Mercedes GP 2011

[Morteza]

How many technical directors does a team need? I mean they've already got Bob Bell. Is it gonna do them any good?

[ESPImperium]

Probably a good addition, will make the Mercedes technichal department a really good one with Bob Bell there as well. Costa has helped develop some really aggressive cars in the past 5 years with the F2007 and F2008 being the cream of his crop, Bob bell with his background from Renault will make Mercedes a strong contender for 2012 now.

Id shorten the odds for Mercedes next year now, but not by much, maybes from 3/7 to win a race to 5/7. Id recon that 2013 may be when they regualarly start challanging for something more regular than races.

[Morteza]

Probably a good addition, will make the Mercedes technichal department a really good one with Bob Bell there as well. Costa has helped develop some really aggressive cars in the past 5 years with the F2007 and F2008 being the cream of his crop, Bob bell with his background from Renault will make Mercedes a strong contender for 2012 now.

Id shorten the odds for Mercedes next year now, but not by much, maybes from 3/7 to win a race to 5/7. Id recon that 2013 may be when they regualarly start challanging for something more regular than races.

I was thinking the same. Those two were pretty good cars. Ferrari's ambition was the reason for firing him, I guess (They've got Pat Fry, so this was the reason as well). Mercedes really needs to get their act together. Recruiting Costa would be a step in the right direction.

[Mr.S]

Probably a good addition, will make the Mercedes technichal department a really good one with Bob Bell there as well. Costa has helped develop some really aggressive cars in the past 5 years with the F2007 and F2008 being the cream of his crop, Bob bell with his background from Renault will make Mercedes a strong contender for 2012 now.

Id shorten the odds for Mercedes next year now, but not by much, maybes from 3/7 to win a race to 5/7. Id recon that 2013 may be when they regualarly start challanging for something more regular than races.

I was thinking the same. Those two were pretty good cars. Ferrari's ambition was the reason for firing him, I guess (They've got Pat Fry, so this was the reason as well). Mercedes really needs to get their act together. Recruiting Costa would be a step in the right direction.

Well Ferrai had the strongest car in the 2nd half of last season 2. They were doing fantastically in circuits so different like Monza & Singapore. P1 & P3 in Monza & P2 is Singapore with P1-P2 in Hockenheim says a lot about how good the car was. The car performed very well in all types of tracks.

Specially consider the state of Ferrari in the 1st part of the season & amazing improvement in the second part. Aldo Costa would be a fantastic Assistant Technical Director. Prodromou as Aero Head will be as good if not better. That would seriously send out a message to everyone that Merc are hear to win & not to give lame excuses.

[munudeges]

Probably a good addition, will make the Mercedes technichal department a really good one with Bob Bell there as well. Costa has helped develop some really aggressive cars in the past 5 years with the F2007 and F2008 being the cream of his crop, Bob bell with his background from Renault will make Mercedes a strong contender for 2012 now.

The real force behind the Ferraris of 2006, 2007 and 2008 was Nikolas Tombazis and the upturn in 2006 when Ferrari recruited him back was clear. As for Bell, he had a great deal of good technical people working at Renault that are still there, especially on the mechanical side, and the technical direction of that car over several years had already been set up by Mike Gascoyne. He didn't really have to do a great deal.

All is not quite what it appears and you have to look very carefully at who is really doing the work and what the results are depending on who is at what team.

EDIT: How Tombazis hasn't been made TD at Ferrari I have no idea, but I suspect that there is too much intra-team politics flying around.

[Mr.S]

Probably a good addition, will make the Mercedes technichal department a really good one with Bob Bell there as well. Costa has helped develop some really aggressive cars in the past 5 years with the F2007 and F2008 being the cream of his crop, Bob bell with his background from Renault will make Mercedes a strong contender for 2012 now.

The real force behind the Ferraris of 2006, 2007 and 2008 was Nikolas Tombazis and the upturn in 2006 when Ferrari recruited him back was clear. As for Bell, he had a great deal of good technical people working at Renault that are still there, especially on the mechanical side, and the technical direction of that car over several years had already been set up by Mike Gascoyne. He didn't really have to do a great deal.

All is not quite what it appears and you have to look very carefully at who is really doing the work and what the results are depending on who is at what team.

Force India have a few fantastic people too comparing their results with their resources. IT DOES not matter how many talented people you have or what direction you take until you have a fantastic Technical Director. You cant win talented engineers in Formula neither does Mike G. has anything major to do with how competitive a car will be. If W02 wins Bob Bell will have a major hand in it not Ross Brawn.

[xpensive]

How many technical directors does a team need? I mean they've already got Bob Bell. Is it gonna do them any good?

In theory they already had Ross Brawn himself, then Bob Bell and now Aldo Costa, why I guess one or two more would do it?

But seriously, if this recruitment is true, I wonder who will report to who then?

