Mercedes GP - Inauguration and 1st season

[WhiteBlue]

40% salary cuts and 250 redundancies achieved with relatively small amount of money. Merc have bought a team that has already made all the adjustments for the resource restriction agreement. All they have to do now is use external contractors to bridge 2009/2010.

[xpensive]

I find the concept of a multinational corporation like Honda giving away hundreds of MUSD worth of investments,
another 120 to run the team for a year, with absolutely no strings attached unfathomable.

If that is the case however, and Ross Brawn and small-Fry can cash in big time with Mercedes now,
I'm more convinced than ever that this entire Brawn-thing was an utter scam from day one.

What if Mercedes was in on this with Honda from the beginning, which would xplain the engines and lack of sponsorship?

[Rob W]

I find the concept of a multinational corporation like Honda giving away hundreds of MUSD worth of investments,
another 120 to run the team for a year, with absolutely no strings attached unfathomable.

We are in agreement. Simply because it's such a daft idea there is zero chance it happened.

[Fil]

I find the concept of a multinational corporation like Honda giving away hundreds of MUSD worth of investments,
another 120 to run the team for a year, with absolutely no strings attached unfathomable.

We are in agreement. Simply because it's such a daft idea there is zero chance it happened.

Does it matter? As a PR exercise, Honda showed how an exit should be performed, BMW a distant 2nd, Toyota (as usual) performed like a backmarker.

Whilst fans on here may care what the truth is, Honda only had to fool its target market around the world; it has done so with absolute success (aided by the rule changes benefiting their team).


My money is on Honda getting a vast share of the on-sale revenue.

[xpensive]

I'm getting more convinced it was actually a three-way deal from the very beginning, which would xplain the Mercedes-engines and lack of sponsorship for 2009.

[Fil]

so ur saying McLaren having right of veto to block the team from getting Mercedes engines, and then right of veto over sponsorship/brand advertising, was all a lie too?

(For Islamatron's peace of mind, this is my opinion)
It'd have to all be intrinsically linked to the MP4-12C, but just a matter of when Mercedes knew of its planned release date. That's the date the couple slept in separate beds.

[xpensive]

One should perhaps be careful with xpressions such as "lie", but most things in this world are negotiable, aren't they?

When separate beds, an anology I like btw, became a fact for Mercedes, I think the rest came rather amicable between all.

[raceman]

might be speculation, but hey Presto, who knows!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... d-job.html

[lebesset]

if it is in the sun , then it probably is not true ; also EJ thinks it will happen which will almost certainly put the kiss of death on it !

pity , would be great to see the old man back against the young turks [ and the not so young ] ; MGP have a real problem , they thought they were screwing button , but he screwed them instead , at his age 8 million for one year was nowhere near as good as 18 million for 3 years ...and at the end of the day if he wants to be champion again he has to beat hamilton wherever he drives , and although I hope and pray that the MGP is competitive next year I don't expect it to be superior to the McLaren

[Fil]

might be speculation, but hey Presto, who knows!!

http://www.thesun.co.uk/sol/homepage/sp ... d-job.html

Eddie Jordan.. and The Sun..?

I'll take that with a pinch of salt.

On second thoughts, i'll have the salt on its own thanks.

[tarzoon]

I'll take that with a pinch of salt.

On second thoughts, i'll have the salt on its own thanks.

I'm trying to reason who's the most trustworthy...

At the same time, I'm wondering what I would do if I was a 7xWDC, with quite a bit to give but nothing to prove.

And yes, I would go for a proper challenge, like the Dakar or Le Mans!

[gibells]

Concerning the Honda-Brawn-Mercedes discussion it makes perfect sense. Especially considering how it would look if one Mercedes GP ran at the beginning of this year and won straight away. We would have all frowned upon it. Now there's one supposed saviour in RB for a year and a deal with Mercedes and hey presto, we have Mercedes GP.

Loos like McLaren walked in to the room and found their wife and their best friend sh*gging.

[Richard]

if one party who for whatever reason
cannot deliver their part of the deal then the contract has to be paid out in full or its litigation via the court system. Button had just signed a new three year deal with Honda F1 and so if Honda had folded was entitled to the full 3 year payout thats how it works

I doubt the above would be correct. If a company goes bust, then the workers are at the front of the queue. If there is not enough cash to pay off all the staff then standard rules kick into action. I think the share out of redundancy payments are structured so lower waged staff are likely to get more of what they are owed than higher paid people. Sometimes you hear of all staff getting an identical payout regardless of salary.

AFIK, drivers are on independent supplier terms as opposed to staff, so they would be with the other creditors, behind the staff.

[Rob W]

if one party who for whatever reason
cannot deliver their part of the deal then the contract has to be paid out in full

I doubt the above would be correct. If a company goes bust, then the workers are at the front of the queue. If there is not enough cash to pay off all the staff then standard rules kick into action...

AFIK, drivers are on independent supplier terms as opposed to staff, so they would be with the other creditors, behind the staff.

Generally, but not always. The tax department can often claim any outstanding money owed before anyone else.

In any case, as you say, the largest individual liabilities are the higher up members of a team, few of whom would be employees, rather contractors. Likewise, if a company folds (either by action or poor business) and there is no money left then that is usually it. Game over.

[axle]

if one party who for whatever reason
cannot deliver their part of the deal then the contract has to be paid out in full or its litigation via the court system. Button had just signed a new three year deal with Honda F1 and so if Honda had folded was entitled to the full 3 year payout thats how it works

I doubt the above would be correct. If a company goes bust, then the workers are at the front of the queue. If there is not enough cash to pay off all the staff then standard rules kick into action. I think the share out of redundancy payments are structured so lower waged staff are likely to get more of what they are owed than higher paid people. Sometimes you hear of all staff getting an identical payout regardless of salary.

AFIK, drivers are on independent supplier terms as opposed to staff, so they would be with the other creditors, behind the staff.

Button could have claimed it, Honda were not bust, they chose not to participate any further and were still liable for the contracts to their suppliers inc the drivers.