History of Mercedes F1 team

German manufacturer Mercedes have a rich history in Formula 1. While the team’s heritage can be traced back to the 1930s, their first foray into what was by then the official Formula 1 championship came in 1954, when under the leadership of Alfred Neubauer, the team went on to have instant success with Juan Manuel Fangio winning the title in the team’s first year.

While the 1955 championship brought more success for the team with Fangio winning his second title and a certain Stirling Moss finishing second, the team would pull back completely from all forms of motorsport after an incident at the 24 Hours of LeMans, which saw the death of their sportscar driver Pierre Levegh and more than 80 other spectators.

After an almost 40-year hiatus, the team returned to the Formula 1 grid in 1994 as an engine supplier to Sauber, but it was less than spectacular with Sauber only scoring 12 points that season. Mercedes would then tie-up with McLaren from 1995 onwards, thus beginning one of the most successful and historic partnerships in the sport’s history.

Though the team saw an upturn in performance in both the 1995 and 1996 seasons, scoring podiums and finishing fourth in the constructors' standings on two occasions, it wasn’t until 1997 that the brand would experience victory for the first time since 1955. David Coulthard took McLaren-Mercedes’ first win at the season opener in Australia and would go on to triumph at the Italian Grand Prix that same year while his teammate Mika Hakkinen won the final round in Jerez. Great things were expected in 1998.

The 1998 season delivered what was promised the previous year with Mika Hakkinen and McLaren winning both the drivers' and constructors' championship. Hakkinen would then become a back-to-back champion in 1999, though the McLaren-Mercedes team would only finish second in the constructors' championship behind Ferrari.

The combination of McLaren and Mercedes would win one more driver championship title with Lewis Hamilton in 2008 before Mercedes would become a fully-fledged constructor in 2010, purchasing the 2009 champions Brawn GP, though still continuing to supply McLaren with power-units claiming several more wins.

Formula 1 dominance with Hamilton and Rosberg

With a line-up of Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg, the Mercedes Formula 1 team would finish fourth in the standings in its first year scoring three podiums with Nico Rosberg. The 2011 season would see the team continue to find its feet finishing fourth again, though without any podium finishes to their name. The following year would see the team win its first race in China with Nico Rosberg, and Michael Schumacher would take his last ever podium in the sport, finishing third at the European Grand Prix in Valencia before retiring. He would be replaced by Lewis Hamilton for 2013.

Then, 2013 would see the team improve to second in the standings, winning three races, with two going to Rosberg and Hamilton winning the Hungarian Grand Prix.

A regulation overhaul in 2014 and the introduction of V6 hybrid engines would see Mercedes dominate the sport both as a constructor and engine supplier. The team has gone on to win seven consecutive constructors' and drivers' titles with Rosberg interrupting Hamilton’s stranglehold on the sport in 2016.

The team is set to continue with its current driving pairing of Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas for 2021, and with no significant rule changes for the coming year, one can expect the Mercedes-Hamilton axis to add an eight crown to their respective mantelpieces.

Mercedes in Formula 1

Mercedes currently hold the record for most consecutive constructors' championships in Formula 1, winning seven in a row. The team also holds the record for most wins in a single season, winning 19 out of a possible 21 races in 2016.

The Mercedes name has accumulated more than 200 wins in the sport and has nine constructors' and 13 drivers' titles to its name.

The team’s title sponsor since 2010 has been Malaysian oil and gas giant Petronas.