Mercedes GP 2011

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Hemsy, I agree. The new team will only have an impact in mid-season development and operational issues. If they do there job we should see a bit more confidence in the team and a better sense of direction/purpose. There needs to be fewer excuses about weight balance, wheelbase and and tyres.

Aero packs will filter through in February as the base concept is already done. Willis started a fortnight ago, so he will probably be cracking on with ideas now given that he already knows his surroundings having worked there before. Begs the question, we saw the f-duct wing outed a fortnight ago, could it be Willis saw no mileage in it and wanted the team to focus on somthing else?

Also, how would a flexing wing work with the f-duct implemented? Must provide a few headaches surely...

[Cocles]

He clearly stated that his setup choices could explain a small gap in Qualy but he expressed his surprise of things happening just on his car again anad again like wheels out of balance in the last two qualies with 40g of imbalance...Again something unheard of in Schumachers career but this is the second time he is putting forward accusations towards the team not doing a proper job or even actively destroying his Qualy efforts..

Oh did he really accuse his team of sabotage?
I can understand that he is not happy with the team as for us it looks like they are doing a pretty bad job. Especially when it comes down to development. They failed to go the f-duct route and they where way to late with adopting the exhaust blown diffusor.
That does clearly not match the high level of work Schumacher is delivering and expecting from the guys around him.

as I wrote ..he stopped short of saying the word sabotage .But he mentioned his discomfort hitting always problems in Qualy.
MGP also has also not been covering themselves in glory in terms of reliability considering Extreme RedBull not suiffering any issues apart from KERS glitches at the beginning of the year.
Schumacher already had 2 tech related dnfs (Monaco and Hungary)..I think that is more than is acceptable for a top team.(Button had 1 team related dnf and a tech related dnf)

Agreed, it's completely unacceptable, especially the tire/wheel issues. Improper balance? Not fully attaching the wheel-nut? Good grief. It'd be interesting see if someone gets canned for this. At the very least it seems to have finally, recently gone away <knocks on wood>.

[Ferraripilot]

Apparently Nico was in Maranello the week before India. Ferrari is interested and I bet Nico wants big money to stay with MB and that is where the hold up is in extending Nico's contract with MB. Ferrari will fork out the cash, pay Massa his contract and then dump him and I could see MB picking up Massa even though they would be better off in nabbing DiResta and letting Massa go to some other team altogether.

[ESPImperium]

If Nico was in Maranello, id recon that Mercedes would want to pick up Di Resta, as i think Ferrari would just let Massa drift off into LMP or GT racing as i think they would want him to. Id also recon this could be the way Ferrari would also want to take Smedley out of the equasion as well as i think they would like to get rid of Smedley as well.

Im not paying much attention to this rumor as Nico has got a €12m deal with Mercedes for 2012 and im not sure if Ferrari would want to pay Massa his €15m, pay off Mercedes the €12m and pay Nico arround €15m as well as Ferrari have a estimated budget of €300m next year, down from the €400m this year.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I think there maybe a bit more to it. Brawn rates Sam Bird highly, and Di Resta, while being a Mercedes protege, has another contract for next year at FI.
And Ferrari would have to also break Rosbergs contract for 2012, along with having to pay Massa off.

The domino effect would have taken place by this time(November).

The Rosberg thing will be for 2013 IMO

[ESPImperium]

Ive always been under the illusion that Webber is to go to Ferrari for 2013 and 2014 as Alonso has made it clear this is who he wants till Perez and Bianchi prove themselvs in a lower down car for at least 2 or 3 seasons simmilar to the way he did at Minardi. But we know what Alonso is like with a young hotshot fresh from the lower formula beside him i guess.

Ive just started my 2012 data sheets today and ill put it this way, there are 12 seats for 2012 ready to be filled.

[xpensive]

I actually believe that even Maranello is marketing-concious when it comes to their driver's nationalities,
where Germany is a far more important market for Ferrari than Australia, at least the way I understand things?

I think Rosberg would be an xcellent sidekick for Alonso, fast enough not to embarrass himself, but not too fast.

[Gerhard Berger]

Ive always been under the illusion that Webber is to go to Ferrari for 2013 and 2014 as Alonso has made it clear this is who he wants till Perez and Bianchi prove themselvs in a lower down car for at least 2 or 3 seasons simmilar to the way he did at Minardi. But we know what Alonso is like with a young hotshot fresh from the lower formula beside him i guess.

Ive just started my 2012 data sheets today and ill put it this way, there are 12 seats for 2012 ready to be filled.

