Mercedes F1

[yellowperil]

Looks to me like Merc are coming apart at the seams. Brawn said to be leaving, some guy from Williams moving in as shareholder with N. Lada as another shareholder.

Lada was a great driver but was a flop at Jag F1 as team boss. Hamilton will have his work cut out for him. I wish him well, hope he can haul his way to the front with their new car.

And I hope this years car is better looking than last years car. It was an ugly dog. Green and gray a poor color scheme. Hope other sponsors can come up with a more exciting looking car. We'll soon see I guess.

[sammyg2]

Brawn's Merc future under a cloud
Wednesday 23rd January 2013

Lewis Hamilton's dreams of teaming up with Ross Brawn appear to be over before it even started as the latter appears to be on his way out at Mercedes.

The 2008 World Champion made the move to the Brackley-based squad this season and he was no doubt expecting to team up with one of the most successful team principals in Brawn.

The 58-year-old not only masterminded Michael Schumacher's two Drivers' Championships at Benetton in 1994 and 1995, but was also at the helm when the German won five titles at Ferrari and when Jenson Button was crowned Champion in 2009 with Brawn GP.

Brawn's future at Merc, though, has been plunged into doubt though after Eddie Jordan told BBC Sport that he is on his way out with the team's chief executive Nick Fry also set to be moved on.

New Mercedes-Benz Motorsport boss Toto Wolff has played down the speculation saying "Ross is here as part of the leading team and I hope Ross is going to stay".

He added: "I haven't been in Brackley yet. I have had conversations with Ross. I admire what Ross has done but I need to understand the structure and what Ross has done.

"At this stage it would be foolish to come in and speak about replacing anybody."

Jordan also claimed that Mercedes have signed Paddy Lowe from McLaren, adding he "won't be technical director, he'll be more senior than that. But he won't be called team principal either, because that will be Wolff. But Lowe will effectively be running the team on a day-to-day basis".

The deal, though, appears to be far from done with the Daily Mail reporting that McLaren executive chairman Ron Dennis ready to take out his cheque book to hold onto Lowe.

"Lowe earns around £600,000 a year at McLaren and could expect £900,000 at Mercedes," the paper claimed.

"Dennis has offered Lowe a rise but not so much that it gravely distorts the company's pay structure.

"The argument was put to him that he might prefer to stick to purely engineering matters rather than involve himself in a wider role of hiring and firing and balancing budgets.

"Lowe had not made his mind up as of last night."

Brawn's Merc future under a cloud | Planet F1 | Formula One News

[5String43]

Yeah, Lauda seems more likely to cause discord than to find a way for the team to win. Wolfe is/was part owner at Williams - the move to Mercedes is a surprise. As for Brawn leaving - that would be a bad mistake, but I think what's going on is that the suits on the M-Bz board are impatient for a return on their investment and can't resist the urge to meddle. He pretty much proved his worth at Ferrari and at Brawn GP - leave him alone, he'll get things done. I seem to recall that he still has some ownership in the M-Bz team, no? If he departs, that could prove to be interesting. Think the Toyota F1 team, which succumbed, and avoided success, in large measure because of its command structure - or lack of one. My guess is that if this team doesn't see success pretty quickly, M-Bz will be tempted to leave F1.

[sammyg2]

In other news, pirelli has continued working towards their goal of making crappy tires which in 2013 will be lucky to last 9 laps and the races will be won and lost in the pits.

Just like NASCAR.

[herr_oberst]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

In other news, pirelli has continued working towards their goal of making crappy tires which in 2013 will be lucky to last 9 laps and the races will be won and lost in the pits.

Just like NASCAR.

That's good news for Hambone. Maybe he can win one or two with pit strategy.

[Aragorn]

If memory serves me correct, if the car is not perfect, Lewis has a hard time overcoming its shortcomings. (I don't think the new car will be perfect.)

I think if Brawn GP had stayed Brawn GP (instead of being Mercedes), Schumacher would have won another title.

Too much discord and finger pointing when the car is not right. This just seems like another nail in the coffin.

