Mercedes GP 2011

[donskar]

@donskar

I believe the W02 is rather valid proof of what somebody said all along, Ross Brawn was always "Tecnical Director" in name only.

That's an easy answer to the "mystery," but I do not buy it. The "dream team" was too good to have had a dud in a key position. If you are right, then during Schu's great years the Ferrari organization was a V8 running on 7 cylinders. I don't think so.

[xpensive]

Ross Brawn is one of F1's more fascinating myths. As a matter of fact he's not even an engineer, he started his F1 career as a machine-operator in MrM's old workshop in Bicester in the late 70s. The friendship with his top-boss from that time has served him in good steed over the years, not least when he was allowed to by-pass the diffuser-rules in 2009.

Whatever his contribution at Benetton and Ferrari might have been, it surely had very little to do with car-design, that was Rory Byrne's jurisdiction fair and square.

You have to give it to the man for coming this far though, but no matter how much time I spend at the hospital trying to blend in with the MDs, I will never be a surgeon.

[tok-tokkie]

I was wanting to make the same point as X. Brawn has been extremely fortunate to have had such competent people around him with Rory Byrne being outstanding. He clearly has the ability to get a good team working well. His current problem is parts of his team must be weak.

They are making progress sorting out their problems. Last year the mass distribution was wrong. This year the wheelbase is wrong. They tried a novel exhaust which disappointed & eventually conceded the error.

Trouble is next year the mass distribution is free & I fear they may again have a sub-optimal basic car.

[xpensive]

@marcush;
The discussion over what Ross Brawn's professional forte really is, brings up another subject which been bothering me, perhaps OT but bear with me just for a bit, have you ever considered MGP's top-heavy management organization?

Ross Brawn (TP), Nick Fry (CEO), Norbert Haug (VP), Thomas Fuhr (MD), Rob Thomas (COO)

How do you move forward with a structure like that and who's accountable for the results at the end of the day?

[Dragonfly]

@marcush;
The discussion over what Ross Brawn's professional forte really is, brings up another subject which been bothering me, perhaps OT but bear with me just for a bit, have you ever considered MGP's top-heavy management organization?

Ross Brawn (TP), Nick Fry (CEO), Norbert Haug (VP), Thomas Fuhr (MD), Rob Thomas (COO)

How do you move forward with a structure like that and who's accountable for the results at the end of the day?

Sorry to continue the OT but the red is the weakest link IMHO.

[marcush.]

Having worked within similar structures of paralell worlds and competence interference my answer is a loud :
YES -it is impossible to find someone really accountable for the results.

In my view Brawn and Haug are in a very weak position towards the board ,as they sold the outfit as a quasi championship contender to Mercedes.
Brawn made a fortune in this and Haug made himself an idiot as reality could not hjve been further away .
They really f...d Schumacher and Rosberg as well ..promising and now admitting it will take even longer to turn around that ship ....and it´s unclear if the ship is turning around or going belly up ....

[xpensive]

As a 52-year old freelancing engineer, worked on both sides of the Atlantic, I can confirm that I've seen some serious ---, but nothing like the following;

- A Vice President.
- A Chief Executive Officer.
- A Managing Director.
- A Chief Operating Officer.
- A Team Principal.

All rolled into a 400 staff organization, what kinda twisted mother dreamt up an overhead like that?

[marcush.]

you rarely start with a clean sheet of paper and for whatever reason they made Ross a rich man and retain him as a team principal..did he actually meet the forecasts he made to Mercedes
???? hard to believe after the words of the past two winters.

every highly paid manager would already have faced the chop by now -simply because the announcement were in stark contrast to reality.

Schumacher expecting to fight for the championship from the word go ..modifying his
view to fighting for wins in the first year ,modifying his view for wins on merit in the second year ,modifying his expectations to podium only by luck and circumstances ...
He must have been told a lot of optimistic naive stories ..or blatant lies.

[Richard]

It is odd to have an MD as well as CEO.

I guess they could explain the number of people with separate sporting and commercial operations. That would give 2 for each plus a Haug as overall boss.

So I guess Brawn and .... err .... Thomas (?) run the sporting side. The COO runs the factory?

That leaves Fry and Fuhr as the money/commercial men.

Hague is the chairman.

[marcush.]

the official media kit tells different :

Motorsportchef/Head of Motorsports activity:Norbert Haug

Teamchef /Team principal Ross Brawn
CEO Mercedes GP:Nick Fry
CEO Mercedes HighPerformance Engines:Thomas Fuhr (a daimler homegrown guy)
Managing director (MHPE) :Rob Thomas according to his linkedin profile perations and quality director MHPE)..

Technical Director MGP:Bob Bell
Chief designer MGP :John Owen
Head of Aerodynamics MGP:Loic Bigois
Chief Engineer MGP : Russell Cooley

Head of Vehicle dynamics :Craig Wilson

Head of Race engineering MGP: Shovlin

source:
http://media.daimler.com/Projects/c2c/c ... 180211.pdf
http://uk.linkedin.com/pub/robert-thomas/3/a00/174

[PlatinumZealot]

These are the problem:

Chief designer MGP :John Owen
Head of Aerodynamics MGP:Loic Bigois
Chief Engineer MGP : Russell Cooley

These two are responsible for the initial design of the car.

[marcush.]

I don´t think it goes like that.
They set some initial targets and give the technical departments some deadline to come up with a solution which is then discussed and signed of or rejected.
Of course the chief designer or the Head opf Aero have to agree with what is proposed but surely you are really depending on the input you receive is sound and matches reality.
Bigois would have jumped 2metres high knowing in advance just how many holes the new cooling system would need into his sidepods to arrive at a sustainable temperature...so it´s not all so clear cut in life.
On the other hand they were quite ingenius with the rule interpretetaion of gills to compensate..

[wunderkind]

These are the problem:

Chief designer MGP :John Owen
Head of Aerodynamics MGP:Loic Bigois
Chief Engineer MGP : Russell Cooley

These two are responsible for the initial design of the car.

I agree with the above. No disrespect to John Owen and Loic Bigois, but they have never produced a championship contender apart from the rule-bending BGP001.

I understand the somewhat top-heavy management structure of Mercedes GP. Norbert is the Mercedes point-man who looks after the relationship with the Mercedes Benz management and Board of Directors, sponsors, and the German-speaking commercial activities.

Ross Brawn takes charge of the management of the team's operations, pitlane activities, and relationships with the FIA.

Nick Fry is effectively the manager of the team (finance and resources) and commercial director (sponsorship dollars). Also helps Ross Brawn dealing with the FIA.

Bob Bell has oversight of the design and engineering of the W03 and trying to fix the W02 at the same time.

Thomas Fuhr and Rob Thomas are the Heads of MHPE taking care of the engine and KERS.

They all have clearly defined roles in the team.

[xpensive]

If Thomas Fuhr and Rob Thomas work for MHPE, why are they listed as part of MGP, that doesn't make sense, does it?

I agree with marcush, when comparing results after 26 races as MGP with the picture painted 18 months ago, heads should have rolled long time ago, why I admire MS' loyalty, quite remarkable actually.

[dren]

Didn't Brawn state he just needed to show the board improvement year after year?