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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[Lewywo4]

Yes I think you're right, their best chance to jump forward is 2014, but I wouldn't right them off next year, they're serious about it. It might not work out......but it might do. I'm not holding my breathe for next year....well actually I lie, I am holding my breathe, hopefully, one never knows in this game.

Ross seems to have got a handle on the problem that Mercedes had with the use of 50% models in their wind tunnel. Along with the increase in their operating budget, and the transition now to the use of 60% models, should help deal with problems that they had last season, and make Mercedes a more formidable opponent in 2013, which may shock some ot the front runners. Racecub I have a feeling that we might be pleasantly suprised, with the pace set by Lewis and Nico on this upcoming season.

 

[Lewywo4]

I did read that last line, which seemed at odds with the rest of the article. I've read elsewhere that, like you say, it's a redistribution of money with some coming out of the DTM budget and I guess for Norbet that means no increase,because he was head of all Mercedes. However for the F1 team it is an increase, a big increase.

Norbert is gone, and Lauda I'm quite sure will be quite forceful to the Mercedes board, regarding a necessary increase for the F1 Budget.

 

[Lewywo4]

You would have to assume that, with the banning of the coander exhaust concept, that the front runners will also have fallen backwards towards them.

Hey Ninja......have the new regs banned the use of the coander exhaust system?

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Yup. Revised exhaust exits. We shouldn't forget that this is something that Mercedes were not running at the end of the season whilst the top teams were still putting effort into getting as much out of it as they could.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Doh!! Apparently I am wrong.

 

[downforce]

Actually as I recall Mercedes were experimenting with Coandas in practice session for the final races.

I think it was USA where Rosberg ran with it and Schu without so they could get direct comparisons, so even though they won't know as much as the others they will still have some usuable data.

 

[Galahad]

Merc debuted a Coanda exhaust at Singapore but it was disappointing and had come off the car by Brazil.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Yep. I wonder why they didn't run it in Brazil. (Did they?) Maybe their data told them that they had a lot more work to do.

I'm feeling quite misinformed and at danger of spreading my misinformation I think I'll bow out to those that know and try and learn something.

 

[Galahad]

They had a major front/rear balance problem derived from their double DRS system, so I wouldn't be surprised if that contributed to developments not achieving the results that would have been expected from simulation. That could be good or bad for next year; they won't have that blind alley to go down again, but they might be starting from scratch without much useful data from 2012.

Or not, who knows?

 

[sushifiesta]

To have a good 2013 Mercedes need to start with a car as competitive as their car was at the beginning of 2012, sort out their reliability and tyre wear issues and maintain a good development rate throughout the season.

I think it's within the realms of possibility and they could win multiple races next year if they manage it, but they won't be championship contenders. Best case scenario for them is for Lewis to finish 3rd in the WDC in the same sort of way that Kimi managed it this year, in my opinion.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

This is not news, necessarily, but I have just had information from an F1 insider who is very much in the know that Mercedes will be throwing absolutely everything and the kitchen sink at 2014. They are determined to get to the front and are putting everything into this effort with the hope that this will provide the foundation for a team that can compete at the sharp end for the long-term.

This is nothing that we don't know but it seems that Mercedes are playing a long game and they will not be sparing any expense. 2013 is going to be much like 2008 was for Honda in terms of investment and resource.

 

[FB]

That'll be good then - 2009 was a seminal year for Honda

 

[ExtremeNinja]

It was the year that they developed a car faster than anyone else's (for use in 2009, of course).

 

[racecub]

Oh goodie goodie!!!!

 

[downforce]

I'd love to see what 2012 Hamilton could have done in the 2012 Mercedes. (even more the williams)

 

[teabagyokel]

downforce - I reckon he'd have won at least a race in the Williams and at least China and Monaco in the Mercedes.

I'm convinced that Williams was much, much, much better than 8th in the WCC...

 

[racecub]

I think he'd have had more than one in the Williams, even Maldonado with all his crashes managed one.

 

[teabagyokel]

racecub - Yeah, I think so too, but I realised I couldn't work out which races he might have won...

EDIT: Singapore and Abu Dhabi, looking at the form of Hamilton & of Williams.

 

[downforce]

Yeah I reckon he coulda got 2 or 3 in the williams.

 

[ExtremeNinja]

Canada? Maldonaldo looked quick, if ragged.