Slight change of topic, sorry guys.

I saw merc labelled in another thread as 'low budget'. Is this fair? It got me wondering, and worrying. Whatwith Merc saying they want to make the team pay for itself and make some money out of it as well. Where does mercs priorities lie with this team? Winning races and really being part of the sport, or greediness?

So how much better off is Brawn with Merc really? Is their budget any bigger? Sure, the name "Mercedes-Benz" will definitely get the attention of potential sponsors, more so than "Brawn GP", which will increase their budget. But will Merc themselves be willing to cough it up when the rubber hits the road?

I love Mercedes, have my entire life and my apartment is stuffed full of memoribillia of all kinds. But for heaven's sake, if they're not in it to win it, I'd prefer they just stay on as an engine supplier while they still have a good name in F1. With my health, I don't think I can survive the dissapointment. Ok that came out waaaaaay too dramatic, but you get my point.

Brawn apparently got fifty million Euros for winning the championship, and when Mercedes bought them, they got another thirty million from PETRONAS for sponsorship. That's eighty million before Mercedes put so much as a cent in. Compare that to the other new teams, with Lotus operating on fifty-five million, Campos on forty-eight and Virgin on "less than forty", and Mercedes are looking very good indeed. I can't speak as to the other teams, though.

the problem is they don't want to compete with virgin, lotus & campos......
ferrari, redbull and mclaren are their targets...

The teams hav agreed to resource restriction. That means they're running on reduced budgets. And it's not like Mercedes are building a car from scratch - Ross Brawn apparently halted major development of the BGP-001 after Turkey and begin on the BGP-002 because he thought Jenson Button's lead would be enough to see him through to the end of the season. Considering that Button was never less than fourteen points ahead of his rivals before he won the title, I'd say it was a pretty good call to make. Mercedes inhertied that car when they bought Brawn, just as Brawn inherited the RA109. I'm not saying Mercedes will be as good as Brawn, but can you really see them buying a team they didn't believe could do well?

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/2...e-championship/

Thats it for the equal driver status

BILD: In dieser Saison fahren vier Weltmeister: Lewis Hamilton, Fernando Alonso, Jenson Button und Schumi. Wer von ihnen holt 2010 den Titel?

Brawn: „Wenn ich auf einen von ihnen wetten müsste, sage ich klipp und klar: Michael wird Weltmeister.“

BILD: Und Nico Rosberg?

Brawn: „Sie haben mir ja nur die Weltmeister zur Auswahl gelassen. Nico hat auch das Zeug zum Titel, keine Frage. Er hat das Talent und die Ernsthaftigkeit, ein großer Fahrer zu sein.“

http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/motorsport/f...ross-brawn.html

I think it´s better to read the original interview.

F**k you, internet media!
Thanks for clearing this up Urawa;)

Yup
It seems some newspages just read the headline of the interview...

Auf English :-)



Disagree about Rosberg having the stuff to take the title myself. But who am I to question Ross :-)

oh come on, in fact this is just a standard PR bullshit, what can he say really. I was just surprised that he didn't mention nico in gpupdate version...

How about this then?:

http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80945

Combined with the other interview I'd say Nico might have to grow some balls for the coming season

That's the problem with Nico, he looks and races like a girl.

His Dad has done all the hard work. This year, Keke wont be able to protect Nico any longer, and it's going to be damn interesting.

Nico will be racing a geriatric Schumacher.

AMuS: Rosberg to test the RB1 on february 1st

That's another example of creative journalism (sorry Autosport). Putting more weight on Zetsche's response than it deserves.
Zetsche is CEO of Daimler and surely his involvement in the team will not go that far.
He said several times that Brawn is the expert and he was merely saying again, that decions on that level are not in his hand, but in Brawn's.

yes, after buyout fry even said (or was that haug?) that they will do exactly what they used to before merc came in, so this interview is rather some kind of confirmation...

Bad journalism again: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/80955
The context of Brawns quotes completely missing.

I agree - just creative ways to ensure some clicks. Autosport is showing shades of sensational reporting...

any news on, who will drive the car on the 2nd and 3rd of february ?

It's a Jonathan Noble trademark.
I wouldn't say that for Autosport in general.

Given the cuts, it's about the same these days.

According to Bild M Schumacher asked Brawn to switch race numbers between his drivers. MS wants ta race #3 Mercedes rather than #4 as assigned on the FIA entry list. (Edit: GrandPrix.com notes that Mercedes has forwarded the request to FIA and FIA has accepted it)

MS says the reason is he prefers odd numbers.


