Motorsport's premier league was born in Silverstone, Great Britain, in 1950. It wasn't long before Formula 1 was delivering the thrills fans hoped for. Alfa Romeo unleashed an incredible 430 horsepower with a straight-eight engine as early as 1951. The promising start was followed by two years of disillusionment. In 1952 and 1953, there were not enough cars available and the company had to resort to engines from Formula 2 with four cylinders and only 2 liters of displacement. Fewer cylinders meant less output, and the horsepower figures fell to a range between 175 and 190. However, it was only a few short years before the eagerly awaited return to Formula 1 engines.

From 1960 onwards, safety concerns meant engines were regulated to an output to 1.5 liters without turbocharging. These were the smallest engines in Formula 1 history, reaching a maximum output of 230 horsepower by the mid-1960s. Meanwhile, four-wheel drive and the six-speed transmission become commonplace. Not wanting to stand still and looking to attract more automakers to the series, the FIA revised its rules. The new limit was 3 liters of displacement or 1.5 liters with an integrated turbocharger, plus free choice of engines and cylinders.

In the seventies, engines were often identical and it became increasingly important for engineering and aerodynamic ingenuity. At the time, only a few manufacturers were able to produce original designs. What followed was a decade of groundbreaking innovations and supercars. In 1971, for example, Pratt & Whitney's gas turbine achieved an impressive 520 horsepower. Unfortunately, its heavy weight and high fuel consumption prevented it from catching on. Vehicle design also adapted: Cooling elements moved to the sides, air intakes became more imposing, and oversized rear tires became a staple.

Spectators could hardly believe their eyes at the sight of the Tyrrel P 34. Equipped with six tires, it remains an unparalleled wildcard. Meanwhile, turbochargers, which had recently been neglected, delivered unimagined performance and shattered engine tests with over 5.0 bar boost pressure and 1000 horsepower. It was impossible to determine where exactly the record stood. BMW decided to claim it with a four-cylinder that rocketed to 1430 horsepower. The end of turbochargers came in 1989. Two years earlier, the displacement had been increased to 3.5 liters, topping out at 830 horsepower.

Higher performance didn't automatically translate to more success. In 1959 and 1960, Cooper-Climax secured back-to-back world championships despite its engines putting out 60 fewer horsepower compared to the top teams. This was achieved by a technical trick developed in 1957 in which the engineers positioned the engine behind the driver for the first time, a major innovation in vehicle design.

Ferrari revolutionized gearshifting with the semi-automatic transmission, an idea that had already been floating around Formula 1 for a few years. From then on, drivers could change gears directly via the steering wheel without losing valuable time.

In the 90s, strikingly tall vehicle noses made their way into Formula 1. However, developments over the following years were marked by serious accidents. After the tragedy at Imola in 1994, in which Roland Ratzenberger and Ayrton Senna lost their lives, cars were throttled back to 3 liters. The cockpit design was also revised to prevent fatal accidents in the future. After the first carbon fiber driver's cabs in the eighties, cars became more compact; at the end of the nineties, grooved tires were introduced to further reduce speed in the corners.

The new millennium began with further tapering of naturally aspirated engines. High engine speeds and a low weight enabled the new 3-liter engines to produce up to 968 horsepower in short sprints. As a reaction to increasing horsepower figures, V8 engines were limited to a displacement of 2.4 liters and, some time later, there was even a halt to development. As a result, Mercedes recorded a top-of-the-class 760 horsepower. With the new KERS system, this output could be periodically increased by a further 80 horsepower.

The last twenty years has also seen a number of changes to F1 vehicles, rules, and regulations. The year 2010 in particular was a milestone in motorsport for Mercedes-AMG with the founding of its own production team. Mercedes-AMG's „W“ models catapulted the company as a dominant force in Formula 1, which remains the case today.

At the start of the 2021 Formula 1 season, Mercedes-AMG unveiled the F1 W12 Performance. In addition to the striking black paint job, which was also used in the previous year, the vehicle turned heads with a new aerodynamic concept.