[herr_oberst]

(I was Lauda's biggest fan during the years that he was racing, I was ecstatic when Ron Dennis pulled him out of retirement to drive the MP4/4)

(I want anyone else on the grid except hambone to win races)

Lauda was Hambone's adviser during the McLaren/Mercedes negotiations; To take Lauda's advice and chase a paycheck was the biggest mistake Lewis ever made, and I feel sorry for him now.

[sammyg2]

Originally Posted by herr_oberst

That's good news for Hambone. Maybe he can win one or two with pit strategy.

or at least rear-end Massa in pit lane again
Or was that kimi he ran into?

[sammyg2]

Yup, it was kimi he ran into.

At the 2008 Canadian Grand Prix, McLaren should have paid more attention – especially given that one of their drivers (Montoya) had previously fallen foul – when it happened again. With Lewis Hamilton pitting at the same time as many other cars during a safety car interruption, he failed to see the red light that Kimi Raikkonen and Robert Kubica had managed to spot, and ploughed straight into the back of the Finn’s Ferrari, while Nico Rosberg planted his Williams into the back of Hamilton.

Back in 1974, however, red lights were not the done thing, but a race official parking their vehicle across pit exit would work equally well.

Just ask Niki Lauda: leading the British Grand Prix comfortably and on course for Ferrari’s first win in over a decade when he’s forced into the pits with a slow puncture. Trying to exit pit lane, he finds himself trapped in pit lane when a circuit official parks their car across the exit. The win was lost, and Ferrari successfully negotiated an appeal to have Niki’s fifth placed result improved to a fourth. Hardly fair…

Top-10 Pit Lane Blunders – Richard’s F1

notice how I found with a story bout hambone and lauda and pit lane?
Just a coinky-dink but I'll take it.

[Captain Ahab Jr]

Ross Brawn, Bob Bell, Aldo Costa and Geoff Willis are some of the best of the best in F1 but sometimes you can have too much of a good thing.

They need to start winning this year or I'm sure the board back in Stuttgart are going to stop chopping heads off.

If Paddy Lowe goes there then I think he will have signed up for the hardest or it could be debated maybe 2nd hardest job in F1.

Good luck to him if he does as he will need this and more to turn them around.

[yellowperil]

All good points. I think Ham is in a pack of trouble. Still hope he does well. I think he does fly apart when he has a bad car. Looks like this will be a "boardroom committee" affair. Didn't work for Toyota as someone said. Press on.

[kiwiokie]

I think the dream team came together too late to have any impact on the 2012 car. It amazes me how Niki Lauda has managed to stay in the F1 circus so long after being a driver.

[Tervuren]

Originally Posted by sammyg2

In other news, pirelli has continued working towards their goal of making crappy tires which in 2013 will be lucky to last 9 laps and the races will be won and lost in the pits.

Just like NASCAR.

This is true of only a handful of NASCAR tracks, such as Atlanta, where the pavement texture, speed, and cornering forces really add to tire wear.

The real thing is the fuel economy of a finely honed 900HP V8 isn't that great. Most stops are for fuel, tires are done in less time than is needed to fill up the tank.

I like what NASCAR has for tires, and don't really like F1's approach. From what I've read, it seems your prediction of shorter lasting tires is what team managers have been asking for. Fortunately, I only watch a few F1 races a year. (Opening, and Spa, I don't have TV so I have to go somewhere else to watch.)

[Cornpanzer]

In 2009 Brawn F1 won a championship because of the questionably legal double-diffuser with which they won six of the first seven races of the year. By mid-year, the other teams (esp Red Bull) had caught up and the latter half of the season, Button was lucky to get podiums. If not for Red Bulls unreliability that year, Vettel would be a four time champion.
Brawn had spent most of 2008 developing the 2009 car and had what some would call "an unfair advantage". His cars weren't a factor in 2008,10,11,or12. Perhaps he is past his prime.
When they announce Newey is going to Mercedes, Hamilton will look like a genius.