Mercedes GP - Inauguration and 1st season

[noname]

So let's hope that Gascoyne's Lotus will be dark green, right mx?

Isn't Lotus supposed to be a Malaysian team?

few years back, at the time when jaguar was present on the grid, study was done leading to conclusion dark cars get lower visibility in TV coverages.

I think that could be the reason jaguars had more and more white areas on their bodywork.

[tarzoon]

Well, the mercs can still paint the front and rear wings in black to give their sponsors some colouring alternatives.

Lotus could be in a modified british racing green with a cool and flashy yellow stripe.

or maybe a black and gold paintwork [-o< [-o<

[xpensive]

So let's hope that Gascoyne's Lotus will be dark green, right mx?

Isn't Lotus supposed to be a Malaysian team?

It is indeed Malaysian owned, but they still elect to call it "Lotus F1 Team". Probably because they want to market the Lotus road cars, which is owned by Malaysian car manufacturer Proton, but still sports "British racing green" on the logo.

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

[Pandamasque]

Lotus could be in a modified british racing green with a cool and flashy yellow stripe.

It doesn't get more Lotusey than this:


It's funny that the latest racecar by THE Lotus (the real one from Norfolk) looks like it's designed for Brawn

[Raptor22]

I have just heard that Michael Schumacher is to be released from his Ferrari contract.
The rumour mill says he is heading for an FIA position.

Or is he heading toward the Silver Arrows....?

[xpensive]

I have just heard that Michael Schumacher is to be released from his Ferrari contract.
The rumour mill says he is heading for an FIA position.

Or is he heading toward the Silver Arrows....?

And Montezemolo to quit FOTA-Presidency to focus on Ferrari, related to the above perhaps?

[WhiteBlue]

I have just heard that Michael Schumacher is to be released from his Ferrari contract.
The rumour mill says he is heading for an FIA position.

Or is he heading toward the Silver Arrows....?

FIA is the likely thing considering Jean Todt's comments. There are several cons to a Merc driver job:

• he knows he is not as fast as he used to be
• he would hate the level of exercise and work for a longer period like two years
• he wants to stay with Ferrari as an ambassador (or prez after Monte)

Other than that I see no obstacle, except I would have to do all my stuff in silver.

At the FIA he can rely on Todt to give him a custom made job totally tailored to his needs. BTW, I did not see him on the pics of the Ferrari days from the weekend.

[Raptor22]

possibly related. Seems theres a bit of org restructuring going on.

Montezemolo needs to be palying it up with the shareholders after his little mid season campaigning for FOTA. Ferrari just had a decent year but all indicationsare that next year wont be as good...

Also theres a very real threat looming in McLAren MP4-12C and Porsche having been bought out by VW and will not focus on sportscars and not the silly lucrative projects like SUV's and family cars (what was Wiederkring thinking).
Ferrari needs a bit of focus with these threats emerging.

Schumcher on the other hand has made mention that he could return to F1.
In past interviewws he has mentioned that his contract was always with Mercedes Benz to race for a Works F1 team. He so nearly ended up in a Sauber Mercedes in 1993 buyt Merc pulled the plug on the programme so the SAuber raced as a Sauber Ilmor (Concept by Mercedes)
Perhaps he is heading there to provide the thank yo he promised Mercedes over a decadeg ago?

Pure speculation of course but crazier things have happened

[xpensive]

The publicity and kudos Mercedes would gain from securing the services of Schumacher is difficult to overestimate.

Good timing with the SLS, eh WB?

[axle]

MS's announcement was that he wasn't going to be so involved in the F1 team...but he is involved in the road car development side still. He's chosen to hone production Ferrari's.

[WhiteBlue]

The publicity and kudos Mercedes would gain from securing the services of Schumacher is difficult to overestimate.

Schumacher is immensely popular in Germany. Merc basically lost him due to Dennis's clumsiness. They did not know how to approach him. Haug must have rued this for years considering that they paved his way into the Jordan. Merc was basically considered a suspender type brand for 50+ aged people. They made a big impact abroad with the F1 investment but it never translated properly in Germany because Schumacher wasn't in the car. I still don't think Merc are now going for Schumi. They will pull out all stops to get Vettel. I don't know how Dietrich would react to free engines for RBR and STR for 5 years and Rosberg in exchange. Rosberg loves marketing and acting. His mother is an ex model. When he is finished with driving he could be going for a second career in movies.

Good timing with the SLS, eh WB?

If you think the release for sale and the MercGP announcement were coincidence you are wrong. It is one campaign. The shipments will start with the begin of the F1 season. Expect them as F1 safety car with the begin of the European season latest.

[tarzoon]

So Merc should be searching for popular drivers for the Brawn line up...

Is there any chance of Vettel joining the team? I'm not German, but it's easy to assume he's a popular guy and with Mercedes backing him up, he will be great. Besides, budget wouldn't be a problem -- think of expensive players in Real Madrid, they all generate incredible profits in jerseys alone.

[WhiteBlue]

Vettel has signed with Red Bull until 2012. So Merc would have to buy him out from a guy who is billionaire. Of course Vettel can be more effective for Merc in Germany than he can be for Red Bull.

[tarzoon]

If it's anything like football, there's a price for everything. In their place, I would have my accountants calculating all the alternatives.

[Slife]

I like that livery posted on the article talking about Merc buying Brawn.