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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[Il_leone]

Where have you got this figure from Ray? Schumi signed a 3 year contract for 7 million Euros a year (6.2m quid)

Alonso is the highest paid driver on the grid with £25m a year at $30-35million

Schumacher is next at actually £20m a year at $25-$30m a year with the rest made up by personal sponsors worth £10m a year a stipulation that Rosberg was not allowed.

Key things that Mercedes did that don;t add when they signed Schumacher

They announced he was being paid $7m a year when he returned when it was $25-30m as quoted above on websites and in the Daily Mail

Stuttgart HQ actually had protests from workers being made redundant apparently to save cost due to global recession

When Mercedes bought BRawn they said they liked the team for its rigid cost structure in other words spending on a tight budget

When the muppet Nick Fry gave his interview he said he would Jenson to stay with the team on the same money

When Jenson went to Mclaren for a deal worth $8m a year, Mercedes then decided to offer him a 1 year deal at $12m confirmed by Jenson he joined Mclaren for less money offered so this contradicts what Mercedes were saying initially

Also their spokesperson said they were looking forward to being an " International Team "... last year the drivers were all German!

 

[Il_leone]

Well Its Ross Brawn - he'll probably write off next season in order to maximise on the new engine regs. Schumacher and Rosberg will be gone by 2013 and they'll prob bring in Hulkenberg and run away with the thing.

Ross is being wasted at Mercedes and I get the impression its the arrogant German supremacy where everything must follow what Stuttgart wants

If you check Mercedes history everytime they decide to control things they actually cause their own problems

Building the engines in house when it was previously done by Ilmor

The ill fated acquisition of Chrysler - ouch

they were blaming the car last year a lot instead of Schumi and rumours that Ross was annoyed with everything which I believe he has every right to..I am surprised Schumacher does not put a good for Ross and tell his paymasters that Ross should not be told what to do

Di Resta will drive for Mercedes if either driver is not staying for 2012..this is all depends on the position of Mark Webber and Schumacher in the drivers market to start the merry go round

 

[Il_leone]

Does anyone remember the car number change for Rosberg because Schumacher insisted he wanted No 3 because he was superstitious. Apparently because car No 4 has never been a world champion.

As Des Kelly pointed out in the Daily Mail "Superstitions goes as far as letting everyone know who is the no 1 driver in the team"

I guess Schumi forgot to check that Car no 7 has never won the world title but car No 8 has

 

[teabagyokel]

Does anyone remember the car number change for Rosberg because Schumacher insisted he wanted No 3 because he was superstitious. Apparently because car No 4 has never been a world champion.

Well, #3 has won the World Title twice - in 1997 and 2000. However, Schumi broke his leg in car #3, and at the time he took the car it had been driven for a year by Massa (spring to the head), Badoer and Fisichella.

#3 and #4 have been unsuccessful because Tyrell kept it for 20 years. Both David Coulthard (1998) and Felipe Massa (2010) were anything but first-choice drivers in car #7.

If you think too hard about this list, he's not chosen his omens too well:

 

[Il_leone]

Well, #3 has won the World Title twice - in 1997 and 2000. However, Schumi broke his leg in car #3, and at the time he took the car it had been driven for a year by Massa (spring to the head), Badoer and Fisichella.

#3 and #4 have been unsuccessful because Tyrell kept it for 20 years. Both David Coulthard (1998) and Felipe Massa (2010) were anything but first-choice drivers in car #7.

If you think too hard about this list, he's not chosen his omens too well:

View attachment 2225

Yes but I remember a lot of fuss was made out of it because the team already entered Rosberg as car No 3 last season

 

[teabagyokel]

Yes but I remember a lot of fuss was made out of it because the team already entered Rosberg as car No 3 last season

Yes. Just suggesting Schumi had the wrong tarot cards in his deck!

 

[RasputinLives]

Hulkenberg had no such luxury...Plus Hulkenberg isn't a Lewis Hamilton-type driver. Hamilton is an All Time Great in the making whereas I don't think Hulk is. If Hulkenberg was seen as such, F1 would have moved Heaven & Earth to make sure he had his bum in a race seat this year

I think this is more for Hulkenberg thread but if you look at both their records in junior formula there pretty similar and so how you can say that after a year in a Williams I don't know. Merc made sure Hulkenberg was still in their grasp for the future because they want to see how he comes on. As for the move heaven and earth thing - both Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkenin dropped out of F1 after their first season whilst being monitored by a bigger team so thats a load of nonsense.

