Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2013

[Mika1]

Spot on Foxhound. It's a good thing to use sources instead of (negative) speculating.

[marcush.]

Ross Brawn speaks to David Tremayne -December 2012 GP international:
Why Lewis really joined Mercedes interview:

It´s important how it all works -Brawn explains.Mike runs the aero group.and there is a a vehicle dynamics group and a systems group above that sits Geoff willis who makes sure they all are talking to each other efficiently and effectively and gives them a nudge if necessary
then on the other side we have a design group the transmission group the r&D group and they answer to Aldo costa.who makes sure all that functions properly

GEOFF AND ALDO report to Bob Bell who is the overall TECHNICAL DIRECTOR ......and on and on ..read december GP international mag .
I really only bought it to understand the MGP structure I have to admit as this seems to be the first time the xplanation does make any sense.
Clearly Bell is overseeing the while technical side including recources technical and human where Willis is executing those general directions on the engineering side and costa oversees the actual car design .
Logically willis will be very much involved in 2014s car layout and gestatation at this point as they work on concepts and general architecture not detaildesign at this point .

I´m pretty sure the thing printed on Formula1.com was a misunderstanding or wrong transcript
only.http://www.gpinternational.com/index.ph ... &Itemid=89
http://issuu.com/brightpublishing/docs/gpi_sampler

unfortunatelly the interview is not available online..

[FoxHound]

Marcush,

It is my view that they are reporting on what they "think" the structure is. It is not as accurate as Brawn telling you exactly what Bob Bell does.
I don't think the validity of the story or it's contents is misinterpreted either.

Q: Whose choice was Lewis?

RB: Well, we knew that Michael’s contract was coming up for disunion at the end of this year – and knowing that you start to look around at what the situation is. Lewis’s contract was coming up as well at the end of the year, so we had some interest from Lewis’s management last Christmas and it really went from there. Everybody who was involved was able to contribute to convincing Lewis that Mercedes is the team to join – and we all worked on it. A driver as professional as Lewis looks at all the aspects: what the engineering team is like, what the budget is like, what potential there is for the future, as 2014 will be a massive change – and we believe that we are very well placed for 2014. I have spent time with Lewis, Bob Bell from our engine group spent time with Lewis – so we all spent time with him to convince him to make the right move

This is clear what Brawn feels Bob Bell is responsible for.
I will get official confirmation either way very shortly.

[gato azul]

Marcush,

It is my view that they are reporting on what they "think" the structure is. It is not as accurate as Brawn telling you exactly what Bob Bell does.
This is clear what Brawn feels Bob Bell is responsible for.

well, the same Ross Brawn on the official team website had to say this:

Ross Brawn, Team Principal of MERCEDES GP PETRONAS, commented: “We are delighted to welcome Bob to the MERCEDES GP PETRONAS team in the position of Technical Director.
......
MERCEDES GP PETRONAS is pleased to announce the appointment of Bob Bell in the position of Technical Director with effect from 1 April 2011, further strengthening the team’s engineering expertise.

Reporting to Team Principal Ross Brawn, Bob’s role will primarily be based at the team’s factory in Brackley with overall responsibility for the technical operations of the chassis group. Bob’s appointment will allow Ross Brawn greater freedom to oversee the full programe between the team’s chassis group in Brackley and the engine group at Mercedes-Benz HighPerformanceEngines in Brixworth

http://www.mercedes-amg-f1.com/en/#/s/n ... l-director

But then, maybe they got that wrong too, and nobody really knows what he is actually doing, and they will be looking for a new TD to be announced soon.
Both man should "feel" that they both have not done a stellar job so far.
Haug at least, has stopped beating around the bush, and come up with more excuses. He assumed responsibility for the failure to achieve the objectives set out. Everybody knows what the score was, and that they have fallen short.
Things didn't work out they way they were meant to work, there are no two ways about this.
Being made TD in 2011, places the 2012 car squarely under Bell's watch, and after showing some promise and/or had some things coming his way, it lost touch again with the leaders, and some other cars, not only the Red Bulls.

