Mercedes-Benz’s Formula One car for the 1954 and 1955 seasons was the W196.
The Mercedes-Benz W196 was the company’s first Formula One car for its postwar works return. It debuted at the 1954 French Grand Prix, where Juan Manuel Fangio and Karl Kling finished first and second. The car used a 2.5-liter straight-eight engine and was designed around the technical regulations introduced for the 1954 season.
Mercedes developed both an open-wheel version and a streamlined body for fast circuits. The enclosed variant became known as the “Monza” version, while the open-wheel car was better suited to tighter tracks. Fangio won the Drivers’ Championship in 1954 and again in 1955 with the W196.
The W196 competed in only 12 championship starts but achieved nine victories and eight pole positions. It is often confused with the W154 and W125, earlier Mercedes Grand Prix cars from the 1930s, or the W165, which was built for the 1939 Tripoli Grand Prix. Mercedes withdrew from Formula One after the 1955 season.