Well, that's a little different...So I humbly apologize if I hurt your feelings!

Not hurt my feelings just missed the point I was making dude.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

.... both their records in junior formula there pretty similar...

... As for the move heaven and earth thing - both Fernando Alonso and Mika Hakkenin dropped out of F1 after their first season whilst being monitored by a bigger team ....

Junior reconds mean absolutely zilch and everyone on CTA knows it. Stepping up to F1 is a totally different ball game. I think you know that.

Testing roles were completely different in 1993 and 2002. There's no such role which would allow anyone to rack up the type of enormous in-season mileage which Mika and Nando racked up in '93 and '02 respectively.

And you're wrong. They didn't "drop out of F1". Both actually went from absolute Back-Of-The-Grid cars into much stronger teams. They remained in F1 and got mileage in superior cars with superior personel around them.

Lastly, Hulkenberg didn't beat a Journeyman Number two in Rubens whereas Hamilton went toe-to-toe against the reigning double WDC in his absolute prime. When a guy matches or even beats an Alonso in 2007 that says something in relation to another guy who didn't beat a Barrichello in his 18th season.

 

[RasputinLives]

Ray dude why do you see eveyrthing as a big battle?

My original point was nothing to do with Hulkenberg but to do with Merc but you poked fun of the idea of with such fury I felt I needed to make the point that you really have no idea whether Hulkenberg will become one of the 'all time greats' or not. He has the potential to be you can see from his junior record(and everyone on the CTA knows this. I think you know this) and the reason he has been placed in the Force India test seat is so that Merc can keep an eye on him and make sure he does get some track time (which is actually not too disimillar to the MH or FA situation - there just doing it differently because of the different rules). So for me to suggest he might come into a Mercedes team, take over a good car and maybe win something is not too far fetched so why you should feel the need to firstly mock with smilies and then fight so violently to try and prove you were right to is beyond me. Its not like I said I was going to win the WC in a HRT next year was it.

But you laugh it up fuzzball - we'll just see.

 

[RayInTorontoCanada]

Rasputin, I "liked" your above post.

Point taken! I wish Hulk all the best. He scored a Pole for Williams late last year...and that team is looking at 9th in the WCC...a far cry from what Hulk managed in Brazil 2010.

Peace, Love and all that stuff!

 

[Bleu]

Schumacher's superstitions were against using even numbers - he has used odd number in every F1 race except the first one.

 

[RasputinLives]

Aldo Costa, former technical director at Ferrari and responsible for such great designed cars as the 2005 Ferrari(!), has now joined Mercedes.

In what role it is yet to be revealed. Not quite Rory Byrne but I guess Mr Brawn is bringing in people he's worked with before.

 

[Slyboogy]

Chris Dyer has also been rumoured to have left Ferrari and joined Mercedes, since he got the "blame" for the strategy in the Abu Dhabi 2010 race and got demoted.

Although, he can't work until midway through 2012 I have been told

 

[FB]

Schumie re-assembling his "team"? Shame he doesn't seem the same driver he was at his peak.

 

[RasputinLives]

I think its more like Ross re-assembling his team. Maybe they'll bring Rubens in next year

 

[Vortex]

Oh maybe Eddie Irvine! That would be great. Did you see what he said on the Ted Kravitz from the pit lane report? Hahaha, I always liked how he spoke his mind.

 

[Il_leone]

I think its more like Ross re-assembling his team. Maybe they'll bring Rubens in next year

All Ross is messing is JEan Todt to be the boss and Nigel Stepney to be in charge of his pit crew

Apparently there are plenty of jobs going at MErcedes about 140 positions !

 

[Slyboogy]

I am the latest to be hired.

 

[RasputinLives]

Really? Me too! I've been hired to shine Michaels chin

 

[Slyboogy]

I have been hired to be Britney's make up artist