brand.[2]

At the same time, the small Special Projects part of the company, which between 2003 and 2005 had been contracted to co-develop, arrangement, preparation and tune up Honda's IndyCar Series engines until 2011, split away to become a separate company, owned by Mario Illien and Roger Penske. This new company, which is totally independent of Mercedes, is once again known as Ilmor Engineering Ltd.

History
Mercedes-Benz from 2010 onwards has also competed as a constructor as well as an engine maker.

In 1991, Ilmor entered Formula One as the engine supplier to the Leyton House team (formerly March). In 1992, Leyton House changed its name back to March and continued using Ilmor engines. Ilmor also delivered engines to Tyrrell Racing in that year. Powered by an Ilmor V10, March scored 3 points, and Tyrrell 8 points.[1]

Ilmor already had a good name in F1, and so the Sauber sportscar-team and Mercedes-Benz that were planning their Formula One entrance together signed a deal with Ilmor to produce racing engines for them. However, Mercedes stepped back from the project with the engines only carrying the slogan "Concept by Mercedes-Benz" and the engines were officially called "Saubers".

However, after an unexpectedly fast performance in 1993, Sauber convinced Mercedes to enter officially in 1994. In 1994, Ilmor also supplied the new Pacific GP team of Keith Wiggins with the old 1993 spec engines. Pacific only managed to qualify seven times in thirty-two attempts, although the engine was not implicated in this poor display.

Force India is a former Mercedes engine user.

Ilmor became the Mercedes's engine builder partner to McLaren in 1995. The partnership took its first win at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix. Mika Häkkinen picked up Drivers' Championships in 1998 and 1999, and the team won the Constructors' Championship in 1998.[1] After a winless 2006 season, McLaren bounced back and won the Drivers' Championship in 2008 with Lewis Hamilton.

In 2001, Paul Morgan was killed whilst landing his vintage aeroplane at Sywell Aerodrome, Northamptonshire. This led to Mercedes-Benz increasing their financial involvement in Ilmor, with the company being renamed Mercedes-Ilmor Ltd.

The new Formula One regulations in 2014 saw Mercedes produce a hybrid 1.6-litre turbocharged V6 engine, which features both a kinetic energy recovery system and a heat energy recovery system. The Mercedes engine started the season with a clear advantage, with Mercedes-engined cars scoring the majority of the points.[3] Since the introduction of the new engine formula, there have only been 27 occasions where a car with a non-Mercedes power unit achieved pole position. Similarly, as of the 2020 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Mercedes-powered cars have won 103 out of 138 races during this period.

In March 2020, in light of the delayed seasons due to the COVID-19 pandemic, and working with UCL Mechanical Engineering and Institute of Healthcare Engineering, Mercedes HPP announced that they would be making breathing aids to help keep patients out of intensive care. Mercedes HPP created this device within a week.[4][5] On the first day of production, Mercedes HPP manufactured 600 Continuous Positive Airway Pressure devices, with plans to increase this to 1,000 devices per day. These devices are being produced on machines that typically manufacture pistons and turbochargers for Formula 1 engines.[6] Mercedes would go on to win the Drivers' and Constructors' championships in 2020.[7]

Formula One engine results
Main article: Mercedes engine customers' Grand Prix results
ConstructorSeason(s)Total wins WCCWDCFirst winLast win
Sauber19940 ––
McLaren1995–2014, 202178 1 (1998)3 (1998–1999, 2008)1997 Australian Grand Prix2012 Brazilian Grand Prix
Brawn20098 1 (2009)1 (2009)2009 Australian Grand Prix2009 Italian Grand Prix
Force India2009–20180 ––
Mercedes[lower-alpha 1] 2010–2020 106 7 (2014–2020) 7 (2014–2020) 2012 Chinese Grand Prix 2020 Bahrain Grand Prix
Williams2014–2020 ––
Lotus20150 ––
MRT20160 ––
Racing Point Force India 20180 ––
Racing Point2019–20201 2020 Sakhir Grand Prix2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
Aston Martin 2021 0 – –
Total1994–20211939111997 Australian Grand Prix2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
  1. Table does not include results of the Mercedes engines which competed in 1954–1955 as these were not made by Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains.

See also

References
  1. Tytler, Ewan. "Ilmor: Bowmen of the Silver Arrows". Atlas F1. Haymarket Media. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  2. "Company Details". Companies House.
  3. Benson, Andrew (9 April 2014). "F1: McLaren can catch Mercedes says race chief Eric Boullier". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  4. Walsh, Fergus (30 March 2020). "F1 team helps to create coronavirus breathing aid". BBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  5. Sample, Ian (30 March 2020). "F1 team helps build new UK breathing aid for Covid-19 patients". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  6. "Design of new breathing aid developed by Mercedes to be made freely available | Formula 1®". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 7 April 2020.
  7. "Emilia Romagna GP Facts & Stats: Hamilton ties another Schumacher record while Mercedes re-write record books once more". www.formula1.com. Retrieved 1 November 2020.
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