Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

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

The company supplied Sauber during the (/wiki/1994FormulaOneWorldChampionship) season, McLaren from (/wiki/1995FormulaOneWorldChampionship) to (/wiki/2014FormulaOneWorldChampionship) and from (/wiki/2021FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Force India from (/wiki/2009FormulaOneWorldChampionship) to (/wiki/2018FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Brawn in (/wiki/2009FormulaOneWorldChampionship), the Mercedes factory team since (/wiki/2010FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Atlassian Williams since (/wiki/2014FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Lotus in (/wiki/2015FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Manor Racing in (/wiki/2016FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Racing Point Force India in (/wiki/2018FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Racing Point from (/wiki/2019FormulaOneWorldChampionship) to (/wiki/2020FormulaOneWorldChampionship), Aston Martin from (/wiki/2021FormulaOneWorldChampionship) to (/wiki/2025FormulaOneWorldChampionship), and Alpine from (/wiki/2026FormulaOneWorldChampionship). Their engines have won twelve Formula One Drivers' Championships (7 for the Mercedes factory team, 4 for McLaren, and 1 for Brawn) and twelve Formula One Constructors' Championships (8 for the Mercedes factory team, 3 for McLaren, and 1 for Brawn). Beside those Formula One constructors, the company currently supplies road-legal engines for the Mercedes-AMG One sports car.

Background

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

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.

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. 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.

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 AMG High Performance Powertrains

Mercedes-Benz from (/wiki/2010FormulaOneWorldChampionship) 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.

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 (/wiki/1998FormulaOneWorldChampionship) and (/wiki/1999FormulaOneWorldChampionship), and the team won the Constructors' Championship in 1998. After a winless (/wiki/2006FormulaOneWorldChampionship) season, McLaren bounced back and won the Drivers' Championship in (/wiki/2008FormulaOneWorldChampionship) 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 featured both a kinetic energy recovery system (MGU-K) and a heat energy recovery system (MGU-H). The Mercedes engine started the season with a clear advantage, with Mercedes-engined cars scoring the majority of the points. For (/wiki/2026FormulaOneWorldChampionship), the regulations were changed to remove the MGU-H and increase the power of the MGU-K. Since 2014, Mercedes-powered cars have achieved pole position in 151 out of 255 races as of the 2026 Japanese Grand Prix, and have won 143 out of 255 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. 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. Mercedes would go on to win the Drivers' and Constructors' championships in 2020.

Mercedes supplied the engines that powered McLaren to Constructors’ Championship titles in (/wiki/2024FormulaOneWorldChampionship) and (/wiki/2025FormulaOneWorldChampionship); in 2025 a Mercedes powered McLaren driven by Lando Norris claimed the Drivers’ Championship.

Formula One engine results

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

Constructor	Season(s)	Total wins	WCC	WDC	First win	Last win
Sauber	1994	0			–	–
McLaren	1995–2014, 2021–2026	99	3 (1998, 2024‍–‍2025)	4 (1998‍–‍1999, 2008, 2025)	1997 Australian Grand Prix	2025 São Paulo Grand Prix
Brawn	2009	8	1 (2009)	1 (2009)	2009 Australian Grand Prix	2009 Italian Grand Prix
Force India	2009–2018	0			–	–
Mercedes	2010–2026	125	8 (2014–2021)	7 (2014–2020)	2012 Chinese Grand Prix	2026 Japanese Grand Prix
Atlassian Williams	2014–2026	0			–	–
Lotus	2015	0			–	–
MRT	2016	0			–	–
Racing Point Force India	2018	0			–	–
Racing Point	2019–2020	1			2020 Sakhir Grand Prix	2020 Sakhir Grand Prix
Aston Martin	2021–2025	0			–	–
Alpine	2026	0			–	–
Total	1994–2026	233	12	12	1997 Australian Grand Prix	2026 Japanese Grand Prix

List of Formula One engines and power units

Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains

<table><thead><tr><th>Season</th><th>Name</th><th>Format</th><th>Approximate peak power @ rpm Including hybrid system where applicable</th><th>Notes</th></tr></thead><tbody><tr><td>1994</td><td>Mercedes-Benz 2175B</td><td>3.496 L V10</td><td>537–563 kW (720–755 hp) @ 14,000 rpm</td><td>Built by Ilmor</td></tr><tr><td>1995</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110</td><td>2.997 L 75° V10</td><td>510 kW (690 hp) @ 15,600 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>1996</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110D</td><td>540 kW (720 hp) @ 15,700 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>1997</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110E</td><td>550–570 kW (740–760 hp) @ 15,800 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>1998</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110G</td><td>2.998 L 72° V10</td><td>600 kW (800 hp) @ 16,100 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>1999</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110H</td><td>600 kW (810 hp) @ 16,200 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2000</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110J</td><td>608 kW (815 hp) @ 17,800 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2001</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110K</td><td>620 kW (830 hp) @ 17,800 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2002</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110M</td><td>2.998 L 90° V10</td><td>630 kW (845 hp) @ 18,300 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2003</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110P</td><td>630 kW (850 hp) @ 18,500 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2004</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110Q</td><td>650 kW (870 hp) @ 18,500 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2005</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 110R</td><td>690 kW (930 hp) @ 19,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2006</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108S</td><td>2.398 L 90° V8</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) @ 19,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2007</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108T</td><td>600 kW (810 hp) @ 19,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2008</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108V</td><td>560–600 kW (750–800 hp) @ 19,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2009</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108W</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) + KERS @ 18,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2010</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108X</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) @ 18,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2011</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108Y</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) + KERS @ 18,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2012</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108Z</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) + KERS @ 18,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2013</td><td>Mercedes-Benz FO 108F</td><td>560 kW (750 hp) + KERS @ 18,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2014</td><td>Mercedes-Benz PU106A</td><td>1.600 L 90° V6 turbo hybrid</td><td>630 kW (840 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2015</td><td>Mercedes-Benz PU106B</td><td>649 kW (870 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td>Adapted for use in the Mercedes-AMG ONE</td></tr><tr><td>2016</td><td>Mercedes-Benz PU106C</td><td>670 kW (900 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2017</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M08 EQ Power+</td><td>708 kW (949 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2018</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M09 EQ Power+</td><td>750 kW (1,000 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2019</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M10 EQ Power+</td><td>750 kW (1,000 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td>Badged as "BWT Mercedes" for Racing Point</td></tr><tr><td>2020</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M11 EQ Performance</td><td>764 kW (1,025 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td></tr><tr><td>2021</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M12 E Performance</td><td>780 kW (1,050 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2022</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M13 E Performance</td><td>800 kW (1,070 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2023</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M14 E Performance</td><td>810 kW (1,080 hp) @ 15,000 rpm</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2024</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M15 E Performance</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2025</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M16 E Performance</td><td></td></tr><tr><td>2026</td><td>Mercedes-AMG M17 E Performance</td><td></td></tr></tbody></table>