The Williams Racing Formula 1 team will continue to be powered by Mercedes-Benz engines until 2030, becoming the second customer team of Mercedes engines, following McLaren. This should come as no surprise as Williams has used Mercedes engines since 2014. New regulations come into effect in 2026, reducing the reliance on combustion, upping the electrification, and running on synthetic fuel. The cars will also be lighter and smaller, hopefully leading to more exciting racing.
“It is fantastic to extend our partnership with Williams Racing until 2030,” says Markus Schaefer, Mercedes-Benz Group’s CTO. “We have enjoyed a strong relationship with them since the introduction of the current power unit regulations and look forward to continuing that into this next era. Their commitment and support to our future power unit strategy is highly valued. We look forward to approaching this new rules set together, with the same passion and enthusiasm we did in 2014 and with the aim of achieving similar successes.”
Mercedes has an impressive history as a powertrain manufacturer, supplying McLaren as a works partnership as of 1994 before re-entering the sport as a constructor in 2010. The team’s major successes rolled in post-2014 with the advent of the turbo-hybrid era, with 8 Constructors’ Championships between then and now and 7 Drivers’ Championships.
Williams has Mercedes beaten, with 7 Drivers’ Championships and 9 Constructors’ Championships, although the last of those was 27 years ago in 1997 when Jacques Villeneuve clinched his maiden title. Still, Williams remains F1’s second most successful team ever, behind only Ferrari.
James Vowles, former head strategist for Mercedes’ F1 team, recently assumed the role of Team Principal at Williams Racing and has been on a mission to see the team improve. During the 2023 season, Williams climbed to 7th on the overall standings, up from last the year before. The familiarity of working with Mercedes’ powertrain team will be an appealing prospect to Vowles in his pursuit of Williams’ 10th title.
“We have enjoyed a long-term partnership with Mercedes-Benz, and we are thrilled to extend this collaboration into the next era of Formula 1,” explains Vowles. “The expertise, support, and technology that Mercedes brings to the table align perfectly with our team’s aspirations in the medium and long term. This long-term agreement with Mercedes is a positive step and forms part of our strategic objectives for the future, whilst we will still retain our design and manufacturing expertise and capabilities in-house.”
