Mercedes-Benz planning road car projects for F1 powertrain facility – report

Mercedes-Benz will take advantage of a technical development freeze in Formula One to work on new projects for its future road cars.

Mercedes-Benz head of development Thomas Weber told Autocar the Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains facility in Brixworth, UK, has the ability to focus on new sports car programs now that work on its 1.6-litre V6 hybrid F1 powertrain is on hold.

“That’s already decided,” Weber confirmed. “Especially in combination with AMG there are some new ideas of what we can do together.

“Normally we would have to look at reducing workforce in line with this cycle. It is necessary because we have to reduce spending.

“Now with this really qualified team of engineers, I have some ideas to do some of the advanced engineering studies and advanced development activities, and maybe also production of high-end models.”

It’s unclear exactly what projects the High Performance facility may take on, though Mercedes is expected to make use of its high-performance hybrid powertrain know-how.

Brixworth’s 400-strong team was responsible for developing the powertrain of the Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG Electric Drive, which combined four electric motors and a lithium-ion battery for outputs of 552kW and 1000Nm and a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 3.9 seconds.