Mercedes makes new long-term commitment to F1 with ‘bright future’ ahead

Mercedes has reaffirmed its long-term commitment to Formula 1, with a combination of the environmental technology being developed in the sport and its increasing popularity behind the decision.

The Silver Arrows re-entered Formula 1 in 2010 after purchasing the championship winning Brawn GP squad, itself an offshoot off the Honda team with was re-branded after the Japanese team withdrew following the global financial crash.

The team has won every constructors’ championship since 2014, dominating F1’s turbo-hybrid engine era and building the fastest machinery on the grid season after season. Lewis Hamilton has won six of his record-equalling seven drivers’ titles with the Brackley-based outfit, while Nico Rosberg won his championship with the team in 2016.

In 2022, though, Mercedes are way off the pace of frontrunners Ferrari and Red Bull, who have successfully transitioned to F1’s new era of regulations much more efficiently. Mercedes’ new W13 car is plagued by porpoising, the term used for the phenomenon caused by ground effect dynamics which sees the car bounce intensely up and down at high speeds on long straights, and is simply slower than its rivals through the corners.

Mercedes’s ownership is split evenly three ways between the auto firm’s parent company Daimler, team principal Toto Wolff, and British billionaire Jim Ratcliffe’s chemicals firm Ineos. Despite the team experiencing a rare period of strife, Mercedes is committing its long-term future to F1.

‘We have decided to go down this path of decarbonisation,’ Mercedes-Benz group chairman Ola Kallenius explained at the Financial Times Future of the Car Summit. ‘It is the only decision we can make, and the same goes for Formula 1.

Formula 1 is aiming for net zero