Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2013

[FoxHound]

Brawn and Fry made sure potential buyers did not take the bait in 2008 and so Brawn offered to "buy" the lot for the odd 1$ or was it pounds sterling?

Can you provide evidence of this for us please?

Because as I understand it, Brawn was offered the team by Honda who wanted to get rid of their 300 million a year white elephant. It was an almost overnight decision from the HQ in Minato, Tokyo.
The company was bleeding billions.....
Anyway.....Brawn had a choice, and could have walked away leaving the team to fold.
Can you list me the potential investors? (plural, as you mentioned "buyers" meaning more than one).

Honda had to throw another 100mill into the moneygrave to rid themselves from that disaster making Brawn and Fry rich men

Can you provide us evidence of this please?

As I understand it, Honda did not have a budget set for 2009. They had no liquid cash to keep the team running as a concern.
Therefore, this was a payment in kind to ensure the team survived until backers could be found.

All of the directors in fact got £8.7m from the team. This includes Brawn and Fry but also Nigel Kerr, John Marsden, Caroline McGrory and Gordon Blair.
The latter 4 all resigned upon getting severance so as to keep the ship steady.
Brawn got 4.7 of the 8.7 million and the rest was split.

After this we have the layoffs.
Circa 200 people immediately at the team, the engine dept was pretty much shutdown overnight. Then slowly staff left as the team streamlined to accomadate leaner times.
The teams overall expenditure was cut from 200 million(without engines) to around 110 million.

But to guarantee survival, the team needed further investment as a 2010 car needed developing. The remaining directors(Brawn and Fry) did also in fact loan 3.4 million back to the team to help with paying suppliers and wages.
This is where Bernie stepped in and advanced the team a CVC payment.

The filings for 2009 show 98 million was made. Mercedes AABAR made their move on the 24th of december and purchased 75.1% of the team with 24.9% remaining to Fry and Brawn.

There was a dividend shared from the profit, which was £20 million.
Mercedes buying the team meant they got 15 million back instantly, with Brawn and Fry retaining 5 million.

It is also worth noting that Brawn GP would probably not have survived in its current state for another year.

Did Brawn make a bucket load of cash by selling?
Yes.

Was he underhand in any way? Did he con his way into obtaining the team? Nowhere have I read that.
I understand he personally addressed each and every person the day Honda withdrew.
The team was in no way guaranteed survival and cuts needed to be made to keep the team running.
Brawn could have left with his severance.....

save the little fact Brawn won titles with what should have been the 2009 Honda

What exactly are you suggesting? It was Brawns fault Honda left, and by defacto the titles should rest with Honda?
Yea....I think not. And I do love Honda, but they made their decision before anyone could see the BGP001.

but as a Honda the diffusser story would have had a different ending

Oh dear. This old story again.

I tend to believe Honda is a bit miffed about the ongoings of 2008/2009....

With themselves yes.
With Brawn? No reason to be miffed with Brawn he did nothing wrong.

I just feel your post is trying to slam a guy who actually could've walked away and let the team crash and burn and be used as a tool for venture capital firms such as what is happening with Lotus and Genii capital.
They are in F1 to make money. That is their sole purpose.
Can you say that of Brawn?

[astracrazy]

i think the tears from Brawn at the end of 2009 when they won the title and immediately thanking all the staff he had to let go showed for me he was never in it for the money.

[FoxHound]

From 2:02 onwards....

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=n0CRb2FZFZY[/youtube]

[dren]

Brawn and Fry made sure potential buyers did not take the bait in 2008 and so Brawn offered to "buy" the lot for the odd 1$ or was it pounds sterling? anyways -Honda had to throw another 100mill into the moneygrave to rid themselves from that disaster making Brawn and Fry rich men .I have no idea why Honda should be hot to get him back on board -save the little fact Brawn won titles with what should have been the 2009 Honda..But as a Honda the diffusser story would have had a different ending ....
I tend to believe Honda is a bit miffed about the ongoings of 2008/2009....

Foxhound already put up a good post. I'd downvote yours if I could. I don't know where you are coming up with this stuff.

If Honda was miffed about the ongoings, Honda would not have sold to Brawn and co. and Honda would not have provided the team with a $100mil operating budget. In the end it was a bitter sweet BrawnGP championship for Honda.

[marcush.]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72543
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/d ... dit-crunch

from day 1 Fry openly admitted his interest in taking over the team..so my claim is far from being alien.....Fry agitated to get SA closed down a year before to use the recources for the 2009 car....
It does not take too much imagination to get the whole plot ...Brawn wanted to harvest the considerable effort put into the 2009 season preparation .

Every other buyer would surely not have retained the old kings or served them a platter of gold....The whole thing was always going to be a sale to Daimler ...

Everyone would cry when all things you dreamed up fall into place.....it was jackpot for Brawn and Fry as the miracle really panned out as planned...

Considering Slim and possibly other potent buyers were around I´m not sure if the solution Brawn GP really was the economically most sensible one...but feel free to ignore the possibility of Honda having second thoughts about how things went at the end of 2008 ....
for that downvote -you´re welcome ...one day it just had to happen ...

