One of the biggest reveals on the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team’s new 2026 challenger on Thursday morning was not just the car itself, but a new multi-year principal partnership with Microsoft.
The partnership was announced on the same day Mercedes released the first images of its 2026 car, with Microsoft becoming a core technology partner as the team prepares for Formula 1’s major regulation reset.
Under the agreement, Microsoft’s cloud, enterprise AI and collaboration technologies will be embedded across Mercedes’ engineering, simulation, race operations and business functions across Brackley, Brixworth and trackside.
The deal is designed to support Mercedes’ transition into F1’s new technical era in 2026, which will introduce increased electrification, efficiency and sustainability in one of the biggest regulatory overhauls in the sport’s history.
“Our sport is driven by those who lead through innovation,” said Toto Wolff, Chief Executive Officer and Team Principal of Mercedes.
“We are delighted to partner with Microsoft, one of the world’s foremost technology leaders, whose name is synonymous with groundbreaking innovation.
“This partnership also reflects our commitment to staying at the forefront of performance and progress. By putting Microsoft’s technology at the centre of how we operate as a team, we will create faster insights, smarter collaboration and new ways of working as we look ahead to the next generation in Formula 1.”
At the core of the collaboration is Microsoft Azure, which will expand the team’s high-performance computing and AI capabilities both at the factory and at the track.
Each Mercedes car generates more than 1.1 million data points per second from over 400 onboard sensors, covering everything from tyre degradation and aerodynamic behaviour to energy recovery deployment and evolving track conditions.
By putting Microsoft’s technology at the centre of how we operate as a team, we will create faster insights, smarter collaboration and new ways of working.
Toto Wolff
Azure’s scalable cloud and AI resources will support simulation workloads, performance analysis, race strategy modelling and cross-team analytics, ensuring engineers and strategists have real-time insights available during race weekends.
Microsoft’s enterprise platforms are already deeply embedded within Mercedes’ operation.
Microsoft 365 and GitHub underpin many of the team’s engineering and operational workflows, with the partnership now expanding their use to accelerate software development, improve collaboration and modernise development pipelines across the organisation.
Judson Althoff, Chief Executive Officer of Microsoft’s commercial business, said the new deal brings Microsoft’s cloud and AI technologies into one of the most demanding performance environments in world sport.
“This partnership puts Microsoft’s cloud and enterprise AI technologies at the heart of racing performance, where milliseconds matter and data determines outcomes,” he said.
“Together with the Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS F1 Team, we are harnessing data and turning it into real-time intelligence that powers faster decisions, smarter strategies and sustained competitive advantage both on and off the track.”
The collaboration also builds on a long-standing relationship between Microsoft and Mercedes-Benz, which has spanned more than 30 years across areas including smart factories, electric vehicle telemetry, onboard vehicle intelligence and cloud-enabled engineering systems.
For Microsoft, the agreement marks a continuation of its work in F1 after previously partnering with the BWT Alpine F1 Team, where its cloud and data platforms supported digital and analytical workflows during the Renault-owned team’s recent rebuild phase.
This new deal with Mercedes positions Microsoft as one of the team’s most strategically important technology partners as it prepares for the next generation of F1 cars and power units in 2026.
