It returned to F1 as an engine supplier in 1994 and enjoyed a successful partnership with McLaren for two decades. That included three drivers’ titles and the 1998 constructors’ crown before Mercedes-Benz decided to go it alone and enter a works team once more.
It acquired 2009 World Champions Brawn Grand Prix (a customer during its single, very successful season) and returned as Mercedes-Benz. “The Silver Arrows” (a colour and moniker that dates back to stripping the car’s white paint to achieve the weight limit for the 1934 French GP) were back on the grid in their own right in 2010.
Nico Rosberg won the 2012 Chinese GP but it was the arrival of Lewis Hamilton from McLaren and new rules to take the reconstituted team to a new level. Hamilton withstood a strong challenge from his team-mate to win the 2014 World Championship before repeating that success a year later.
The team was even more dominant in 2016 – winning 19 of the 21 races that season. However, it was Rosberg that emerged with the title at the final round and promptly retired from the sport at his greatest moment. The success continued unabated with Hamilton drivers’ champion for the next four seasons and Mercedes having secured its seventh successive constructors’ title in 2020.
