Mercedes invests in sustainable, people-centric HQ Facility

A worldclass transformation of the Mercedes campus is planned as part of the team’s focus on the future. 

The transformation includes the creation of various facilities for staff, consisting of a brand-new building to house a state-of-the-art gym, a restaurant, and a health and wellbeing centre. Another new building will house marketing, finance, and commercial.  

“It is really important as a team that we create facilities for our people,” Chief Operating Officer Rob Thomas explains. “Our people are our most important asset and having facilities where they can come to work and they are really proud to be there ultimately leads to performance. 

“Ultimately it's around our people, that's where all of our ideas come from. So, building a facility where people are happy to come to work, they have got areas where they can think, areas where they can exercise, this generates new ideas and ultimately these ideas turn into lap time. So, the innovative environment where creativity can happen is all part of performance and that's what we are investing in in the long term.” 

Mercedes’ focus on the future also encompasses their Net Zero ambitions for 2026 and 2030. The new buildings will be net zero in operation and powered by 100% renewable energy from onsite and offsite sources. A parking structure is also being developed and will feature a full solar array, enabling the charging of over 70 electric vehicles through renewable energy infrastructure. 

“Sustainability is important to the team because we have already seen the impacts of climate change globally and we have this really exciting opportunity, we sit at this intersection of sport and technology. So, we can provide really exciting races every other weekend, but we can also have the brain power to adopt solutions that can really make a change,” said Alice Ashpitel, Head of Sustainability for Mercedes.  

“So, the new campus developments are really important for the team's sustainability ambitions to become the world's most sustainable professional sports team,” said Ashpitel. “I think having a campus that reflects the team's sustainability vision will be really critical for everybody feeling invested in this journey and understanding that this is a real asset for the team and that we really do believe in sustainable high performance.” 

In developing their campus of the future, Mercedes will focus on improving the working environment for their staff. There will also be opportunities to develop additional breakout spaces and increase meeting room quality, consequently enhancing the ability to collaborate. All these improvements will support staff and benefit performance.  

“There is an old adage in Formula 1 that if you are standing still, you are actually going backwards and that's because the pace of development is really high,” said Mike Elliott, Chief Technical Officer. “If we can improve the facilities we've got, we can improve the capabilities of the people we've got, we are going to produce a better product, we are going to produce something that has got a better chance of winning races and winning championships and so it's always that sort of constant quest to improve.”