Mercedes plan Silicon Valley-style F1 factory upgrades

Mercedes plans to expand its Formula 1 factory into a campus as part of £70 million upgrades, which should help turn it into a Silicon Valley-style parkland.

Their current factory in Brackley, Northamptonshire, will see new infrastructure including marketing buildings, leisure facilities, and restaurants built to improve the working environment within the team.

Team principal Toto Wolff claims one of main reasons for the expansion is due to the number of people who are now working for the team, compared to when it opened up in 1998.

“The Brackley campus was built to accommodate 350 people, and today we are at 1250," said Wolff.

"What we are planning to do is to expand the campus with multiple new buildings and create a modern style campus, with lots of breakout areas, restaurants, state of the art gyms, new marketing buildings, and getting all the cars out.

“We want it to become its own little village, with all the amenities and benefits that you would expect from a Silicon Valley style environment.”

Mercedes push for sustainability

Mercedes has spent £40 million so far on different projects throughout the Brackley site to improve the facilities, with another £30 million committed to the next phases.

These upgrades will incorporate their NetZero targets, which includes being powered by 100% renewable energy from onsite and offsite resources, and a new car park powered by an on-site solar array.

There will be a push to make use of reusable and recyclable materials to help biodiversity in the area, with a recycling target of 60% for office waste.

Wolff says these improvements will help contribute to their long-term success and investment in people, which will also see staff receive a pay rise in line with consumer inflation.

“All of this is obviously done for our people. We're not trying to win some kind of architectural prize," said Wolff.

“This is not like some of our competitors did 20 years ago where you are getting lost and probably emphasising more the architecture. Here form follows function, it is not the other way around. But nevertheless, it's all done to create a great place to work at and spend time.”