Most liked posts in thread: F1 - 2009

Steve · Nov 12, 2009

I've been trying to decide whether I think the new ban on mid-race refueling will make things better or worse. So far I've come up with more pros than cons.

Steve · Nov 16, 2009

This has been expected for a while now, yet I was surprised to see the headline.

Mercedes takes over Brawn F1 team (news.bbc.co.uk)

Includes new driver speculation plus McLaren buying back Merc's 40% of McLaren Group by 2011 but Merc continuing to supply free engines for "at least the next six years."

German car giant Mercedes has bought the Brawn Formula 1 team in a move that is likely to see Jenson Button join McLaren as Lewis Hamilton's team-mate.

Mercedes will buy 75% of Brawn in partnership with an Abu Dhabi investment company but will continue as McLaren's engine partner until 2015.

Brawn, who won both world titles in their debut season in 2009, will be rebranded as Mercedes Grand Prix.

Nico Rosberg will be their lead driver, with Nick Heidfeld his likely partner.

Fellow German Timo Glock, who drove for Toyota last season, is also a possibility.

The team has not yet confirmed Rosberg, who drove for Williams in 2009, but he is widely known throughout F1 to have already signed for the Mercedes team.

Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug indicated that talks with Button were ongoing but had already revealed the team is in negotiations with Heidfeld.

"We are talking (with Button) and that's why we cannot announce the driver line-up," said Haug on Monday. "We have to accept that speculation takes place, but that's the name of the game."

But he added: "This will be an international team - Mercedes-Benz is a global player.

"We definitely do not want to have a pure German team. It's an international team and we want to have the best drivers in the car."

Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, whose company owns Mercedes, echoed Haug's thoughts.

"What we would like to see is the best drivers in the two seats," he said. "We certainly would not be opposed if one of them was German but that is not a prerequisite."

Button, who won the drivers' title this year, has been trying to secure a pay-rise from his Â£3.5m salary but it seems Mercedes is not interested in granting his wish.

The 29-year-old Englishman visited McLaren with manager Richard Goddard on Friday, with Button now expected to join the Woking-based team for a salary around double what Brawn were offering.

Button's decision is understood not to be solely about money - sources say he considers McLaren might have a more competitive car than Brawn in 2010.

"We've had discussions with Jenson over what we think is a sensible salary and this deal is not going to change anything in that respect," Brawn chief executive Nick Fry told BBC Radio 5 live.

"I hope Jenson will be with us as we've been together for a good few years, but F1 is not divorced from the rest of the world.

"The reason we've survived as a team is that we have operated in our means."

Finn Kimi Raikkonen, who has been forced to leave Ferrari to make way for Fernando Alonso, remains an outside possibility for the seat alongside 2008 world champion Hamilton.

Despite the takeover, both Haug and Zetsche indicated that there were unlikely to be wholesale changes, with Ross Brawn remaining as team principal.

They also said Brawn would have a key role to play in deciding the driver line-up for 2010 and beyond.

"Ross Brawn is the boss of the team and it would not be smart of us to dictate to him anything like a driver decision," said Zetsche.

Brawn and Fry will retain a 24.9% shareholding in the team. The remaining 75.1% will be split between Mercedes, which will own 45.1% and Abu Dhabi company Aabar Investments, which will own 30%.

Brawn said: "Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months.

"From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the constructors' and drivers' world championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabar's offer to buy our team, which will secure its future."

As part of a deal that will see the McLaren Group buy back Mercedes's 40% shareholding by 2011, the German company will continue to supply free engines and sponsorship to the team for at least the next six years.

The team's official name will remain Vodafone McLaren Mercedes.

McLaren chairman Ron Dennis described the deal as "a win-win situation, both for McLaren and Daimler".

McLaren and Mercedes said one of the reasons for them to split was because of McLaren's road-car building ambitions.

McLaren is launching a high-performance sports car called the MP4-12C in 2011.

Dennis said: "I've often stated that it's my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st Century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team.

"That being the case, in order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win grands prix and world championships, companies that run Formula 1 teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities.

"In the MP4-12C, which will be introduced to market in 2011, we have a car that has inherited the genes of the iconic McLaren F1 of 1994 and has already been the subject of much global media acclaim."
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Steve · Nov 16, 2009

The new Silver Arrow.

Nathan · Nov 18, 2009

Formula 1 Drivers Lineup to Race Shifterkart in Las Vegas

The 13th annual SKUSA SuperNationals held at the Rio Hotel will feature Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Buemi, and Nelson Piquet Jr; there are likely to be one or two other F1 drivers on hand as well. Scott Speed can't make it, his brother Alex will be there.

