In 1989 Mercedes won, with the Sauber C9, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Group C World Championship, for Sport-Prototype cars.

The new C11 was presented at the end of that year and the official designation reflected the greater involvement of the German car manufacturer in this project.

Designed by Leo Ress and Peter Sauber, the new model had a kevlar and carbon fiber composite chassis, the suspensions used double wishbones with push-rods operated helicoidal springs/dampers and had torsion bars stabilizers.

The engine was an evolution of the 5-liter displacement V8 at 900, with twin-turbo KKK, from the C9, which delivered about 730hp at 7,000rpm. The 5-speed manual gearbox was manufactured by Mercedes, the carbon fiber disc brakes were from Brembo and the tires were supplied by GoodYear.

As the 24 Hours of Le Mans were not part of the 1990 World Championship calendar, the C11 had a bodywork designed to produce more downforce, at the expense of greater drag. Even so, the new Mercedes was slimmer and lighter than its predecessor.

The C11 proved to be extremely competitive, won 7 of the 8 races in which it participated in 1990, and the Drivers and Constructors' World Championships that year. In the last 4 races in which he participated, in 1991, he was not so successful, having lost competitiveness in a Championship with new technical rules. It was replaced by the C291, with little success: Sauber and Mercedes were already concentrated and preparing the entry in Formula 1.

At the wheel of the C11 were great drivers, such as Mauro Baldi and Jean-Louis Schlesser, who became World Champions in 1990, but also Karl Wendlinger, Jochen Mass, Heinz-Harald Frentzen and a very young Michael Schumacher.