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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[Quintessentially]

The Mercs is still not quite there yet. Aerodynamically the car just doesn't look right at the front and Hamilton looks a bit contained driving wise.

 

[racecub]

The ' containdness' is probably those awful tyres. But no, the Mercs not quite there on race pace but it is over one lap.

 

[riskitall]

race pace is pretty good imo.but traffic and slightly higher tyre wear are what cost lewis.

 

[F1ang-o]

In a pre-race track/walk interview ....Lewis was talking about the marbles/lumps of degrading rubber. He picked up a strip of rubber about 4 x 1 inches & said a lump like that had hit him on the hand/glove whilst racing.... & really hurt.

During today's race he complained on team radio about tyres/overundersteer........later Ross said the problem could have been caused by the marbles that got caught under the car..... they dropped off in a big chunk..when Lewis was in for next pit stop, His car seemed better after this..

Bad day for Nico...I thought he was going to be right up there ...at the sharp end today...

 

[Brogan]

It may not be the best in race trim but it's better than last year's car and better than this year's McLaren.

So on balance, Hamilton is still better placed than he would have been had he stayed at McLaren.

Currently.

Mercedes need to continue development though to have a real chance of fighting for wins.

 

[Merc]

Hamilton dragged it to 1st on the grid. I expect them to be challinging for race wins in Europe.

 

[The Pits]

I think that the Merc last year was strong at the start of the season, they won this race last year. The challenge is to maintain the strength through the season, which should hopefully be easier than last year without the complications of the DDRS

 

[no-FIAt-please]

I wonder where Hamilton or Rosberg (if he didn't mess up Saturday) could have finished if they didn't start on options. Options were worth about a second a lap? If that's the case he would have had 7th or maybe even 6th. Somewhat better than Vettel in 9th who should have beaten Hamilton for the last spot on the podium. I did think that Mercedes might split the strategies in Q3, although I guess Rosberg wouldn't much like that.

 

[sushifiesta]

Mercedes have a lot of head scratching to do after today's race. It's difficult to judge Hamilton's weekend as he was set back by the tyre failure in P3 but what happened to Rosberg seems to clearly indicate that their setup is too biased towards qualifying at the moment. It might not be so easy to change that but they won't be winning races until they can, and winning races is something they should be aiming to do considering how competitive the car seems to be fundamentally.

 

[Quintessentially]

From the current situation with the Pirellis, they really shouldn't be running such extreme setups for quali which Rosberg quite clearly did yesterday and paid a heavy price for it today.

 

[Senna's_right_foot]

http://www1.skysports.com/formula-1...-resources-will-be-devoted-to-2014-car-by-May

By next month over 50% of resources will be focused on the 2014 car. I doubt Mercedes will be fighting as close to the front as they are now if this is the case.

 

[The Pits]

Some of that will depend on how much is transferable year on year within the regs, my understanding is that the aero regs are largely similar, with changes to exhaust positioning, the big change being the engine/powertrain.

Although, changes to the engine will no doubt lead to some of the current compromises needing to be re-evaluated.

 

[F1ang-o]

http://www.planetf1.com/driver/3213/8674860/Wolff-Ross-is-boss
Toto Wolff is adamant ..that when Paddy Lowe arrives at Merc...Ross will remain Team Boss.
TW mentions Lewis Hamilton ...saying that ...it was because of Brawn's presence at the team..that LH decided to sign for Merc.

 

[racecub]

Oh that IS reassuring!!!

 

[Lewywo4]

Let's just hope that " The Rat " doesn't stir up the pot too much.

 

[racecub]

A very interesting interview here from Toto Wolf explaining the staff situation at Mercedes. He stresses that Lauda does not make decisions regarding the F1 team (Phew!) he was brought on board by the parent company as a panic reaction to the bad results in the second half of last year, and i get the impression Toto is not particularly pleased with some of his mouthing off. He reaffirms his confidence in Ross and says how Lowe will fit in will be a decision made by all parties concerned.
A very reassuring interview for me!
http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/formula1/22433258

 

[F1Yorkshire]

So if he doesn't make team decisions is he just there for public relations? That's the equivalent of bringing a lion to a petting zoo.

 

[racecub]

It says a bit about it in that article. He's there as a high profile big hitter when dealing with sponsors and he's there to make sure Daimler are fully up to speed with what's happening in the race team..... A liasing tool. Toto Wolf described him as their cruise missile. Because the parent team didn't understand the pain last year that would come from the restructuring and recalibrating. He's to ensure they're kept fully updated and understanding what is happening. But he's not making decisions.

 

[Speshal]

That's the equivalent of bringing a lion to a petting zoo.

Every zoo is a petting zoo if you have the stones

 

[Fenderman]

Not sure why there is such a prejudice concerning Niki Lauda. The main gripe seems to be a reputation for having a big mouth but we should remember that quotes of Lauda's statements have been taken out of context more often than I've had hot breakfasts. With Niki's decades in the spor he knows all of the movers and shakers in the business and how to deal with them. His role at Mercedes is clearly as the head-hunter and talent scout. Instrumental in bringing Hamilton to the team? If that isn't a result I don't know what is. I live in hope that the rest of the changes continue to bring the team back to the top and if they do then Lauda will have had a great deal to do with it.