A look back at his career, he drove to a German F3 title driving a #5, then did all his F1 career with odd numbers. The only excpetion would be the 1991 Belgian Grand Prix, his first, when he drove a #32 Jordan Ford.

He then switched to Benetton where he used the following numbers:
1991-1992: #19
1993-1994: #5
1995: #1

His Ferrari years were as follows:
#1 for 1996, 2001-2005
#3 for 1998-1999
#5 for 1997, 2006




Fast facts: Nico's numbers

2002: Formula BMW Adac #6
2003: Formula 3 Euroseries #3 ; One off race Masters #25 ; Macau GP #6
2004: Formula 3 Euroseries #11 ; One off race Masters #18 ; Macau GP #6
2005: GP2 #9
2006: Williams F1 #10
2007: Williams F1 #16
2008: Williams F1 #7
2009: Williams F1 #16

MS running [motivational] KERS ?

http://news.bbc.co.uk/sport2/hi/motorsport...one/8470055.stm

"It did me a lot of good to be extremely quiet for those three years. It really is as if my batteries were fully loaded.

"My energy is back completely. I really notice how the prickle is coming, how motivated I am because I so much look forward to the competition. It is about time to start this whole thing."

If Schumacher has still got (or got back - as I didn't really see it in the later years) that sparkle of the 'I can't believe he just did that' of making 3 tenths appear from no where or needing to do 10 qualiy laps to gain some time after a pit stop I think the young ones are going to have a massive surprise!!!

As to Rosberg, not sure how much choice he had in his number, but the physiological war has started.

Weight-wise, anybody know the drivers weights?

Lets hope Mercedes produce a great car for them.

He does seem mighty up for it. I felt his best days were well past 3 years ago, but perhaps the break really has made a big difference and we might get to see the 1990's MS again.

I think taking a break from something removes the drag and routine and freshens up the person. We've seen multiple examples of this, Schuey's own form in Malaysia 1999, Berger winning the first race after his comeback, etc. This does count for other things as well by the way. I remember playing video games on a daily basis, then stopping for a few weeks/months and playing the same game my performance was greatly improved.

I think he needed a change of scenery. Returning to Ferrari would have been the same old routine. Joining Mercedes has freshened him up. He certainly looks the happiest I've ever seen him.

I agree. And it's the same for me as a fan. In the summer I wasn't too enthusiastic about his plans to return with Ferrari. Probably because it would have brought him nothing, since he has been there, done that already. But this is something new, new team, new environment, new challenge, so I love it and I feel excited about it.

Mercedes needs to learn a thing or two about teasers.
There's going to be a livery launch this Monday, but I almost forgot.


So far, only an Official Facebook page: http://www.facebook.com/MERCEDESGPPETRONAS
The Brawn Twitter site has been disabled today, so things are happening apparently.

I take my words back:

http://motorsport.mercedes-benz.com/comingsoon/index_en.html

http://www.youtube.com/MercedesGPPetronas

http://twitter.com/OfficialMGP

They have made the AMG brand really visible on that video.

The launch will be Live on the Internet at: http://www.sport1.de/
25 January at 11:00 CET

What Rosberg really thinks of Schumacher:

http://www.jamesallenonf1.com/2010/01/rosb...nst-schumacher/

http://f1.gpupdate.net/en/formula-1-news/2...ny-at-mercedes/

Heidfeld joins Team Deustchland.

Thanks Owen

bit of a waste unless MS retires early in the season. Wonder if he has a guarantee if MS decides not to continue after a year he will get the seat.

thanks for the links, well i quess the first area mercedes needs to beat mclaren is with their webdesign, but that will not be to hard, mclarens webdesign has never been up to standard. just looking at mercedes page last year it was better, so.
but anyway, cant wait to see the color scheme of the car.

I just hope they don't go overboard on Flash.

Any Facebook address?

waste, shame really

http://www.facebook.com/MERCEDESGPPETRONAS

German DSF, n-tv and N24 to broadcast the presentation and PC @ 1100 am CET

where is the launch going to be?

Stuttgart, they are only launching the new livery, not the new car.

Whaaaaaaaaaaat?! When are they going to show the new car?

On the 1st of February, on the first day of testing.

That is so disappointing. I was so excited to see the first 2010 car tomorrow.

Bild reporter visits Brackley:
http://www.bild.de/BILD/sport/motorsport/f...ilberpfeil.html
Poster (Shaker)-rig.
Suspension part 2010 car.


BTW, looks like this is the new team logo:

They are just going to switch the yellow for grey? Or has that photo been photoshopped?

Yes photoshopped, noticed it too. Stupid.

Why/how would they show the new livery without showing the new car?