Current Mercedes

Mercedes GP

FIA Entry: Mercedes GP Petronas F1 Team
Car 7: Michael Schumacher
Car 8: Nico Rosberg
Engine: Mercedes V8
Team Principal: Ross Brawn
Technical Director: Bob Bell
Race Engineer Car 7: Mark Slade
Race Engineer Car 8: Tony Ross

Stats as of end 2010

First Entered 2010
Races Entered 19
Race Wins 0
Pole Positions 0
Fastest Laps 0
Driver World Championships 0
Constructor World Championships 0

Team History

The Mercedes team history splits into two parts. In 1954 the famous pre-war Silver Arrows entered the F1 world championship and recorded a 1-2 at their first race. Fangio went on to win the drivers championship that year and again in 1955. Mercedes withdrew at the end of the 1955 season after the accident which killed 80 spectators at Le Mans which involved one of their cars.

The current team entered F1 in 2010 after Mercedes bought Brawn Grand Prix. Brawn Grand Prix, winners of the Drivers Championship, with Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.

Prior to the Honda takeover in 2006 the team had raced under the name of British America racing which had acquired the assets and race entry of the Tyrrell F1 team in 1999. BAR competed in 118 races without a single victory. The high points for the team were 2 pole positions (both for Button – San Marino 2004 and Canada 2005) and 2nd in the constructors championship in 2004.

Tyrrell were amongst the most successful private F1 teams taking part in 463 Grands Prix, scoring 33 victories and 3 Drivers Championships, all with Jackie Stewart.

2010

Having replaced Button and Barrichello with Nico Rosberg and 7 times WDC Michael Schumacher many expected great things of the new Mercedes team in 2010 but they had an indifferent season.

Rosberg managed 3 podiums for the team but Schumacher, coming back from retirement, struggled with the new cars, tyres and limited testing under the revised regulations. The team finished 4th in the Constructors Championship.

2011

For 2011 Mercedes retain the same driver line up and are hoping for better things from their MGP W02 chassis.
 
My point is, if Marussia and Caterham and eight other teams can design a car which doesn't eat the tyres, then so can Mercedes.

If the current team aren't up to it (and three years would seem to show that to be the case) then get rid of them and start again.

That's what Ross had been doing. He's only just got the technical team he wants , some only started this year.....so maybe it's too early for their input to come through. I can't remember which ones only started this year and which ones came part way through last year. I'd say the aero department (is that Costa?) have done a very good job. But the ( would it be mechanical grip department?) haven't. Dunno, dunno, I'm not technical, I'm just musing. Whilst musing, I wonder how Paddy would deal with it? And how much is Paddy responsible for the woes of McLaren?
 
Well, Paddy would have been heavily involved in the design of the 2013 McLaren, and would have almost certainly have been a key player in the decision to start from scratch on the new car.

I do agree that some of the new technical signings were made too late to have a big impact on this season, but development should be stronger.

The aero team are doing quite well at the moment, especially the young chap in charge of floor and sidepods.
 
They are sliding back right from the get go. I think the problem has more to do with how they prepare their tyres for racing rather than any inherent issues with the car. Hamilton alluded to this after Barcelona.
 
Yes because that is an easy fix if true, there is an old golfer adage, drive for show putt for dough, in other words if you are going for glory on a Saturday but it buggers up your Sunday then stop doing it.

Anyway they made a big effort not putting in fastest laps and working on race pace during the FP's for Spain and it made sod all difference, if anything it was worse....
 
The tyres aren't great but when the majority of teams are finding ways to work with them, you can't expect everything to change for one team. Unless that team is Red Bull of course...
 
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