November 18-22.

goaljnky · Nov 18, 2009

Nathan said: ↑

Formula 1 Drivers Lineup to Race Shifterkart in Las Vegas

The 13th annual SKUSA SuperNationals held at the Rio Hotel will feature Michael Schumacher, Sebastian Buemi, and Nelson Piquet Jr; there are likely to be one or two other F1 drivers on hand as well. Scott Speed can't make it, his brother Alex will be there.

November 18-22.
Click to expand...

Alex Speed? There is more then one Speed? Oh, the horrors, the horrors. :mad2:

Steve · Nov 18, 2009

There's been a lot of speculation about Button moving to McLaren lately. McLaren finally made an official announcement today that the deal is done. So, McLaren bought (or are in the process of buying) Merc's share of the company back from them, and their drivers will both be Brits...I guess this means it's an all British team now? Merc claim their team will be international (better publicity for auto sales) but speculation is they'll hire two Germans because they're hoping to be the team that finds the next German champion. Sensing a theme here. Lotus, which is now owned by Proton (Malaysian) said a while back they hope to end up eventually running Malaysian drivers. USF1 say they want to end up with American (or at least North American) drivers. We know Merc will run in the old Silver Arrows color scheme...might be interesting to see other teams reverting back to the old national colors.

Steve · Nov 20, 2009

Believe it or don't...makes good sensationalistic press either way...

Michael Schumacher in line for sensational Formula One return at Mercedes (telegraph.co.uk)

Michael Schumacher has been sounded out about a sensational return to Formula One next season.

By Kevin Garside
Published: 6:00AM GMT 20 Nov 2009

The 40 year-old seven-time world champion was due to make a comeback for Ferrari as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa last season before a neck injury forced him to stand down.

But following last weekâ€™s Mercedes takeover of Brawn GP and world champion Jenson Buttonâ€™s shock switch to McLaren, the possibility of a German dream team with Nico Rosberg is emerging.

The associations line up beautifully. Schumacher won all his world titles under the guidance at Benetton and Ferrari of Ross Brawn, who will continue in the role of team principal at the newly-minted Mercedes team.

Schumacherâ€™s connection with Mercedes goes back to his youth when he was part of the marqueâ€™s young driver programme. As co-owners at McLaren, Mercedes launched at least one serious attempt to persuade Schumacher to join them from Ferrari.

Head of Mercedes motorsport Norbert Haug failed on that occasion. The stars and moons are in better alignment now, though talks are understood to be at an early stage.

Six months ago while driving around the Ascari circuit in southern Spain as part of a sponsorship engagement, Schumacher insisted that he had no regrets about retirement. The time was right, he said, to devote himself to his young family and pursue other interests.

His retainer with Ferrari kept him in the F1 loop and he was a frequent visitor on the pit wall during races.

The picture shifts quickly in sport. Massaâ€™s freak head injury during qualifying for the Hungarian Grand Prix in July presented an unforeseen opportunity. When the chance to race again was dangled before him, Schumacher found that he could not say no.

Opportunity knocks a second time. The big money that he banked at Ferrari, upwards of Â£50 million a year including endorsements, is not available this time around. The downshift by Mercedes from McLaren to Brawn was premised on the need to reign in spending.

Schumacher would be coming back to F1 on a budget, offered the same deal turned down by Button. That would not worry him. The huge commercial appeal attached to the return of the seven times world champion would more than make up his money.

Button made his final visit to Brackley on Thursday to say farewell. His appearance provoked sadness and anger. There would have been no talk of Schumacher at Mercedes had Button said yes to their offer. He was rated highly by a management team who felt they had gone as far as they could go with their multi-million pound offer.

The timing of his unveiling as a McLaren driver cut across his visit, which was clumsy in the extreme. This was no way to end a fairytale. Button has been here before in a career punctuated by ham-fisted moves.

If anyone can apply balm to the wounds at Brackley it is Schumacher. Formula One went bonkers at the thought of a comeback in August. That was only a temporary affair.

This would be full-on for a year at least; Schumacher going up against McLarenâ€™s back-to-back world champions Button and Lewis Hamilton, not to mention Alonso and Massa at Ferrari and his own Red Bull protÃ©gÃ© Sebastien Vettel.

Interest in F1 in Britain is glowing red hot following Buttonâ€™s world championship win and his subsequent move to McLaren. Beyond our shores neither Button nor Hamilton is the big sell that Schumacher is. His brand is global.

Schumacher would not be at the table were he not smitten with the comeback idea. His heart is beating again.

We thought Buttonâ€™s rise from the Monaco dole queue to world champion in eight mad months was a story. How about Schumacher coming back to win an eighth world title in Buttonâ€™s old motor? Wishful thinking? Not according to the tom tom drums.
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goaljnky · Nov 20, 2009

Well now. That would make for good TV.

Steve · Nov 20, 2009

Plenty of sponsorship $$$ for the Merc team as well I imagine.

Hmmm, we seem to have left all the 2009 biz behind...time to start a new thread.

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