[FoxHound]

@Gato

Well I had a look at the date of the news story you kindly provided...18.02.2011

Things have since changed, and the source I have provided was on the news that they had signed Hamilton in late september 2012.
I'm certain Bell was TD, and probably has some responsibilities to go along with that title.

But, it is no secret Mercedes are looking to further integrate Brackley with Brixworth ahead of the V6 turbo introduction.
Further to this, Mercedes have had serious issues implementing Coanda. They were late to the party, and where carrying 20 odd Kgs more fuel than before.
Hence why the team switched back and forth between the 2 systems.

From AMuS and Autosport it was reported that the system itself works well, and they can see the difference. But once the excess fuel is put on board, it simply does not show benefits over a race distance.

With Brawn suggesting that Bell is now part of the engine group, it was all part of the technical reshuffle that occurred in July, after or during the windtunnel upgrade.
http://www.yallaf1.com/2012/07/31/merce ... ical-team/

The original article is from Autosprint(italian).

[gato azul]

O.K. - So according to the autosprint article Costa,Willis & Bell are on their way out then?

Who ,in your opinion, will take full responsibility for the 2013 car?

Will it be, oh when Owen took over, the car was already half done, we can only judge him on the 2014 car - if he keeps
his job until then?
At one point, someone will have to get the job done, don't you think?
Time and patience is not in endless supply, not even in Stuttgart at Daimler, where they have the "steady hand" approach most of the time.

If this design (2013) flops, whos head is on the block or if it wins the WDC/WCC who is the new mesias?

If they have moved Bell aside and named Owen TD, then that's quite a downgrade for Bell.
Going from TD to engine integration, which is normally a temporary/junior role anyway, is quite a step down.
What will happen to this position, when the 2014 powertrain is done, and the basic architecture is not going to change much for the coming years?
A similar question would be, what is Willis doing, when the windtunnel update is done? In your opinion.

That may very well be possible and true, but what does this says about the guy/people who gave him the TD job in the first place? That would be the admission, that he was the wrong guy for the TD job, don't you think?
Otherwise, why would you move him out of this position again, after a bit more then a year. Try & error approach?

Anyway that does not take away the fact, that he was TD in 2011/2012 and oversaw the 2012 car, he was then, if the article is true, replaced midseason with Ownen.

[gato azul]

and just to go along, if this rumor has some legs ( I highly doubt it, but I could be wrong and the Austrian mafia taking over MGP)

...And Gerhard Berger being linked with the role of Mercedes Motorsport boss.

http://paddocktalk.com/news/html/story-212112.html

then we are maybe in for some more upheave and yet another restructuring.

Berger hat the following to say at the time of the Costa/Willis anouncement.

Former F1 winner, joint BMW motor sport director and Toro Rosso co-owner Berger questioned the appointments, which are the latest in a recruitment push by the works Mercedes team.

“It looks to me as though Mercedes are shooting with a shotgun in the hope of landing a hit,” the Austrian told Auto Bild Motorsport.

http://www.yallaf1.com/2011/10/03/merce ... s-slammed/

[Raptor22]

In Aldo Costa we trust!

Yup, maybe he'll design a car that doesn't eat its tires!

yep.. he's good at that - F2007 was his baby - that didn't do too bad in the blistering heat

THe F2007 was Rory Byrne's baby. He handed it over to Costa.
The F2008 was a Byrne/Costa collaboration while Byrne was "consulting" to the Scuderia

[Raptor22]

It really doesn't matter who is TD or how they reshuffle. The GP team is reporting to a board and not a single individual. There is too much noise and influence from the politics.

RedBUll learned something from JEan TOdt about managing a F1 team in a political environment. Give one the responsibility.
Large Corporate auto's like Merc will never adopt this structure because it reduces the political power of the individuals on the board over the team and the money. Todt had a very hard sell to Ferrari after he joined. It took him 3 years to get them to see the world from his eyes and by then 20 yrs without a championship lead to desperation to try anything.

2013 will be another spectacular failure for Mercedes unfortunately. No organisation that is constantly restructuring can ever prosper.

