Mercedes GP 2011

[munudeges]

Nothing beats the opportunity of being with a future championship-contending team that is properly staffed and resourced.

He's already been in that position, on more than one occasion. It wasn't enough. You might as well ask why James Key enjoys what he does at Sauber or why the Force India people are still trucking when quite a few of their staff have been poached. Job satisfaction and self-respect count for a great deal, which is why someone like Mike Gascoyne went to Lotus and why Adrian Newey left McLaren for the joke that was the old Jaguar team.

Can Bob Bell keep all that together though? That's a tough one. The other joker in the pack is that Bob Bell is much more experienced than Ross Brawn and he has been a Team Principal himself.

[Mr.S]

This is Ross Brawn's history -

His career in motorsport began in 1976 when he joined March Engineering as a milling machine operator. Soon afterwards he joined their Formula 3 racing team as a mechanic. Brawn was hired by Sir Frank Williams in 1978 as a machinist for the newly formed Williams team. He quickly moved up through the ranks, working in the R&D department and as an aerodynamicist in the team's wind tunnel.

After brief stints with the now-defunct Haas Lola and Arrows F1 teams Brawn's efforts caught the attention of Jaguar, who hired him in 1989. He began work in their sports car racing division, bringing as much F1 technological experience as he could, and succeeded in designing the Jaguar XJR-14 cars which won the 1991 World Sportscar Championship.

Benetton
Later in 1991 Brawn returned to F1 as technical director of the Benetton team, helping it win consecutive World Drivers' Championships in 1994 and 1995 with Michael Schumacher, and to take the World Constructors' Championship in 1995,


Ferrari

Brawn then went to Ferrari with Michael Schumacher in late 1996.Brawn was TD when the team won WCC in 1999 & drivers title from 2000-2004 alont with many WCC.

Honda

Brawn joined Honda in 2007 & was Team Principal throughout that time & till date. His best achivement was the 2009 car which won WDC & WCC.

[Mr.S]

Bob Bell -

Robert Charles "Bob" Bell (born 10 April 1958 in Belfast, Northern Ireland) is the technical director of the Mercedes GP Formula One team.
Bell attended Queen's University in Belfast gaining a doctorate in Aeronautical Engineering.[1] before joining McLaren in 1982 and worked as the company aerodynamicist until 1988, when he was promoted to Head of Research and Development for the next two years.[2] In 1997, Bell moved to the Benetton Formula team, working there with Nick Wirth.[3]
He worked as the Senior Aerodynamicist at Benetton until 1999, when he went to the Jordan Grand Prix team joining them as the Head of Vehicle Technology, after being invited by his former McLaren colleague Mike Gascoyne. Both left Jordan for Renault F1 and in 2001, Bell was appointed the Deputy Technical Director at the Enstone team,[4] becoming the Technical Director in 2003 when Mike Gascoyne departed to join the Toyota F1 team.[5][6]
Bell was Renault F1's Technical Director during the hugely successful 2005 and 2006 seasons, in which his R25 and R26 won both the Drivers' and the Constructor's championships. The next two seasons saw very few good results, and his projects dropped in the Constructor's championship to fourth place in 2007 and 2008.
After the resignations of Flavio Briatore and Pat Symonds in relation to the Renault Formula One crash controversy, Bell was appointed acting team principal for the rest of 2009, on September 23, 2009.[7] For the 2010 season, Bell held the position of Managing Director for the Renault team until leaving the team on October 6, 2010.[8] On 18 February 2011, Bell was appointed as the new technical director of Mercedes GP, effective of 1 April 2011.
[edit]References

[Mr.S]

Brawn has been TD for 4 years while Bell was TD for only 1 year when renault was in a crisis after the Singapore fiasco when there was talk of the whole team being banned. In that position of need Bob had to step in as a senior employee,a position where he was never too good & he never showed any signs of wanting to stay in that position.


Bob was always an aerodynamist,TD sort of guy & always good in managinng the resources. There is not a single guy in F1 who is creating the car & its concepts single-handedly. Even Newey has Prodromou for the aerodynamics. With all the James Key hype Sauber is nowhere as is Lotus. Even James or Gascoyne have very talented guys under them,its just that they dont have enough publicity.

Costa was never meant to be TD. In 2011 F1 cars are very dependengt or aero & its much more suitable for a guy like Bell who is fundamentally an aero guy to be there than Costa. Willis,I dont really know how much good he is with aerodynamics.

I guess Willis will step up & take over the position of TEAM Principal when Brawn retires in 3-4 years.For me he is that kind of guy,not an out & out aerodynamist.

[xpensive]

A direct link to Wikipedia can save a lot of space at times, calling posts conveying other opinions than your own is rude.

@munudeges;
I think the kicker here is that Bob Bell is actually an engineer, a Phd at that if I understand things correctly, why a wind-tunnel technician like Brawn or a journo like Haug probably would find it difficult even to understand what he is talking about.

But perhaps the suits and engineers in Stuttgart wouldn't?

[Cocles]

But perhaps the suits and engineers in Stuttgart wouldn't?

Perhaps so, since Daimler AG's head "suit" has a Phd in engineering.

And thanks for the info Mr. S; it was a good read.

[marcush.]

I think the idea to have alternating responsibilities from year to year is a ways to satisfy the needs of individuals -this way you can carry your baby through from concept to championship.
The other concept would be to have one doing the concept and handing over to the race development say in february at the very latest -a concept John Barnard tried with Ferrari...

