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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[Slyboogy]

And Niki Lauda isn't comical?

 

[Mephistopheles]

Norbert Haug's departure is a real shame I liked the man.

 

[Galahad]

Lauda gave the impression of doing his job already. Always liked Norbert, he expanded Merc's motorsport involvement after returning to the track, and mostly successfully, albeit not quite winning as many F1 championships as they could/should.

 

[Il_leone]

I always thought Norbert was the middle guy between the motor racing divisions and Mercedes Corporation. It seems like he is the man in charge whenever asked about motorsport operations and the guy who does the reporting to his bosses

There have been stories that Ross and Norbert do not get on which would not surprise if Norbert is trying to please his bosses in controlling the team

Having Lauda on board is still debatable given his track record with Ferrari and Jaguar which were not successful.... it all depends on how he allows Ross to run the team

This could be good news for the F1 team if the board has come to sense that they need to let the guys who know best - Ross and co to run the team and not the board

 

[Bill Boddy]

""For me, he put his stamp on a whole era and, as a highlight, he was responsible for the successful comeback of the Silver Arrows to Formula 1.""

What successful comeback? It seems to me that he resigned under very heavy pressure. One thing that he was reputed to have done was to convince the board that their venture into F1 was worthwhile.. Now he will be no longer there when the Mercedes board becomes restive.

How long before we start hearing that Mercedes are looking for a new partner?

 

[Galahad]

""For me, he put his stamp on a whole era and, as a highlight, he was responsible for the successful comeback of the Silver Arrows to Formula 1.""

What successful comeback?

I read that as being Mercedes-Benz in general, i.e. from 1994 with Sauber, rather than the iffy performances of MercBrackley. Younger readers may not know that the company was out of motorsport completely for 30 years following the Le Mans disaster. Since then, they've mostly done most of the things they've competed in, well - Group C, DTM, F1, F3 and GTs.

 

[Il_leone]

I read that as being Mercedes-Benz in general, i.e. from 1994 with Sauber, rather than the iffy performances of MercBrackley. Younger readers may not know that the company was out of motorsport completely for 30 years following the Le Mans disaster. Since then, they've mostly done most of the things they've competed in, well - Group C, DTM, F1, F3 and GTs.

---------------------------

I remember they came back in the late 80's into Sportscar championship run by Peter Sauber . They slowly got back into F1..now they thought with Sauber they could replicate their sportscar success..and promised to take over Sauber if they were good enough. Results did not quite meet expectations despite some impressive showings by Frentzen

Mercedes wanted instant success and jumped to Mclaren who wanted to end their 3 year deal with Peugeot early. 1995 proved disastrous with the Mansell too fat for the £50m mid wing car fiasco and endless engine failures.

1996 - a possibility of Mercedes reuniting with Schumacher arose when he made himself available to the highest bidder for £16m amongst the top 4 teams. Schumacher chose Ferrari which disappointed Mercedes even further.

Pressure now on Norbert Haug after another winless season given the investment with little success compared to other ventures - DTM and Indycar with Penske.

1997 Mclaren and MErcedes win first race but proved false dawn due to engine failures and results not coming...pressure was on Norbert who was questioned by his bosses about "Are you sure we should be doing F1?"

The signing of Newey by Mclaren quietened this for a while as Mclaren were front runners and championship winners but underneath Mercedes always wanted to take over MClaren but Ron played hardball and would not give in

Brawn came along when Martin Whitmarsh agreed with MErcedes to give them engines much to the chagrin of Ron Dennis...

-----------------------

3 years on and results have been disappointing and as predicted by Murray Walker - MErcedes are known to be impatient for success..therefore it could be interesting to see who much longer Mercedes are happy to be also rans .....Norbert does not need to answer to his bosses now

 

[The Artist.....]

Il_leone

There was actually a strong possibility that Schumacher could have been summoned to Sauber for 1993. Schumacher's contract with Benetton apparently stated that if Mercedes entered F1 as a factory effort, they had precedence over Schumacher's contract! However, because they came in with a (slightly) half arsed effort (Sauber was only "concept by Mercedes" - even though everyone knew that it was actually a factory effort)....

 

[Bill Boddy]

Norbert Haug says Mercedes departure is due to poor results


http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/20724280

 

[Tacitus]

Why is Lauda replacing him?

 

[siffert_fan]

Tacitus

Because he achieved such stellar results at Jaguar

 

[teabagyokel]

There is an answer:

https://twitter.com/takiinoue/status/280619647726936065

 

[Il_leone]

FB
how many engineers have they cleared out having realised they had too many cooks ? Originally Ross has been saying they've downsized due to the BRawn/ Honda situation and they needed to get back up to the full capacity

I remember they supposedly had vacancies for 140 odd engineers by 2011

 

[FB]

Perhaps "clear out" was a little extreme Il_leone, they replaced Loic Bigois with Mike Elliot as head of aerodynamics. Rereading the article I was looking at they still have Aldo Costa, Bob Bell and Geoff Willis on the staff. If you combine this with Ross Brawn's input they do look a bit top heavy and likely to all want to pull in different directions in the car design and technical solutions. Let's see if they can work together more cohesively this season.

 

[Il_leone]

Loic Bigois left I remember when the team was still Brawn I think

I don't understand Geoff Willis' role - Techonological director when you have Bob Bell who is technical director, Aldo Costa was Engineering Director

Now Ross said these roles are clearly defined but there seem to be murmurs that no one is making the decisions/ giving the team directions which suggests too many cooks and the old corporate hierarchy issues like in the Honda days has resurfaced . The link between the board and the F1 team was Norbert Haug who apparently did not get on with Ross and off course has to convince his bosses that the F1 project is worth investing

Lets see if Lauda working Ross will make a difference rather than through Norbert

 

[ExtremeNinja]

FB. So refreshing to hear some optimistism about Mercedes' future. It amazes me how they are written off by most before they have even started.

 

[Il_leone]

ExtremeNinja

You can only judge by what they have achieved in the past 3 seasons.... they've been overtaken by Lotus-Renault as the 4th best team on the grid

There can't be many more excuses left for the team...they blamed the car in defence of Schumacher's performance, they blamed the downsizing impact of Brawn meaning they have less engineers

They now have one of the best 3 drivers in the world

Norbert has resigned

Lauda is on the board to give the F1 perspective

so the Mercedes revival is anticipated sooner back to the front... last year saw glimpses but was not sustained

 

[The Pits]

ExtremeNinja I am not sure why you are surprised, they do not have a great record over the last few years, and the big rule change that they really benefitted from in 2009 is not going to be repeated until 2014, which is when I would expect a rennaisance if there is going to be one. Worth remembering that Newey at Red Bull was also not able to make a real impact on the natural order until the same rule changes that benefitted the Brawn team.

I do expect to see a resurgence of sorts with Lewis in the team, however, I do not expect a concerted title charge until 2014.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

I meant most people seem to have completely written them off for now and the future. Their record is not great but on paper they should be very strong. I see no reason why they won't be able to pull themselves together and to their front. Three years in and they are not really in much different a state than Red Bull were three years into their project. I would prefer to be optimistic and disappointed if they fail than pessimistic and vindicated if they fail.

 

[The Pits]

I think that is a bit strong ExtremeNinja there are some, but most is overstating things. Each to their own I say, the truth of the matter is no one knows what will happen until it has happened.

Personally speaking, I do not foresee a massive success next year, for the same reason that Red Bull were not really successful until 2009, that said, although the team at Mercedes looks strong, I think they will be hard pushed to be world beaters. Come 2014, they may well be in the mix though.