[FoxHound]

O.K. - So according to the autosprint article Costa,Willis & Bell are on their way out then?

Gato,

It was presented as a news story, and the bit about Mercedes and the 3 big names leaving was the authors own opinion.
The presented a fact(restructuring) and offered an opinion(Bell, Willis, Costa out).

Who ,in your opinion, will take full responsibility for the 2013 car?

Costa, as his name will be on it.

this design (2013) flops, whos head is on the block or if it wins the WDC/WCC who is the new mesias?.

This is the problem I have. If Bell was in charge as TD for about 12 months under which the w03 was developed for the majority of his tenure, why should Bell's "head be on the block"?
We know he is a competent individual.

If we apply this logic to Mercedes they would have to sack key individuals almost annually. And this will never work. In the comparison's I made with Red Bull this was this stand out fact.
When things went tough or backward...no one at the top was fired.

Blame culture
It is a set of attitudes, within a business or organization, characterized by an unwillingness to take risks or accept responsibility for mistakes because of a fear of criticism or prosecution.

If you think this is the way Mercedes should move forward then our conversation is over effective immediately.

[marcush.]

When exactly did Lewis join MGP? Tremaine< INTERVIEWED Brawn and his words were printed as Quotes ,mate. so I belive the GPInternational interview is the most up to date thing we can get hold of .
sorry guys if you decide to stick to some fata morgana you have created in your brains then I´m out.

[FoxHound]

It's Fata Morgana?

When I produced a quote from Formula1.com of Brawn saying what it is Bell is doing?
Believe what you will Marcush, but please can you stop calling for heads or at least intimating for heads to roll?

It's counter productive and doesn't help anyone here.

[marcush.]

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

That´s the guy who interviewed Ross Brawn in december ....i think he could be considered trustworthy,don´t you think so ? Why would you consider my input as counter productive ?Are we considered responsible to produce the results for MGP ,maybe?

[FoxHound]

Never mind marcush, you missed my point by miles. Pulling up a journo's credentials from wikipedia is a bit of a self fulfilling to say the least. You do realise that Mr Tremayne can log on to wikipedia and call himself the messiah, do you not Marcush?
That is not to say he does a bad job, because he doesn't.

But you brought up an accusation that Bell was responsible for the W03, and I'm telling you he is not. Bigois was responsible for penning the W03.
Bell according to Brawn and Formula1.com is responsible for engines within the team. That's far more offiical.
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 13964.html

Bigois is gone(surely this should appease your lust for blood).
Haug is gone(more blood)

And still you want to put the blame at Bell's door? Do you want him to be sacked? Are you saying he is (that word again..)incompetant?

Keep throwing mud at the team if it helps you sleep better at night.

[marcush.]

Never mind marcush, you missed my point by miles. Pulling up a journo's credentials from wikipedia is a bit of a self fulfilling to say the least. You do realise that Mr Tremayne can log on to wikipedia and call himself the messiah, do you not Marcush?
That is not to say he does a bad job, because he doesn't.

But you brought up an accusation that Bell was responsible for the W03, and I'm telling you he is not. Bigois was responsible for penning the W03.
Bell according to Brawn and Formula1.com is responsible for engines within the team. That's far more offiical.
http://www.formula1.com/news/interviews ... 13964.html

Bigois is gone(surely this should appease your lust for blood).
Haug is gone(more blood)

And still you want to put the blame at Bell's door? Do you want him to be sacked? Are you saying he is (that word again..)incompetant?

Keep throwing mud at the team if it helps you sleep better at night.

I don´t know why a Formula1.com online publication should be more valuable than a printed interview with the man himself.

Look up MGPs website and you will find Bob Bell as Technical director ,end of story.Even though i have to admit DAI is not quick in updating such things.

I don´t want to have anyone sacked - I just believe in responsibilities and one should stand up for his doings .Respect for Haug .He realised and took his hat(and a suitcase filled with money ,I´d guess).

I´m pretty sure Bell has learned a lesson as well - even if we might never hear what he thought about w03 .