Mercedes reinforces commitment to F1 with closer AMG ties
Mercedes has reaffirmed its commitment to Formula 1 by forging a closer alliance between its grand prix operation and AMG division.
Presenting its new Mercedes-Benz strategy at an investors’ call on Tuesday, Daimler revealed plans to increase ties between the AMG performance sub-brand and its F1 team.
The German manufacturer, which also competes in Formula E, also outlined its full commitment to electrification, including a range of new vehicles.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff and Daimler chief Ola Kallenius have both recently moved to quash suggestions that the parent company was preparing to sell the works F1 team and remain in the championship solely as an engine supplier.
In August, such talk was finally put to bed when Mercedes committed to F1 by signing the new Concorde Agreement through 2025, and it has now moved to reinforce its commitment to the series.
Speaking during an investors’ call on Tuesday, Kallenius said: "We will use the technology development in Formula 1 for performance hybrids and going into other exciting technologies in the future, and put that into our AMG cars.
"With Project One, we're taking the Formula 1 powertrain and putting it on the road. So it just comes natural to us to leverage Formula 1 even more for AMG going forward."
It is understood that AMG – which already features in the team’s official F1 entry name – will be represented more prominently with its logos having a bigger presence on the F1 cars than it currently does.
Mercedes is on course to claim an unprecedented feat of winning seven world championship doubles this year.
The team holds a comfortable lead in the constructors’ championship, while Lewis Hamilton heads teammate Valtteri Bottas by 44 points in the drivers’ standings after the opening 10 rounds of the 2020 season.
Mercedes’ renewed commitment to F1 comes just days after Honda’s shock announcement that it will quit at the end of the 2021 season, leaving Red Bull and AlphaTauri seeking a new power unit supplier from 2022 onwards.
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