After rumours had recently increased about a buyout of Brawn GP, Mercedes is now confirmed to have bought 75.1% of Brawn GP shares. The team will consequently be renamed to Mercedes GP and looks set to run world champion Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg in 2010.
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byne is the equivalent of Newey ...so to think of him as a solver of some organisational things or pitwall strategies ...no ,he was never pitlane orientated.
And for the living in phuket thing..i´d say thats not a real issue tiodays with possibilities to send huge data amounts safely with ease...do you need the factory to create new ideas? He´d need a good insight to what and where tihe trouble was this year..so he need to talk to the people responsible very intensely to get his brains to go ..if he was even interestestd...if not anything is useless.
xpensive, we know its a lot of money, around £200 million. I have given you my figures and sources, which are both reasonable. Perhaps not exact figures, granted.
This money can be spent however Mercedes chooses, not in one go on the team, as we have seen this does not work.
Honda, Toyota and BMW before them have demonstrated this.
I would prefer to think Mercedes are taking stock of where investment is needed, before actually investing further in staff and assets.
I would love to know exactly what Honda spent so much money on, as a cool £500 million was ploughed into upgrading the factory and wind tunnel during Hondas time there. Mercedes picked this all up for £75 million, so how can it be anything other than a bargain?
75 MGBP is still a tidy sum, when a recent American effort was planning to start from scratch and have two cars on a grid for 20 MUSD, which perhaps was a tad otimistic though, what do you reckon JET?
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
xpensive wrote:That all depends on how you value F1, doesn't it?
75 MGBP is still a tidy sum, when a recent American effort was planning to start from scratch and have two cars on a grid for 20 MUSD, which perhaps was a tad otimistic though, what do you reckon JET?
The point is moot. If USF1's budget was indeed $20,000,000 that simply demonstrates it was nowhere near enough, given that they never even built or tested a car.
xpensive wrote:That all depends on how you value F1, doesn't it?
75 MGBP is still a tidy sum, when a recent American effort was planning to start from scratch and have two cars on a grid for 20 MUSD, which perhaps was a tad otimistic though, what do you reckon JET?
20 million will get you engines for 4 seasons! This is but a drop in the ocean.
Serious investment is required when starting up from scratch IF you want to compete. And Mercedes are competing.
Mercedes had 4 options in 2009.
1.Start up fresh(For Mercedes to be on a level where they are now, the cost would easily be 200 million, with more investment required to get better)
2.Pack it all in.(cheapest option, but this venture underlines Mercedes commitment)
3.Buy Brawn(all the infrastructure at a knockdown price, and a track record of winning)
4.Continue ploughing cash into a competitor(80 million per season + Engines)
See out the engagement as a supplier of free engines to McLaren, start charging for the same on the current spec-level or just pack it in. Definately not going on your own after the lessons learned by BMW, Toyota and Honda.
The only successful manufacturer-team has been Renault, but they were blessed with the divine presence of Flavio Briatore and were let alone by the suits as the x-Bennetton team they were. Manufacturer in name only really.
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
Stuttgart would rather have teeth pulled than see out the contract with McLaren.
I have been over this, There was a split at the top which happens often between partnerships.
Mercedes cannot be seen to help a rival, which McLaren have become.
Rather maintain a cordial relationship, then slowly de-merge from each other which has been happening.
Mercedes no longer provide funds, but part of the split means Mercedes will provide some technical support along with engines.
Interestingly I dont know wether KERS is part of this.......
The split was amicable, that was Mercedes sweetner.
I dont know what penalty clauses Mercedes had to get out, but they would have been huge if Mclaren didnt get engines.
Both parties actually gain from it. Because Mclaren will retain Mercedes branding and Mercedes will supply engines(A plus at least until 2012 turbos for Mclaren).
So status quo, but Mercedes dont pay McLaren 80 odd million a year, and Mclaren wont have to find an engine supplier.
Mclaren will be free of Stuttgart and can get on and do their own thing, minus 80 million lol
now emerging rumours that MercedesGP budget for this year has been already spent ...but thinking about it...
what are the big variables for a team that has 420employees and their own everything...you could sit down and wait for the season to end or work flat out it would not really make any difference when everything is in house ...theres some electricity to be saved and some raw materials but the big budget points are not going to disappear..so where would be potential to save some money???
Perhaps taking a closer look at MS's perks, I bet he's not staying at salvation army and hitch-hikes to the races?
But seriously, as soon as you involve a big corp with all the xpensive guests, hospitality suites, private jets, half-naked girls and the other razmatazz, this is what happens. Bet there will never be a budget-cap on those activities?
They should have hired Briatore to deal with that...
"I spent most of my money on wine and women...I wasted the rest"
I think there is a alot of negativity surrounding Schumachers return.
Yes he's underperformed, I not gonna stick up for the guy as I think his record speaks for itself. But He does bring alot of cash with him, as well as media spot light. Mercedes have had far more air time than they deserve simply becuase they have Schumacher in their car.
As Max clifford would say, all publicity good or bad, is good publicity. Its good that people are talking about the team, and Schumacher as that is what sponsors want.
High visibility.
Marcush, can you verify or source these rumours you speak of?
I think part of the problem is, that Mercedes has set themself up into a position, where the can only lose in the short term.
Let me explain.
They bought Brawn GP which is/was the current WCC, then the brought in MSC an 7xWDC and for
many the Über/Superstar in F1.
So for many people not understanding the fine points of the sport, the situation looks like this: current WCC+good engine+MSC = the new Superteam which will blow everybody away in no time. The expactations where/are just sky high. Now the can´t live up to the expectations, the house comes cashing down on them.
In realistic terms, I think they do a resonable job, for me a liitle bit on the low side, but not catastrophic. I think, all things considered P4 in the WCC would be all right for the beginning year. They should have both divers inside the Top 10 and one inside the Top 5.
I think, that this is resonable. If Renault/williams or Sauber beats them to P4 in the WCC, that´s "bad" in my book.
I think their long term strategy is sensible and also feasible from a economic point of view. They have their work cut out, but it´s doable, allowed not easy.
But in the short term they could only fail, because the "common" expectations are so/too high. If they have figured that in and anticipated the current situation as realistic, they should not be too worried.
If the where suckered into the "hype" and really believed the could win this year, well then they are maybe as disappointed as some/most of the fans/public.
I can see why they played the MSC card, but maybe, all things considered, it could backfire a bit. It has put them under a lot of pressure. Pressure you ´don´t "need" in a rebuild or early phase of team. Just my opinion - I still wish them well, and looking forward as of what they can do.
"Make the suspension adjustable and they will adjust it wrong ......
look what they can do to a carburetor in just a few moments of stupidity with a screwdriver." - Colin Chapman
“Simplicity is the ultimate sophistication.” - Leonardo da Vinci
