Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 Team 2013

[diego1960]

I don't think anyone wants to hear more words/statements/announcements from Brawn. It's time for actions and fulfillment of promises made in the previous years, and he has failed miserably in that. Norby already got canned, Ross to follow?

And no, I don't believe that he would be useful in McLaren. The team needs to move forward, not hire a 60 year old guy who has retirement at the back of his mind. They need a younger, more determined and more energetic man to help them replace Red-Bull at the top of the sport, and most certainly, Brawn is not that man.

Now at Mercedes, there are really too many "cooks" and someone needs to go. That is unless they truly have 2 different teams working on W04 and W05 but then again, who is going to be in charge of whom? If Paddy Lowe really signs for Merc, what is his role going to be? What about Elliot? Willis? I don't know who is responsible for the hirings/firings of the team but they have a lot of work to do to make this hierarchy work.

[wunderkind]

Toto Wolff is playing a high stakes game here. He is running the risk of antagonizing the entire senior staff of the Mercedes-AMG F1 Team with his actions before he even sets foot at Brackley. He should have known that news of talks between him and Paddy Lowe would leak out in the German press because the suits in Stuttgart don't have a good grasp of F1 and they often talk to their Press and motor racing contacts for their views.

Brawn is clearly speaking out and marking his territory. His reported remarks of "I'm the Team Principal and hence I'm responsible for the sporting, technical, and racing matters" is a clear warning at Toto and Niki. Brawn and his technical leadership team has to begin to deliver results this season, not 2014.

If Brawn delivers results, then his position will be safe and Toto will be relegated to play a ceremonial Head of Motorsports for Mercedes Benz even though he owns 30% of the team.

If Toto really wants to do something great, he should try his hands on fixing the Mercedes DTM program and put in place a credible young driver program. The inability of the Mercedes DTM teams to attract and develop talented young drivers is truly worrying. The loss of the 2012 title to BMW was a crushing blow that cannot be repeated.

[Richard]

TD silly season is in several team threads. For simplicity lets carry on in one place

http://www.f1technical.net/forum/viewto ... =1&t=14572

[FW17]

Ross is just too cool about the failure of the past 3 years for which as the team principal was responsible for sporting, technical and racing matters.

One guy responsible for the embarrassment of a multi billion dollar manufacturer and all brits are up in arms defending his position.

[clipsy1H]

"I'm still the boss" .
http://www.crash.net/f1/news/187482/1/b ... _boss.html

now i know why Mercedes didn't post any clue about w04... Ross is to busy in this period probably Mr. Z want a new fresh-man

[kris]

I see shades of how schumacher was handled in this again.
One doesn't want to commit for long term as he would rather wait and see, they have somebody in hand just in case. Until they decide that the just in case was better than the one they have in hand. The saga continues..

[SaveMeHollywood]

There is more truth to that than you think:

James Allen:

News has surfaced in recent days of a plan formed by Mercedes F1′s non-executive chairman Niki Lauda and Mercedes’ new head of motorsport Toto Wolff for McLaren technical director Paddy Lowe to come in to head the technical side of the team. Brawn said that this is because he is being asked for a long term commitment from parent company Daimler, but is currently unable to give it.

Brawn is excited by the challenge of the new 2014 rules and knows that Mercedes is putting all the pieces in place to have a crack at the world title. He is also excited by working with one of the fastest drivers in the sport. But he clearly has doubts about the effect Lauda is going to have on the project he has been developing at Mercedes and wants to keep his options open about the future.

But things do seem to be happening on the hoof with Mercedes; Toto Wolff said on Tuesday that his appointment came about “in the last two weeks”; Paddy Lowe had already been talking about a move to Williams when Wolff was there and this has now morphed into a Mercedes plan. There are a number of people whose purposes it would suit for the plan regarding Lowe to become public for various reasons. Brawn said he is disappointed it has as it means a distraction for his staff just when he wants them focused on preparations for the season about to unfold.

Source: http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2013/01/b ... ent-700960

It's "Schumacher Leaving" all over again.

[FoxHound]

I see shades of how schumacher was handled in this again.
One doesn't want to commit for long term as he would rather wait and see, they have somebody in hand just in case. Until they decide that the just in case was better than the one they have in hand. The saga continues..

That is how any prudent team would deal with the situation. If Brawn is non-committal, why should the team not look for anyone else? If they don't sound out replacements now, and Brawn left 12 months down the line, any replacement would be a knee-jerk reaction.
By ascertaining candidates, you leave yourself in a more secure position.

Even if we look at Schumacher, Mercedes are arguably left with a better driver in his prime compared to one who is past his former best. And yet it is Schumacher who allowed his contract lapse to happen. Brawn would be well advised to commit or leave if he does have such clauses. The pressure on him is immense, and I think if the W04 is a dog(ie not top4/5 material) out of the box, he will be gone before June.
If however it is quick and challenging for podiums, we could see the commitment from Brawn.

It is also interesting that the story of Lowe leaving McLaren came from Eddie Jordan, close friend to Bernard Ecclestone. Apparently Bernie crossed swords with Brawn last year of the concorde agreement. To the point where Bernie stipulated he didn't want to "deal with a middle man", referring to Brawn and wanting instead to deal with Stuttgart.
This story has come out now with almost Machiavellian timing. It has Bernie's fingerprints all over it, and is a precursory shot across the bows. Today there is also a story of Bernie saying Mercedes must perform this year, as the excuses have dried up. I agree with him, but the timing again, is impeccable.

[stefan_]

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gDIvct7YRYw[/youtube]

[Cocles]

Within that video,Hamilton says that the W04 is an evolution of the W03. A couple months ago though, had Lauda saying that the W04 would be an all new car. One of them is obviously wrong. Personally, I hope they do away with the BGP-01 bloodline, which has been lame ever since it lost its DD.

Who knows though. I trust Costa to decide what is the best approach for 2013. Perhaps the entire back half will be a ground up redesign, with the front being more of an evolution.

[Mika1]

We will know soon, but AMuS reported they would introduce an extra small gearbox, rbr-style side pods and coanda exhaust solution.

[diego1960]

We've heard similar things over the past 3 years only to find out that this wasn't the case or that the updates (coanda for example) don't work as they are supposed to. I only believe the gearbox part, as it has been heard long ago from various sources that they try to make a lighter and slimmer one. It's impact however or it's ability to endure will only be witnessed after the first races.

[PlatinumZealot]

It seems HAM has developed a very close relationship with Ross. Is it normal for drivers to have father-son relationships with the principal?

[Shakeman]

It seems HAM has developed a very close relationship with Ross. Is it normal for drivers to have father-son relationships with the principal?

How is it a father-son relationship?

How is it not two people with mutual respect for each other's talent wanting to work together for a shared goal?

[FW17]

How many fathers does a HAM need?