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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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.
 
I was talking to somebody today who used to work for Sky F1 and has simulators calibrated by a Mercedes engineer. Apparently there is very little difference between the drivers in terms of setup preference however Nico is an engineer even down to wanting to know what nuts are being used whereas Lewis says "build me a fast car". Apparently they get on brilliantly and the atmosphere within the whole team is buzzing at the moment. Not a massive surprise but insider snippets are always good to share.
 
Although he has not taken (as far as I know) the Williams engineering aptitude test (as administered to all drivers hoping for a Williams seat) I dare say Lewis has sufficient engineering knowledge to contribute to the car development as any other driver...

... since, relatively speaking, driver input to car development is pretty minimal these days anyway.
 
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I remember reading years ago that part of Ron's plan for Lewis was that he would be familiar with the technical side of the car, and he was instructed along those lines in the McLaren programme, part of the plan to produce the best driver they could. Even so, I would doubt Lewis is an engineering genius, but he doesn't need to be, some of the worlds finest are recruited to do that job. What he needs to do is impart to them exactly what he needs to make the car go faster, and to tell them exactly how their upgrades are feeling. To get the best out of the car and see if the best is better than before the upgrade.
I know he's been working with them closely on the brakes, and his seating position. Things he needs to get the most from the car. He changed the steering wheel layout too. That may sound very trivial, but if it works for him and makes him more efficient in the car then it's worth a lot.
 
Rosberg and Hamilton are getting on well but it might change if they both are the ones battling for the drivers championship from possibly next year
 
When a team is in winning form it of little surprise to me that everyone is getting on well and the atmos is good, it's when the opposite happens that sorts the men from the boys.....
 
You're right Meph, they were falling backwards in races earlier this year, still held it together, were motivated and have won three races so it seems Mercedes are men. There is a good vibe at Mercedes at the moment whether winning or losing.

Another Ham D referring to what and who exactly?
 
Ah. Then I have to bow to your greater knowledge on that. And if that's how it was done then yes, he could have handled that a lot better.
 
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