McLaren and Mercedes renew their partnership
McLaren and Mercedes renew their partnership
McLaren and Mercedes in Abu Dhabi have announced the renewal of their partnership with the supply of German engines from 2026, when the new regulations come into effect, to 2030 to the Woking-based manufacturer.
It thus continues a partnership that in Formula 1 è began in 1995, thus well before the return of the German rot in the Circus, and was interrupted at the end of 2014 only to resume in 2021 after there’d been two three-year periods in which McLaren used Honda engines, from 2015 to 2017, and then Renault from 2018 to 2020.
“We are delighted to continue our partnership with McLaren Racing at least until the end of this decade,” commented Markus Schaefer, board member of Mercedes-Benz.The long-term nature of this agreement reflects our shared trust and commitment to our future power unit strategy. Together, we look forward to building momentum toward 2026 and the’beginning of another new era of innovative electrified powertrains in Formula 1”.
"Working with strong customer teams è has been a cornerstone of our strategy in motorsport,” added Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, “there are many advantages to this: it provides a clear competitive benchmark, accelerates our technical learning and strengthens the overall F1 business for Mercedes-Benz. McLaren è has been fierce and fair competition since 2021, especially in the second half of this season. McLaren’s excellent performance underscores the importance of a transparent and fair offer to all customer teams in the sport if we wish to achieve the goal of 10 teams capable of fighting for the podium”.
To conclude, the words of Zak Brown, CEO and team principal McLaren: “Mercedes-Benz è been a brilliant and reliable partner of McLaren. The’extension of this agreement demonstrates the confidence our shareholders and the team at large place in their powertrains and the direction we are taking with them into the new era of regulations ahead. We have been successful together, both in the past three seasons and when they have empowered the team, so we look forward to success as we continue our journey to consistently fight at the front of the grid”.
