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Jenson Button, and the constructor’s championship in 2009, grew out of the ashes of Honda’s F1 entry after Honda had withdrawn from F1 at the end of the 2008 season after only a single Grand Prix win for Button in Hungary 2006.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

 

[Brogan]

Today's race reaffirms what I have been saying all along, which is the Mercedes still can't match the other teams when it comes to race pace and tyre wear.

It's all well and good sticking it on pole on Saturday, but there are (currently) no points awarded for qualifying.

 

[Fenderman]

That's for the non-news thread Brogan. Mercedes have been saying that themselves.

 

[Brogan]

It was more directed at those who believe Mercedes are a front running team.

 

[FB]

As they say in golf "Driving's for show, putting's for dough". Maybe Merc need to do something to keep the money flowing out of Stuttgart and taking a few poles, with the associated publicity, is the way to do it.

 

[racecub]

I think that car is inherently a fast car but the tyres get destroyed and the tyres this year are about 90% of what it's about. They have to get on top of these tyres. But to be honest I'd just like to see tyres that the cars can go fast on. Notjust for the sake of Mercedes , but for the sake of racing.

 

[no-FIAt-please]

Well the aero department are certainly pulling their weight with 3 poles in a row, now if only the mechanical side could pull their finger out.

 

[Galahad]

They'll be in with a shout at Monaco, I'm sure.

 

[The Pits]

I believe that the main issue is when the track is harder on the front tyres, which I believe should be less of an issue at Monaco, also, as we have seen numerable times, you can be several seconds away from ultimate pace, with no one being able to get past, so if they do qualify well, they can control the race, and as we have seen, DRS is pox useless there too.

 

[KekeTheKing]

It's somewhat disconcerting that Mercedes have been unable to make progress on their Achilles heel for the last 3+ years. And the current iteration of Pirelli's seem to be exacerbating that phenomenon tenfold. Blisteringly quick in Quali and rather pedestrian in the GP.

 

[Mephistopheles]

The problem they have is that they get their tyres to work brilliantly for one lap than after that they are bollocks, front limited rear limited, ti makes no difference, they have a fantastic qualifying car and a shit race car....

McLaren have the opposite problem their car is shit for qualifying and better (But not good enough.) for the race..

 

[Bill Boddy]

Mercedes manage to get top performance for one lap on low fuel.

 

[RasputinLives]

Today's race reaffirms what I have been saying all along, which is the Mercedes still can't match the other teams when it comes to race pace and tyre wear.

It's all well and good sticking it on pole on Saturday, but there are (currently) no points awarded for qualifying.

Teams voted against points for quali just the other week and for once I think they're right. Qualifying is qualifying and I think it would be silly to start giving points away.

Its the same old story with the tyres for Merc and in actual fact they have made progress compared to last years tyre wear(No really). I do fear for Lewis morale on this front. He has vocalise frustration with going backwards in races (which is understandable!) but I'm afraid thats the type of car he's in now. Rosberg has been playing the magical backwards driving Mercedes for a couple of years now so I think Lewis is going to have to get used to it. I actually wonder how many times Nico has finished above his grid slot since he's been at Merc.

Still I expect Lewis to score wins in Monaco and Hungary this year with a Boutsenesque front of a chain defensive driving masterclass.

 

[Fenderman]

Mercedes manage to get top performance for one lap on low fuel.

Um... what, like Red Bull, Ferrari, McLaren, Lotus, Williams, Fierce India, Toro Rosso, Sauber, Caterham, Mumrussia ...?

 

[RasputinLives]

Confused. What you saying Fenders?

 

[teabagyokel]

Mercedes actually managed to get degradation last year at Austin, when Pirelli took tyres two steps too hard.

 

[Bill Boddy]

If you call what Marussia did was "top performance" then I must make a re-assessment of what that means.

 

[Fenderman]

If what one meant by "top performance" was "the top performance", then no .

 

[Mephistopheles]

Lewis seems to think that it will be an easy fix.

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/107411

"It is not rocket science I don't think.

I can't see it being that easy, the car has had the same problem for the last three years it has been a good qualifier but not special in the race, this year it is blistering in qualifying and bloody hopeless in the race, and of course there is always the chance that they will fix the race problem and then be not so good on Saturday which could lead to not improving race results.

We shall see...

 

[Bill Boddy]

I have full confidence that Hamilton will sort it out. As he says, it is not rocket science, what a shame the team did not realise this earlier. There they have been, playing around with liquid oxygen and liquid hydrogen when they shoul have been looking at tyre compounds.

I do hope that this was a misquote.

 

[Brogan]

Why would it be a misquote?
He is correct in that it is not rocket science.