The roots of Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP) stretch back to 1984 and the foundation of Ilmor Engineering Ltd by Paul Morgan and Mario Illien, with funding from Roger Penske.
Since 1995, the team in Brixworth has been responsible for the design and development of every single Formula One engine to wear the Mercedes-Benz badge.
Renamed Mercedes-Ilmor Ltd in 2002, the company became a wholly owned subsidiary of Daimler AG in 2005, operating under the name of Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines Ltd.
Today, Brixworth is a state-of-the-art technology campus where more than 700 talented people work on engines and powertrains for Formula One and high-performance hybrid road cars. For the Formula One project, the team at Brixworth designs, manufactures, and tests the Hybrid Power Units for the Mercedes works team as well as customer teams Williams Racing, Aston Martin Formula One Team and McLaren F1 Team.
The first victory of the modern era for Mercedes-Benz occurred at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, after which V10 and V8 engines from Brixworth powered World Championship victories in 1998 (Drivers’ and Constructors’), 1999 (Drivers’), 2008 (Drivers’) and 2009 (Drivers’ and Constructors’).
The company was also awarded the prestigious Dewar Trophy for Technical Excellence in 2009 for its Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS), the first ever Hybrid system to win a Grand Prix at the 2009 Hungarian GP.
In the new, Hybrid F1 era, Mercedes-Benz V6 Power Units have powered the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS Formula One Team to eight consecutive Constructors’ titles (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019, 2020 and 2021) and seven consecutive Drivers’ Championships (2014, 2015, 2016, 2017, 2018, 2019 and 2020).
Today’s F1 Power Unit from Brixworth is one of the most efficient internal combustion engines ever built, reaching more than 50% thermal efficiency. Each season, HPP are pushing to evolve, improve and develop the Power Unit to get the most power and performance from the regulations.
The technology centre in Brixworth has been fully operational since late 2009, providing the team at HPP with cutting-edge and continuously upgraded facilities. The site covers a total area of over 75,000m2.
The technology centre holds the international environmental management system certification ISO 14001 and has a 1-megawatt Solar PV system located on its roof as well a 1.5-megawatt energy efficient CCHP plant, combined producing on-site approximately 52% of the electricity used in operations.
The site gained a 3* FIA Sustainability Accreditation in 2021.