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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[The Pits]

I am fairly sure they are not so daft as to tie in the success of one of their charge, to one individual though.

 

[RickD]

No, but Lewis' reasons for going there all included Ross as far as we have heard..

 

[The Pits]

I'm not sure I actually heard any reasons that specifically mentioned Ross at all.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I am sure that bringing in yet another personality to help is going to do little to help. Lauda did not do anything useful in team management before, I do not see why he should be any better this time working with a driver that he has severely criticised in the past.

 

[Jos the Boss]

Gary Anderson made a good point that Mercedes have too many people in charge, Red Bull have Adrian Newey while Mercedes have many different people doing the same job as Newey

 

[jez101]

A pretty stunning admission from Ross Brawn about the Coanda effect exhausts in this: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/103868

"We have seen in the short time that we have had it, that it is opening up new avenues. Perhaps that is where we slipped a little bit in the second half, because until you get involved in it you don't know what the potential is."

I don't know what that says about their R&D department. Here comes the spin though

"The more you get into it, the more it opens up new doors. So that is why it was important that we started on it this year. "We are starting to see some new avenues that we wanted for next year's car – things we can only do with a new car that we want to do for next season."

I do sometimes wonder how much all these upgrades bring but when a team goes backwards like Merc have this year (and Lotus last year to be fair), it shows how much the leading teams have added over the course of the season.

The opening few races, the Mercs were right up there fighting for wins. Now they are stuck in Q2 and we have a clue as to why. They completely missed the boat on the exhausts. Wow...

 

[Brogan]

I thought the point of the new regulations was to stop the exhaust gasses being utilised for downforce, diffuser blowing, etc?

The FIA have once again spectacularly failed to achieve what they set out to do.

 

[FB]

The only way to stop them utilising the exhaust gases would be to have them exit after the diffuser and I though there were safety concerns about this (?). If they change the regs again you have to assume the engineers will start moving the hot air off the radiators under the car to claw something back or find other clever ways round it.

I think Honda, in the last years of the turbo cars, had a system which was like a turbo boost which changed the temperature of the air going into the engine by altering the inter-cooler settings or a heat exchange system between the exhaust gases and the intake air. It used more fuel but gave a few extra HP when you needed to blat past someone - wonder if this will come back with the return of the turbo's?

 

[racecub]

I am sure that bringing in yet another personality to help is going to do little to help. Lauda did not do anything useful in team management before, I do not see why he should be any better this time working with a driver that he has severely criticised in the past.

I've said before that I think Lauda is a hypocrite. Nothing I've seen yet has changed that view. Regarding his position in Mercedes, he isn't there as a team manager. The following interview with Ross Brawn helps to clarify the role he will have.

http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews/2012/10/13964.html

 

[Bill Boddy]

That interview is quite interesting and raises a few points despite being the usual F1.com soft questioning.

Hamilton's team first contacted Mercedes last Christmas. Presumably they did not inform McLaren about this, rather similar to the way that Raikkonen went. He also spent quite some time with the Mercedes personnel, but obviously did not give them any technical information.

The board have been asking questions about why the teams targets have been missed. So they have engaged Lauda to sweet talk act as a go-between. He is also going to be asking Brawn searching questions to ensure that what is being done is the best way forward.

This years problems have been due to new personnel setting in, haven't they had three years to get these people and settle them in?

It will be interesting to see what happens.

 

[racecub]

They haven't really had three years, much of that time was spent getting the team. Only recently has Brawn said, now I have the team I need.
I imagine Lewis' management contacted lots of teams with a contract renewal coming up, they'd be a poor management if they didn't. It will be interesting to see how it all pans out, one of the most exciting things to watch out for next year.

 

[Bill Boddy]

I doubt if Hamilton's management contacted many teams at all. Was there a chance of him going to Force India or Sauber?

 

[The Artist.....]

As I have said before, there have only been 2 seasons in the history of the Brackley team where they have been one of the top 2 teams - 2004 and 2009. All the other years, they have been mired with organisational problems, wind-tunnel problems, or sheer design problems. Many of the design problems stemmed from Geoff Willis' focus on the sidepods of the car - and he has now been brought in as the "saviour" of the team!

The 2 years when Brackley F1 have prospered?
2004, when they had a secret fuel tank
and
2009, where they had had 3 wind tunnels running concurrently around the world trying out various different solutions to the new rule changes, and had the double diffuser brought to them by engineers from Super Aguri.....

I have no confidence that the Brackley concern will ever reach the front of F1 - neither when they entered with Adrian Reynard claiming they would win their first race, nor with Ross Brawn and the deep mire they're currently in!

 

[Galahad]

The 2004 car wouldn't have looked as good as it did if Williams and McLaren hadn't both dropped the ball spectacularly that season either.

If Lauda provides a buffer between the team and the board, things should work out well. If Niki fancies Brawn's job, then there could be trouble. His record as a team principal is dire.

 

[racecub]

@The Artist you can't seriously compare the Reynard F1 project with the current Mercedes?

 

[siffert_fan]

Lauda's tenure @ Jaguar doesn't indicate that he can bring much that is positive to a team. An additional layer of management, in any endeavour, tends to be counter-productive.

 

[The Artist.....]

racecub

Yes I can - It's the same fundamental team in the same factory! And I can certainly compare it with the Honda F1 project, which was an abject failure!

 

[The Pits]

Mostly an abject failure. I think they came up with something quite good in the end. Although their timing could have been a little better.

 

[The Artist.....]

The Pits - I would agree - but that was only after spending the equivalent of a small country's GDP simply trying to find the optimal package for 2009... Mercedes simply don't seem to have the will to spend that sort of money!

 

[racecub]

@The Artist I have huge admiration for Adrian's achievements in Motorsport but he never really cracked f1 despite a few attempts. It can't be compared anywhere near the achievements Mercedes have with Motorsport.
Adrian I believe remains the landlord of Brackly but saying its the same team as current Mercedes is just not the case. it's like saying Red Bull is just Stewart racing really.