Mercedes have announced they intend to compete under the full name of ‘Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team' from 2012 onwards. AMG is the performance brand of Mercedes-Benz, and has been involved with Formula One for 15 years, supplying the official F1 safety and medical cars since 1996.
Mercedes have also confirmed that their 2012 F1 car, currently under development at the team’s UK factory in Brackley and code-named the F1 W03, will make its track debut at the New Year’s second winter test in Barcelona, Spain, on February 21.
"Our new team name fuses the proud traditions of AMG and the Mercedes-Benz Silver Arrows at the pinnacle of motorsport,” commented Norbert Haug, Vice-President of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport. “These three letters are synonymous with high technology, sporting performance and excitement and this step is a further strong sign of the strategic commitment Mercedes-Benz has made to Formula One.”
Mercedes’ Formula One powertrain facility at Brixworth in the UK has worked closely with AMG for a number of years and this wholly-owned Daimler subsidiary will now be renamed 'Mercedes AMG High Performance Powertrains'.
"We are very proud to reveal our new team name today,” added team principal Ross Brawn. “It adds another strong performance element to our team's identity and, by virtue of being shared between Brackley and Brixworth, will forge even stronger links within our team. At the factory, we have been focused for some time on the challenge of 2012, and our very clear ambition to move forward up the grid next year.
“As always, the winter development and manufacturing processes are a trade-off between time for finding performance in the factory, and time for delivering that performance during pre-season testing. We believe that the decision to run the car at the second winter test is the optimum compromise for our design and development programme with F1 W03."
AMG has an extensive motorsport pedigree dating back more than 40 years. The Mercedes AMG brand is the most successful in the history of Germany’s DTM touring car series, winning 165 races from 342 since 1988 and securing a total of 32 driver, manufacturer and team titles.
