Getting to know: Mercedes AMG Petronas F1
These are the Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One team Technology Centers:
BRIXWORTH
Home of the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP)
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, the company employs over 400 talented people in the design, manufacture and testing of Hybrid Power Units for the works team Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport, and partner teams Williams Racing and Racing Point F1 Team.
Since the first victory of the modern era for Mercedes-Benz at the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, V10 and V8 engines from Brixworth have powered (as of end 2013) a total of 90 Grand Prix victories, 91 pole positions and secured 94 fastest laps. Mercedes-Benz 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 engines have powered the Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport team to several consecutive Championship doubles (Driver and Constructor). The Mercedes-Benz Technology Center has been fully operational since late 2009, providing the team at HPP with cutting-edge facilities in which to develop the next generation of high-performance Formula One Power Units. The site covers a total area of 126,000 m2.
BRACKLEY
Home of Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport.
Brackley, situated 70 miles northwest of London, has been the home of the modern-day Mercedes F1 team ever since Mercedes-Benz returned to Formula One in 2010. Before that, the facility was home to Brawn GP, who won the 2009 Formula One World Championships with Jenson Button and Mercedes-Benz engines. After Brawn GP's takeover by Mercedes-Benz, the Brackley factory subsequently became the home of the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS Formula 1 team (now known as Mercedes-AMG Petronas Motorsport).
The factory site covers an area of 60,000 square meters. The number of buildings has grown six-fold since 1999 and now provides ultra-modern facilities for the design and development of the next generation of Formula One cars.
Brackley houses cutting- edge facilities including the wind tunnel, state of the art dynos and the team’s driver in loop simulator as well as the production resources required to maintain season-long development of the race car. This wind tunnel was modernized in 2012 as part of the restructuring of the aerodynamics department, and since then, engineers have been able to use 60-percent models that provide more information and give better feedback.
In five shifts, more than 700 employees work 24 hours a day, seven days a week on design, development and manufacturing activities. More than 250,000 working hours go into the design of a Formula One car, and a further 200,000 hours plus are spent on production. Only during the two-week summer break and on Christmas Day do the workshops in Brackley fall silent…
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