[FoxHound]

Marcush,

If you where Honda, and there where "interested parties",
What would your concerns be when selling the team?

The reason I ask is because there are many factors involved.
Not least the amount of vultures looking to strip the team bare and sell it's slot on the grid.

The last thing honda wanted was to kill the team, they wanted as clean an exit as possible.
The offers given to the team fell short of what honda where prepared to accept.
Their best option was to palm it off to Brawn, who would try keep the team running.
They even gave him 100 million to keep it going.

This tells you everything about the "interested parties".
Brawn was the right option then, as today the team are in the top 3.
And, as an aside, Honda left with its honour intact.

How else do you explain Honda selling the team for a dollar and giving 100 million to ensure its survival for at least 1 season?
Did brawn and fry hold honda to ransom? Is this your suggestion?

[FoxHound]

I forgot to add IP to those concerns.

Spend 300 million and get asset stripped with other teams gaining from Honda intellectual property?
I may be wrong, but I don't see honda as that sort of company.

[xpensive]

Brawn and Fry made sure potential buyers did not take the bait in 2008 and so Brawn offered to "buy" the lot for the odd 1$ or was it pounds sterling? anyways -Honda had to throw another 100mill into the moneygrave to rid themselves from that disaster making Brawn and Fry rich men .I have no idea why Honda should be hot to get him back on board -save the little fact Brawn won titles with what should have been the 2009 Honda..But as a Honda the diffusser story would have had a different ending ....
I tend to believe Honda is a bit miffed about the ongoings of 2008/2009....

Xactly so marcush,had honda presented a car with that diffuser, the FIA had banned it on the spot. The key was obviously Ross' pre-arrangement with MrM that he would personally declare it legal as soon it saw the light of day, CW was not even consulted.

[GitanesBlondes]

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/72543
http://www.theguardian.com/sport/2008/d ... dit-crunch

from day 1 Fry openly admitted his interest in taking over the team..so my claim is far from being alien.....Fry agitated to get SA closed down a year before to use the recources for the 2009 car....
It does not take too much imagination to get the whole plot ...Brawn wanted to harvest the considerable effort put into the 2009 season preparation .

Every other buyer would surely not have retained the old kings or served them a platter of gold....The whole thing was always going to be a sale to Daimler ...

Everyone would cry when all things you dreamed up fall into place.....it was jackpot for Brawn and Fry as the miracle really panned out as planned...

Considering Slim and possibly other potent buyers were around I´m not sure if the solution Brawn GP really was the economically most sensible one...but feel free to ignore the possibility of Honda having second thoughts about how things went at the end of 2008 ....
for that downvote -you´re welcome ...one day it just had to happen ...

Dave Richards and the Virgin Group were also prospective buyers.

[FoxHound]

Dave richards buys Honda gp, and strips it bare to relocate to banbury.
Along the way, he uses iP honda funded to use against honda in series honda compete in.

Save the fact his operation was ready to go in 2009, awaiting fia approval, how many people would have lost their jobs at Brackley?

As for virgin, where exactly are they now?
They sold out.

The examples given are clear indications of why brawn was the best option for honda.

[GitanesBlondes]

Dave richards buys Honda gp, and strips it bare to relocate to banbury.
Along the way, he uses iP honda funded to use against honda in series honda compete in.

Save the fact his operation was ready to go in 2009, awaiting fia approval, how many people would have lost their jobs at Brackley?

As for virgin, where exactly are they now?
They sold out.

The examples given are clear indications of why brawn was the best option for honda.

Would Richards have definitely relocated to Banbury?

Regarding Virgin, they are in the same place Brawn GP is; sold out.

Not sure what the difference here really is if both sold out, yet remain in F1.

[FoxHound]

Brawn sold to guarantee the teams survival.
The point of the honda handover was always to ensure the team survived.

What could prodrive offer brackley?

Was their idea to upsticks from Banbury to Brackley?
Think of the logistics involved in that.
At some point, either 500 people at Brackley or 500 people at Banbury are facing the sack.

Prodrive could not afford to run them separately or together.

If your opinion is centred on prodrive having the better means of handling the team, with no company history of ever being in F1, then ok, that's your entitlement.

My opinion in the matter here is the Brawn buyout was and still is by far the better option for both prodrive and the employees retained by Brawn.

[FoxHound]

Virgin entered a new team. It was their decision to enter.
Brawn was in a totally different place to the virgin situation.

[GitanesBlondes]

Brawn sold to guarantee the teams survival.
The point of the honda handover was always to ensure the team survived.

What could prodrive offer brackley?

Was their idea to upsticks from Banbury to Brackley?
Think of the logistics involved in that.
At some point, either 500 people at Brackley or 500 people at Banbury are facing the sack.

Prodrive could not afford to run them separately or together.

If your opinion is centred on prodrive having the better means of handling the team, with no company history of ever being in F1, then ok, that's your entitlement.

My opinion in the matter here is the Brawn buyout was and still is by far the better option for both prodrive and the employees retained by Brawn.

Didn't Richards and Pro Drive run BAR for BAT years ago before they sold to Honda?

[FoxHound]

Oh it was prodrive that ran the operation from Banbury was it?