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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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.

 

[Dash Racing]

That being the case, giving engine suppliers a strict window in which they can communicate data about the engine, to be set no later than a certain date - a date chosen to give non-factory teams enough time to make changes to their final layout to adjust to any changes made to the engine, may help even things out?

 

[cider_and_toast]

But hardware is much more heavily restricted. And there is no possibility of changing the fundamental architecture of the engine until next year.

Which means Mercedes' power advantage - or a large portion of it at least - will almost certainly last all year.

And this year as well.

 

[Brogan]

Isn't there another thread somewhere about a lack of innovation and diversity and how F1 is shit because it's more or less a spec series?

You can't have it both ways.

 

[Dash Racing]

There's a middle ground between strict spec series and no specs at all, where innovation can still happen, but everyone has a chance to catch up with the rest of the field. F1 is not in that middle ground. If anything, it's gotten into the asinine level of spec, and by limiting testing, they've made it impossible for teams to catch up, within the specs, in the middle of the season.

 

[KekeTheKing]

Teams make massive advances throughout the year. I have absolutely no doubt that Ferrari and Williams would jump Mercedes if Mercedes just sat around and kept running the exact same car out there every round. But unless you literally have no money/backing (a la Brawn 2009) then they certainly won't be hanging around twiddling their thumbs.

This team is working it's ass off to ensure that they maintain their advantage. And it's a tough task to knock off a team with bankroll, facilities, engineers, and drivers like Merc's.

 

[olegg]

Do a comparison of maximum speed at the last three Grand Prix isn't a sufficient indication that the engine power for all Mercedes customers the same?

 

[Jos the Boss]

Could be set up otherwise teammates would always be matched

 

[Mephistopheles]

I've already been pulled up for speculating that all is not equal in the engine department between the works team and the customer teams

Customer teams have always been supplied with inferior units, lets face it Merc are not gonna give them the same spec as they are using, who would? I still reckon Whitmarsh regrets persuading Merc to supply Brawn in 09 not only did Brawn win with it but it lead to the emergence of the now dominant Mercedes team.

 

[marksawatsky]

Booooo, Mercedes, boooooo!!

 

[Splash]

It's as though they like to encourage conspiracy theories.

 

[Il_leone]

I was thinking going back to 2013 after the Spanish GP when Mercedes were asked to test 2014 tyres by Pirelli because they suffered a rapid rate of degradation compared to the other teams

The rights and wrongs could be argued now as the team got a fine for their part despite strong protestations coming from Red Bull, Lotus and Ferrari.

How much of that knowledge gained during testing aided Mercedes in sorting out the tyre issue to becoming the dominant team

 

[RasputinLives]

I think Mercedes Strategy people are always trying to be a little too smart. Bringing Lewis in for tyres would probably have worked at any other track but Monaco. The golden rule of Monaco is track position.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

I seem to recall some bad tyre decisions and pit calls by Mercedes in the last couple of years. I guess we notice it more as they're usually in the lead but they do seem a bit amateurish sometimes.

 

[RasputinLives]

I'd say sloppy. I think they've got complacent. They had the car advantage for so long they've got used to not having to be clever with the strategy. As soon as they have to dial it up a notch they mess up. We saw it in Hungary last year and Malaysia this.

 

[Galahad]

I thought it felt more like paranoia than complacency. They're so worried about Ferrari lately that they're second-guessing themselves.

 

[Brogan]

Mercedes once again confirm that Hamilton is the number one driver and will do anything to ensure he wins:

Wolff also made it clear that there was no consideration being given to setting up some circumstances to pay Hamilton back for the error.

At the 1998 Australian Grand Prix, McLaren famously asked David Coulthard to move aside for Mika Hakkinen after he had lost the lead following a mistaken drive through the pits.

When Wolff was asked if Rosberg could be requested to do something similar in the future, he made it clear: “You would want me to do this? No.”

Oh wait...

 

[Il_leone]

Galahad It was the paranoia that Vettel might come in with a set of new tyres and be quick that they panicked without realising Vettel would have ended up behind the Red Bulls and be stuck in traffic

 

[Brogan]

Vettel didn't have enough of a gap to the car behind to pit for new tyres and stay in front.

Apparently only Mercedes couldn't work that out.

 

[rufus_mcdufus]

It would've worked if all the other front-running teams were being really really nice and decided to pit too. McLaren could've actually won if that had happened.

 

[Titch]

I'm willing to bet that fear of making another stupid decision, leads to some really stupid decisions in Canada.