Mercedes GP 2011

[munudeges]

Finger pointing is not condusive to making a car go faster.

You should know this Marcush.

I don't think Marcush is being paid to make the car go faster.........

[marcush.]

ah ,jet ..I´m not fingerpointing there .It´s just reality .
Schumacher thought it was a championship contender he was joining as was Rosberg.I bet there was not even a hint of doubt with Brawn in the negotiations IF they would fight for wins.Schumacher thought he would need to rise his game as quick as possible to enable him to win but reality was ,the car looked better than it was in the results table just because RedBull had awful reliability and Ferrari had their engine issues and some aero work left on the plate as well.
They also were lucky Renault chose to have petrov and so Kubica had to go alone against Mercedes for most of the year...
Now Rosberg sais the car is just too weak from the base so the team has called defeat already on the current design and is redirecting all hopes into the future -giving both drivers a nod for remaining in the team for 2012...

But,rest assured Mercedes GP are the ones I have a soft spot for .So I want them to suceed!

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Marcush


We know Brawn sold Mercedes short. That is something we have to expect of a man trying to fend off asset stripping companies who were already circling. As CEO of Brawn, it was his duty to sell Mercedes short if it meant the long term survival of the team.
I know that may be seen as callous, but Mercedes would not have hung around sponsoring Mclaren to the tune of 80 million a year either.

So a marriage of convenience/inconvenience then.

Why can people not see that yea, they have missed their lofty targets. But they are actually doing something about it, and this will take time. Turning the squad around will take time, investment takes time. Whatever skeletons are in the closet is irrelevant so long as they are dealt with.

[marcush.]

jet don´t try to find the differences in our view of things.

I think Brawn has done the right thing ,he saved the team when nobody was prepared to stand in and commit.
So he deserves aall the credit and any amount of money this deal has brought to him.To me the ddisappointment started when Brawn and the official Mercedes line tried to first maintain the stance we are the World champions ,we have hired two very good drivers and we will fight for championships instead of telling the world how it is:
the team is reduced to a core ,key people are already gone ,the team is waiting for the other teams to reduce their headcount to RRA size levels before you can think of competing at the front again.
I´d think this was deep inside the plan but they tried to be more and possibly hoped for a Schumacher factor bridging the gap and performing a few miracles..and it just did not pan out like this...

[Adamski]

Thanx marcush & adamski ...

Michael doesn`t like to much the new Pirreli tyre, don`t you think ?
I`ve red it has a new construction in order to increase the tyre life, but it also increased the under steer, unfortunately for him ...
Could this change be the reason why Michael in the last couple of races got better lap times then Rosberg and in Qualy did the opposite? Or maybe his strategy is shifted towards the race, when it counts?

I think both of your tips could be make the differences. Michael said after today's qualifying, that he had problems with the super soft tires in the first two sectors. In the soft tires, Michael and Nico post almost the same time, but maybe Michael get more toward the set-up for the race, as in the last two Sunday's he's got the upper hand in terms of race speed.
I think tomorrow we will be get some of the answers. If there's a clear race and both of the Merc drivers could go in free air, we will be know it.

[Pierce89]

jet don´t try to find the differences in our view of things.

I think Brawn has done the right thing ,he saved the team when nobody was prepared to stand in and commit.
So he deserves aall the credit and any amount of money this deal has brought to him.To me the ddisappointment started when Brawn and the official Mercedes line tried to first maintain the stance we are the World champions ,we have hired two very good drivers and we will fight for championships instead of telling the world how it is:
the team is reduced to a core ,key people are already gone ,the team is waiting for the other teams to reduce their headcount to RRA size levels before you can think of competing at the front again.
I´d think this was deep inside the plan but they tried to be more and possibly hoped for a Schumacher factor bridging the gap and performing a few miracles..and it just did not pan out like this...

I read they were going back up to a headcount of 550 sames Ferrari and Macca

[xpensive]

It seems at least as the team has established itself just inside Q3, I cannot believe that Daimler is satisfied with that?

@ Marcush; Do you think that Brawn suckered Daimler to believe it was not necessary to recruit more people, the right people?

[marcush.]

Exp...I think it was really a situation of not realising the state of affairs and a hope for some wonder performed by Schumacher that triggered all this.
I would love to see the proposals made up by Brawn ,Fry and Haug convincing the Mercedes Board this was the way to success and a big savings at the same time..
Haug was naive enough to believe all this ,but what about Ross? he sure knew how much effort went into w01 and in 2009 he must have realised how little they understood of their car as the season progressed and all upgrades did not reestablish the advantage they had at the beginning of the year.No wonder that Button at one point realised he had to leave after his team had raved about second of development potential left on the plate due to the rushed engine adaption but nothing could be translated into performance as the year progressed..

For some reason Brawn is still in the boat -making me believe he did admitto the true state quite early.Or he and Norby found a good chain of argumentation towards the board why it does not work and it is not their fault but owed to RRA and things..

[munudeges]

For Big Norb's sake I can only hope that his most recent interview was completely misinterpreted...........

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

It was sourced from whom? I cant find him saying it anywhere other than from one particular source.


Either way, I'm not too dissapointed(dissapointed nevertheless). I expected the 2010 all over again and it has been realised.
They are still 4th quickest though, and I was hoping for a win, but it is now clearly evident that there are people working at Mercedes GP that arent championship grade material.
Sure they need another 100 staff, but they need to look at people who have made critical decisions these last 2 seasons, and then sack the ones who have got it wrong twice.
If they retain the same technical team for 3 seasons running, that is when you have to start asking questions of Mercedes leadership(board) because it cannot be happy with the managers(Brawn/Haug) retaining a mediocre technical department.

When the tools are in place, Mercedes need to be poaching Top 3 staff like they are rumoured to with Prodromou the RB aerodynamicist. Well the tools are gradually being placed bit by bit, but they need mastercraftsmen and not journeymen.
The acid test has arrived, and its now do or die for 2012.

Expect some announcements in the next few months regarding staffing, if not I think we will see a repeat 2012 of mediocrity...

[xpensive]

I have to admit that I was taken by that glimmer in China, but that was obviously due to that being a serious power-track.

But who knows what Spa and Moza will bring?

[Morteza]

I have to admit that I was taken by that glimmer in China, but that was obviously due to that being a serious power-track.

But who knows what Spa and Moza will bring?

Maybe Monza, X. I don't count on them much for Spa, anyway!

[xpensive]

I have to admit that I was taken by that glimmer in China, but that was obviously due to that being a serious power-track.

But who knows what Spa and Monza will bring?

Maybe Monza, X. I don't count on them much for Spa, anyway!

On second thought, you are right of course, Spa is far too demanding track for them.

Silverstone in the old days would have worked though, airfield style!

[Ferraripilot]

Even Monza won't bring much for them IMO as their mechanical grip is no good

[Adamski]

Even Monza won't bring much for them IMO as their mechanical grip is no good

I think they should be good in Monza. I mean they will be closer a bit then usually. (maybe under 1 sec/lap)
In Hungary, in the first sector, they are almost matching the front-runners. It contains a stop&go corner but most of the time is full throttle, so they were fast. It could be the same for Monza.