Williams Racing and Mercedes-Benz: The Journey So Far

The 2024 campaign will mark the 11th season that Williams Racing have utilised Mercedes-Benz Power Units, a relationship that will now continue into the new technical regulation era, which starts in 2026.

It is a collaboration that began at the dawn of the turbo-hybrid era, and 2023 marked the season where Mercedes-Benz became our most-raced power unit supplier.

Continue reading to discover more of our journey so far.

The 2014 season marked a new era for Formula 1, with V6 turbo-hybrids replacing V8 engines which the sport had used for eight seasons.

It was a dramatic regulation shake-up that brought with it the chance for a fresh start, and Mercedes-Benz became the 10th different engine manufacturer that Williams Racing had raced with across our history.

A decade down the line, they now lead the way with more races powering our historic team than any other supplier, and throughout that time we have enjoyed some memorable moments.

It was a relationship that flourished from the start, with a strong first season together as we hit the ground running in this new generation of F1.

We scored points at every single round in the maiden season of turbo-hybrid power units, including three P2 finishes – Valtteri Bottas in Great Britain and Germany, plus Felipe Massa at Abu Dhabi.

These were supported by six P3 results across that campaign, including Valtteri making it a double podium in Abu Dhabi, handing us the seemingly unbreakable record of most points ever secured by a team at a single grand prix.

George Russell’s 2021 Belgian Grand Prix heroics saw him add to our Mercedes-powered podiums, with his P2 at Spa secured thanks to his remarkable efforts on the Saturday of that event.

We’ve secured numerous top 10 starts during our time with Mercedes-Benz, but our best Saturday result so far came at the Austrian Grand Prix of 2014.

Felipe Massa snatched pole around the 4.326 km Red Bull Ring, a tenth of a second clear of teammate, Valtteri Bottas, who made it a front-row lockout.

We weren’t able to convert it into a victory, however, Valtteri did lead Felipe home for a respectable 3-4 finish in Spielberg.

As already mentioned, the 2014 campaign was by far the most fruitful, but trips to the podium did come several times in the following seasons.

2015 delivered four trips to the rostrum, whilst Valtteri Bottas celebrated another P3 at the 2016 Canadian Grand Prix.

From races in Montreal to a racer from Montreal. Lance Stroll picked up a memorable P3 in his rookie season after a rollercoaster afternoon in Baku.

Our most recent top three came in that aforementioned rain-affected weekend in Spa where George Russell made his first visit to the podium.

The partnership has delivered well over a century of points finishes across the decade, a tally that we added to nine times last year – eight times in Grands Prix and once in an F1 Sprint.

As we continue to fight our way back up the order, we’ve got our eyes firmly set on more regular returns.