Mercedes-Benz_High_Performance_Engines

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

British Formula One engine manufacturer


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.

Quick Facts Company type, Founded ...

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 ten Formula One Constructors' Championships and eleven Drivers' Championships. Beside those Formula One constructors, the company currently supplies road-legal engines for the Mercedes-AMG ONE sports car.

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.[3]

Daimler-Benz (later known as Daimler) acquired General Motors' 25% share of Ilmor in 1993. In 2002, Daimler increased its share to 55% and renamed the company Mercedes-Ilmor.[3] In 2005, it 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 sub-brand.[4]

At the same time, the small Special Projects part of the company, which between 2003 and 2011 had been contracted to co-develop, co-assembly, arrangement, preparation and tune up Honda's IndyCar Series engines, 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.[3]

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 was a Mercedes engine customer.

Ilmor became the Mercedes's trusted engine builder partner and assembler to McLaren in 1995 after Ilmor decided to reposition its Formula One involvement by ceasing its independent engine supply program. 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.[3] 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.[5] Since the introduction of the new engine formula, Mercedes-powered cars have achieved pole position in 122 out of 208 races as of the 2024 Japanese Grand Prix, and have won 114 out of 208 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 a device within a week.[6][7] 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 were being produced on machines that typically manufactured pistons and turbochargers for Formula 1 engines.[8] Mercedes would go on to win the Drivers' and Constructors' championships in 2020.[9]

Formula One engine results

  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.

List of Formula One engines and power units

More information Season, Name ...

See also


References

  1. "Board of Directors". Mercedes-AMG-HPP.com. Retrieved 2 August 2022.
  2. "About us: Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains". Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains. Retrieved 2 February 2022.
  3. Tytler, Ewan. "Ilmor: Bowmen of the Silver Arrows". Atlas F1. Haymarket Media. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  4. "Company Details". Companies House. 30 November 2022.
  5. Benson, Andrew (9 April 2014). "F1: McLaren can catch Mercedes says race chief Eric Boullier". BBC Sport. Retrieved 9 April 2014.
  6. Walsh, Fergus (30 March 2020). "F1 team helps to create coronavirus breathing aid". BBC News. Retrieved 30 March 2020.
  7. Sample, Ian (30 March 2020). "F1 team helps build new UK breathing aid for Covid-19 patients". The Guardian. Retrieved 2 April 2020.
  8. "Since 1994: Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1". marsMediaSite. Archived from the original on 21 September 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  9. "Engine Mercedes • STATS F1". www.statsf1.com (in French). Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  10. "McLaren Racing – Heritage – MP4-12". Mclaren.com. Archived from the original on 29 November 2020. Retrieved 16 March 2022.
  11. Petric, Darjan (29 April 2021). "Mercedes didn't use full F1 engine power in 2014". MAXF1. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  12. "How Long Do F1 Engines Last? | F1 Chronicle". 17 June 2020. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  13. "New Mercedes-AMG One revealed: price, specs and release date". carwow.co.uk. Retrieved 22 September 2022.
  14. "Mercedes producing over 900bhp with more to come". ESPN. 6 February 2016. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  15. @ 15,000 rpmPetric, Darjan (5 January 2018). "How much power F1 engines have?". MAXF1net. Retrieved 27 May 2021.
  16. Saward, Joe (10 May 2018). "Mercedes F1 engine is a true modern marvel". Autoweek. Retrieved 28 July 2022.
  17. "Mercedes New Engine in 2021 with More 25 Horsepower – 'Party Mode Whole Race'!". F1Lead.com. 5 January 2021. Archived from the original on 16 December 2021. Retrieved 27 May 2021.

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