Hywel Thomas is a British engineer and the Managing Director of Mercedes-AMG High Performance Powertrains (HPP), the Brixworth, Northamptonshire operation that designs, builds and races the power units used by the Mercedes works team and its customers. Born in Torquay on 18 September 1972, he graduated in mechanical engineering from the University of Bath in 1995 and began his career at Perkins Engines, first as a graduate then as a simulation engineer, before moving to Cosworth in 1999 as a design engineer on its Formula 1 programme ¹².

He joined Mercedes-Ilmor, the forerunner of HPP, in 2004 as a senior design engineer and rose steadily through the organisation, becoming Head of Mechanical Engineering in 2008, Engineering Director in 2013, Chief Engineer in 2015 and F1 Power Unit Director in 2019. In June 2020 he succeeded Andy Cowell as Managing Director, taking charge of a workforce of more than 1,000 people ¹³. The Brixworth power units he helped develop underpinned an era of unprecedented success, with the works team taking seven consecutive Constructors' Championships during the V6 hybrid era ¹.

“In June 2020 he succeeded Andy Cowell as Managing Director, taking charge of a workforce of more than 1,000 people .”

Leading Brixworth

As Managing Director, Thomas runs the entire HPP operation from initial design through to trackside support, overseeing the people, dynamometers and simulation tools that turn a regulation set into a race-winning engine ³. HPP's remit also extends beyond Formula 1: its Advanced Technologies team transferred F1 know-how into the road-legal Mercedes-AMG ONE hypercar, a plug-in hybrid built around a 1.6-litre V6 turbo power unit with an 800-volt battery derived from the F1 car, work that earned HPP the prestigious Dewar Trophy in 2022 ⁴.

The 2026 reset

Thomas's defining challenge is Formula 1's 2026 power-unit regulations, which retain a 1.6-litre V6 turbo but split power roughly 50/50 between the internal combustion engine and a much larger electrical system, while running on fully sustainable fuel ²⁵. He has described the change in stark terms, calling it "a complete tear-up" and stressing that by the time the engines race "there won't be a single component to carry over, even in the V6 - everything is completely new" ⁵. The combustion engine must cope with a lower fuel-energy allowance, a fixed compression ratio and boost limits, and it loses the MGU-H, a device Thomas has called "a fantastic engineering tool" whose removal "is going to put a real strain on the combustion" ².

Electrification and fuel

The electrical side is transformed. The standalone MGU-K must deliver 350kW, roughly triple the outgoing unit, and Thomas has framed much of the engineering battle around how that energy is deployed, including the tricky job of using "precious energy" to fill in torque ²⁵. On the fuel, he has emphasised a close collaboration with Petronas, saying the aim is "a fuel that the engine loves, but that can be produced by Petronas" ².

Development progress

Mercedes moved early, mirroring the head start that delivered its 2014 dominance. By Thomas's account the first single-cylinder test engine ran around two years before the season, with a full V6 firing up roughly six months later, and HPP has since been steadily converting dyno hardware into race-ready parts ⁶. He has cautioned against over-confidence, noting the company "never think we've got enough power, we never think we've got reliability", and that the real measure will not come until qualifying in Melbourne ⁶.

Customers and works-team status

For 2026 Mercedes supplies four teams: the works squad plus McLaren, Williams and Alpine, the last taking over the customer supply relinquished by Aston Martin, which has switched to Honda ⁷⁸. Thomas has acknowledged an inherent works-team edge, observing that being "45 minutes down the road" from the chassis factory creates closer links and that, when design directions diverge, "it will always be the works team that you follow" ⁹. He has also signalled that the broad customer programme will shrink, stating that in future "there will no longer be four Mercedes-powered teams" ⁹.

Bottom line

Thomas inherited a championship-winning engine operation and now carries the heavier burden of reinventing it under regulations he himself helped shape. With a clean-sheet 2026 power unit, four customer teams to satisfy and rivals chasing the same target, his stewardship of HPP will be one of the most closely watched stories of Formula 1's new era.