To go along and work on next years car when developing your current machine ...i´m not too sure if that is the best of ideas ...maybe when your base car is right but íf you plan big steps in other directions it might distract you just too much from the current campaign and lead to giving up on the old machine - in a way of -ah no that problem can only be fixed with next years all new rear suspension ...

Brawn and Haug not really look at ease in their jobs these days and really they must feel out of their depth at times when promises do not translate into results again and again.
Newest paralance by Norby: we have stabilised our position this year....

[xpensive]

But perhaps the suits and engineers in Stuttgart wouldn't?

Perhaps so, since Daimler AG's head "suit" has a Phd in engineering.

Aha, I like this company already!

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dieter_Zetsche

@marcush; I agree, both of them seems to be lost somehow and should have reasons for concern over their future.

[munudeges]

I just get the feeling of the net closing in on Brawn.

[xpensive]

I just get the feeling of the net closing in on Brawn.

When a bit of speculation always is entertaining, what if the three-wise-men of TD's was never the true intention?

Perhaps Bell, with previous xperience of the role, will take over as TP and promoting Willis to TD with Costa as CD?

[Mr.S]

Nope in that case Willis will be TP & Bell as TD. Bell has never been a TP guy. He is the last person in the world who should be TP. He shuns the spotlight,prefers to ignore the media & is an aerodynamist who is most happy working in the technical side.


Willis on the other hand is a smart cookie,worked with NEWEY as TD in Red Bull,was more or less incharge of HRT in a TP sort of role,is responsible for the Wind Tunnel in Brackley. For me he always come across that sort of guy who is good at managing resources rather than an out & out technical guy like Costa or Bell.


For me -

Willis (TP)
Bell(TD)
Costa(CD)
Bigois(HA)

That will probably be the structure,then you thrown in a couple of talented guys like John Owen to work under them. Not too bad,I'd say. No team at present in F1 can take on Newey with a 1 man TD doing it all alone.

[Mr.S]

I think the idea to have alternating responsibilities from year to year is a ways to satisfy the needs of individuals -this way you can carry your baby through from concept to championship.
The other concept would be to have one doing the concept and handing over to the race development say in february at the very latest -a concept John Barnard tried with Ferrari...

To go along and work on next years car when developing your current machine ...i´m not too sure if that is the best of ideas ...maybe when your base car is right but íf you plan big steps in other directions it might distract you just too much from the current campaign and lead to giving up on the old machine - in a way of -ah no that problem can only be fixed with next years all new rear suspension ...

Brawn and Haug not really look at ease in their jobs these days and really they must feel out of their depth at times when promises do not translate into results again and again.
Newest paralance by Norby: we have stabilised our position this year....

Haug has become more of a useless toy now. Brawn himself is becoming more of an assertive Team Pricipal,you seem him commenting from the company & engine makers viewpoint as well in making the appointment of Willis & Costa too.

Haug is just there to encourage & share fun facts. Personally I dont mind him because he is an useless job giving feedbacks to Daimler.

As per the 3 TD's doing separate jobs,why have no F1 team ever done that,work in 3 upcoming years??? Because it will be a complete fail. The rules in 2012,2013 & 2014 will not be the same. You have low noses & new exhaust rules for 2012,if someone started work from 2009 on 2012 car with the fundamental philosophy of a FEE EBD & say a very high nose then everything is rendered useless once the regulation changes.

In Formula 1 regulations change almost year to year. Sometimes it's a minute change sometimes it's huge. The tyres are a huge change. 2011 tyres are radically different to 2010. Maybe 2013 will be very different with completely different characteristics & wear rates.

There is also the question of RRA. Having 3 separate teams to work on 3 separate cars,right down from concept to manufacture. From the guy who audits to the guy who blends stuff. It is 3 times the resource in most aspects. You need a headcount of like 1000 to do it.

Windtunnel time is limited too. They will be fighting for those 24 hours trying to squeeze out more. Over-worked employees,changing rules,no Driver feedback in the design of the car(who knows even if Rosberg-MSC will stay for 2014) & 1/3rd the resources.

My 2 cents that car will compete with HRT for the last position in the grid.

[xpensive]

...
For me -

Willis (TP)
Bell(TD)
Costa(CD)
Bigois(HA)
...

That would work, perhaps a better idea to retain Bell where he is, if nothing else for continuity?

[munudeges]

Willis (TP)
Bell(TD)
Costa(CD)
Bigois(HA)

Well, Willis just isn't a Team Principal. Bell has been in that position at Renault and has a massive amount of experience, Willis would resume his role as Technical Director when he was so rudely interrupted the last time, I'm not sure about Costa because I would be recruiting someone with a stronger mechanical background (poach from McLaren or Renault) and the Head of Aerodynamics simply has to change.

However, the above structure is the one I'd be going for - clear Team Principal, clear Technical Director, someone with a clear mechanical background and someone with a clear aerodynamic background. Sorted. No silly electronics or production directors.

[munudeges]

Brawn himself is becoming more of an assertive Team Pricipal,you seem him commenting from the company & engine makers viewpoint as well in making the appointment of Willis & Costa too.

I wonder whether it was Brawn who decided they needed to be recruited. It really should be the Technical Director deciding those things.