I don't think it is up to Alonso.

[mep]

Schumacher already had 2 tech related dnfs (Monaco and Hungary)..I think that is more than is acceptable for a top team.(Button had 1 team related dnf and a tech related dnf)

True these days it is.
Thats how Schumacher got some of his titles from.
The pure stupidity of McLaren and Mercedes to be unable to make their cars reliable.
Its not even that they are unreliable often it was very simple thinks which could be prevented when people pay more attention what they do.
Its strange that Schumacher has choosen this team for his comeback.

[Ferraripilot]

If Nico was in Maranello, id recon that Mercedes would want to pick up Di Resta, as i think Ferrari would just let Massa drift off into LMP or GT racing as i think they would want him to. Id also recon this could be the way Ferrari would also want to take Smedley out of the equasion as well as i think they would like to get rid of Smedley as well.

Im not paying much attention to this rumor as Nico has got a €12m deal with Mercedes for 2012 and im not sure if Ferrari would want to pay Massa his €15m, pay off Mercedes the €12m and pay Nico arround €15m as well as Ferrari have a estimated budget of €300m next year, down from the €400m this year.

Nico has an escape clause in his MB contract. I'm not sure under what conditions that must be met, but it is there and we all know how much we like loopholes on F1. If Nico can get out of the contract at MB, I bet Ferrari picks him up and pays off Massa. I believe they are just THAT tired of Massa

[marcush.]

maybe a straight Massa /Rosberg swap could avoid both teams having to fork out huge payout amounts?
MGP still could look how Massa settles in .After all Massa really came good only after he had Schumacher at his side ,Schumacher was very present in the pits and at the pitwall after his retirement and Kimi sure did not give a s..t about him....So it could well put Massa back on the rails...and we all know he came damn close to winning the championship so he has or at least had it.

[Cocles]

Its strange that Schumacher has choosen this team for his comeback.

I wouldn't say it's strange.

The narrative is exciting if you're German. The greatest German works team in the history of Grand Prix racing goes into self-imposed exile after being part of the worst motor racing accident of all time. After testing the water, they're finally back after over half a century as a Grand Prix works team. "Hey Michael, how would you like to come and make Mercedes great again?" As a German driver, it'd be tough not to answer that call... especially coming from one of your best-friends in the sport.

Also, don't forget that Schumacher got his start with Mercedes. His first drive in F1, 20 years ago at Spa, was to give him track time in preparation to have him drive for the new Mercedes works team everyone thought was going to be formed back then.

[Ferraripilot]

Its strange that Schumacher has choosen this team for his comeback.

I wouldn't say it's strange.

The narrative is exciting if you're German. The greatest German works team in the history of Grand Prix racing goes into self-imposed exile after being part of the worst motor racing accident of all time. After testing the water, they're finally back after over half a century as a Grand Prix works team. "Hey Michael, how would you like to come and make Mercedes great again?" As a German driver, it'd be tough not to answer that call... especially coming from one of your best-friends in the sport.

Also, don't forget that Schumacher got his start with Mercedes. His first drive in F1, 20 years ago at Spa, was to give him track time in preparation to have him drive for the new Mercedes works team everyone thought was going to be formed back then.

+1 exactly. A MB works team comeback is the only team he would have come back for. It's legendary meets legendary. You cannot script stuff this good.

[Hemsy]

Its strange that Schumacher has choosen this team for his comeback.

I wouldn't say it's strange.

The narrative is exciting if you're German. The greatest German works team in the history of Grand Prix racing goes into self-imposed exile after being part of the worst motor racing accident of all time. After testing the water, they're finally back after over half a century as a Grand Prix works team. "Hey Michael, how would you like to come and make Mercedes great again?" As a German driver, it'd be tough not to answer that call... especially coming from one of your best-friends in the sport.

Also, don't forget that Schumacher got his start with Mercedes. His first drive in F1, 20 years ago at Spa, was to give him track time in preparation to have him drive for the new Mercedes works team everyone thought was going to be formed back then.

+1 exactly. A MB works team comeback is the only team he would have come back for. It's legendary meets legendary. You cannot script stuff this good.

Plus Michael would only race for team that could provide him with a car capable of fighting for the championship. Even in 2006 he said that if Ferrari failed to provide him with a winning car then he would not have the motivation to continue. Not to mention that teaming up with Ross Brawn once again was an offer he simply could not refuse.

[raymondu999]

Didn't Michael once even say he mightt move to McLaren? It's rather fuzzy in my head though