[Mr.S]

How many technical directors does a team need? I mean they've already got Bob Bell. Is it gonna do them any good?

In theory they already had Ross Brawn himself, then Bob Bell and now Aldo Costa, why I guess one or two more would do it?

But seriously, if this recruitment is true, I wonder who will report to who then?

Ross Brawn is the TEAM PRINCIPAL. He is as much a Technical Director as is Stefano Domenicelli or Martin Whitemarsh. Costa joining is purely specualtive at this point of time. So wondering about many heads is over-thinking the issue.

Anyways Costa joining Merc can only be a positive for Merc. If Costa does well & stays loyal to Merc then maybe he get an important appointment in MERC soon considering Bob Bell is already pretty old & does not have a lot of years as Technical Director.

[munudeges]

I hadn't heard that Costa's name was flying around regarding Mercedes, but if true I just can't see him being the kind of person they need. His track record doesn't read very well - took over from Rory Byrne after 2004, disastrous 2005 season that was down to more than just the tyres and gets seriously helped out from 2006 onwards when Tombazis is brought back in as Chief Designer.

What's Costa going to be responsible for? Aerodynamics, mechanicals......? I'm not aware of his background. It's immediately clear to me what the guys at Red Bull do and what their specialities are. That's not so clear with other teams.

Costa should feel right at home at Brackley. I'm beginning to admire Rory Byrne more and more because it's become clear to me what he was having to put up with while effectively being TD at Ferrari in all but name.

[Mr.S]

I hadn't heard that Costa's name was flying around regarding Mercedes, but if true I just can't see him being the kind of person they need. His track record doesn't read very well - took over from Rory Byrne after 2004, disastrous 2005 season that was down to more than just the tyres and gets seriously helped out from 2006 onwards when Tombazis is brought back in as Chief Designer.

What's Costa going to be responsible for? Aerodynamics, mechanicals......? I'm not aware of his background. It's immediately clear to me what the guys at Red Bull do and what their specialities are. That's not so clear with other teams.

Costa should feel right at home at Brackley. I'm beginning to admire Rory Byrne more and more because it's become clear to me what he was having to put up with while effectively being TD at Ferrari in all but name.

Your acting as if Tombazis was the man who single handedly created the 1st car of the season time & time again. 2005 season for anybody who did see,was a year lost on tires. Not Rory not Newey could have said that season. Bridgestone was much & much slower than Michelin. The 2006 season car was actually very good & 2nd fastest to Renault & quite competitive. Also you should not the fact that any Tech Director would take atleast 1 year to make a major impression.

Also people are over-hyping the 2007 & 2008 cars. In Both years Mclaren was clearly quicker than Ferrari & gave away the championship in 2007 by fighting among themselves. Ferrari in 2006 compared to Renault was by no means much slower than Ferrari was compared to Mclaren in 2007 & 2008.

2010 Ferrari had the strongest track in the 2nd half doing fantastically well in tracks with low to high downforce requirements tracks as different as Monza & Singapore.

[munudeges]

The help in upturn of McLaren when Tombazis went there from 2004 was clear, as was the downturn at Ferrari when he and Byrne left that year. When he returned in 2006 the upturn was also very clear, and they went to some lengths to ensure he returned for some reason. It really is that simple. 2005 was about more than just tyres. The car had stagnated and was almost unchanged from 2004. Once you isolate Costa and look at results they are anything but spectacular.

The best Technical Directors can always jump in and make some suggestions that can make immediate improvements because they can dive into the technical details. That's where you find out who can do it and who has simply been riding on the coattails of others.

[marcush.]

what if Bell is already on his way out-fed up with some clever guys stipulating new weird concepts ?
We have not seen anything nor did we hear a word from him since april..he may be a shy person but a tech director is also asked questions by media and usually is coming up with some answers and not let the team principal and vice president do all that stuff especially when the performance of the car is the main issue -which is under his responsibility.

[dren]

I doubt Bell is on the way out. Costa can only be a good thing. He brings knowledge from a recent race winning team. The Mercedes cars need a good basis first. He can help with that. I expect Bell to do the same.

[marcush.]

the latest trend is to have a chief technical officer -Newey ,Gascoyne - a tech director and a chief designer .

If Bell is TD ,then Costa is chief technical officer ? or chief designer? Aldo was chief designer with Minardi for a long time before switching to Ferrari in 1997.He only got TD in 2008 there

[raymondu999]

the latest trend is to have a chief technical officer -Newey ,Gascoyne - a tech director and a chief designer .

If Bell is TD ,then Costa is chief technical officer ? or chief designer? Aldo was chief designer with Minardi for a long time before switching to Ferrari in 1997.He only got TD in 2008 there

Actually I think most teams who use that structure have CTO as the highest, TD 2nd and CD 3rd. Example being Pat Fry was called Chief Designer, and Aldo was TD when they were both at Ferrari earlier this year. Can't think of anyone who has all 3 outside of my head though.