Mercedes have won the inaugural Grace Influential Positive Impact Award after being recognised for their contribution to society and the environment.
The Silver Arrows were adjudged to be the Formula 1 team that has demonstrated the highest achievement in their commitment to sustainability and positive impact over the last year.
Grace Influential is a global initiative led by the Princess Grace Foundation which celebrates and upholds the charitable legacy of Grace Kelly, Princess of Monaco.
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F1 teams were invited to submit applications that showcase their accomplishments according to criteria including sustainability, inclusion and diversity, philanthropy, and education, aligning to the values championed by Princess Grace during her lifetime.
"We are delighted to be recognised as the first recipients of the Princess Grace Positive Impact Award, especially given the quality of the projects that are happening across all the F1 teams," Mercedes communications director Bradley Lord said as the team were presented with the prize during the Monaco Grand Prix weekend.
"It was great to see how all the teams are using the sport's global platform to inspire and enable opportunity. At Mercedes, we believe that a more diverse and inclusive team drives greater performance on track."
Mercedes were awarded the accolade for their ambitious and broad reaching Accelerate 25 programme, through which the team has pledged to recruit 25 per cent of new team members coming from under-represented groups by 2025. In just two years they have already made great strides towards this target, increasing representation of female team members by 25 per cent and tripling the number of employees from a minority ethnic background.
In alignment with the UN's Sustainable Development Goals 4, 5, and 10, Mercedes are focused on inspiring and motivating talented students from under-represented groups towards STEM careers through partnerships with the Mulberry Schools Trust, the Stemettes, the Association for Black and Minority Ethnic Engineers, the Sutton Trust, and the Business Disability Forum.
McLaren Racing and Alfa Romeo received special commendation for their initiatives, which placed second and third respectively.
Lord added: "Led by our fantastic human resources group, Accelerate 25 was launched in December 2020 to realise every advantage of becoming a more diverse team. So far, we have seen positive changes in the make-up of our team and created inspirational experiences for young people to show how F1 can be a STEM career opportunity in the future.
"This is a long-term commitment, and we are only at the beginning of our journey; we will continue our work in the months and years ahead, to help build a more inclusive sport and become a more performant Mercedes team."