Brawn- let the rumors begin...

This was pretty much known for a while. Nothing new here

 

Nice payday for Ross and his partners!

 

exactly. that's all they are advertising. Brawn can go buy an island like Schu now

 

Let's see:

Brawn GP: WDC
Mercedes GP (of modern times): not a single victory

Now they're basically further moving managing power away from Brawn and into Mercedes. That is going the wrong direction.

Merc is just another BMW/Toyota/Honda/Jaguar.

It'll be interesting to see how long until Merc's Board of Directors cuts funding and Merc becomes an engine supplier only again.

 

And Ross smiles all the way to the bank.


Much like the resturant business. Start it, pump it, sell it. Repeat as required.

 

That is such a massive oversimplification that it doesn't really show anything, IMO.

After all, the 2010 car was pretty much what Brawn designed in 2009, and it sucked. And one can't say "yeah, but they didn't have money" without also acknowledging the reason the 2009 car was so good was because they had virtually unlimited money.

We'll see how the 2011 car looks, but from testing, it appears it's better than last year. So from the very macro view, it would appear the car has gotten better in the Mercedes era.

 

You mean that you can buy a restaurant for a dollar, one that was built with one of the largest budgets in industry history, have an year long operating budget supplied to you by the seller, and then sell it inside of 12 months?

 

Lol, I would say laughing to the bank is an understatement.

 

Andreas - why the constant fascination with Mercedes leaving F1? You seem to bring it up over & over. (btw - with the exception Red Bull &Force India, all the other teams have to answer to a board of directors)
This only strengthens their commitment to the program.

 

Ross's ownership share of the team really does him little good. He has as much authority as Mercedes allows him so why not cash out while the price is high?

 

Exactly. This is nothing more than a bank job for Ross. Cashing out while the getting is good. 2011's car looks incredibly expensive and they appear to be placing their best foot forward for this season, so why not get out while everything is still on the up and up? I'm sure Ross wouldn't want to cash out once 2011 were halfway through and they were sitting 5th in the WCC. He knows folks.

 

The point about answering to a board of directors is in regards to a factory with unions and workers on the other side. Only Renault and Merc had that kind of situation where there is real pressure on the board and hence on the F1 team to be frugal and successful.

I'm pretty sure this will eventually force Mercedes to go the route where all the other automakers have gone so far. And Renault just did it now as well (if I read their situation correctly) and has become an engine manufacturer only.

 

If MB does not make a significant step forward this year, or have something in writing to get Vettel, I have to agree with you. 2011's car is a rebirth and the first 100% new car under MB and the car was definitely not cheap. Not even close. The twitter boards for people who are on the seen say the MB is the talk of the town. MB had better make good or yeah, the upper management is going to have some choice words and actions.

 

IMO no manufacturer is in F1 for the long term save Ferrari. Either they don't succeed and leave (Honda, Toyota, Renault and many others) or they win and having proven their point see no need to continue pouring in the money just to repeat.
Another reason for Ross to take the buy out now.

 

... and McLaren

 

Vettel actually might be their backup ticket: Even if the new Merc is not going to win races (which I think it won't) this and next year, the chance of signing Vettel might be just enough to keep them in F1. It is all about "win on Sunday, sell on Monday".

We'll see.

 

They're only just becoming a manufacturer. For the lion's share of their history they've not been one.
Aside from a bit of hair splitting you're right as of this season.

 

And what's the output of that factory to begin with?

Besides: I'm not sure how much street cred the McLaren cars get/need from their F1 efforts. The few McLarens they produce to me seem to be in a different market segment altogether: The super exclusive/super rich/super rare exotics where the Bugattis and Zondas play and the buyers probably less care about F1.

 

I don't see that at all. McLaren is F1 to most people and their latest is priced well below Bugs and Zondas in any case.
McLaren's cachet is high tech as expressed through racing in the sport's most sophisticated echelon.

 

Not to be too off topic, but I just have to wonder something. Why are we judging any car after two days testing????

 

You new here?



Because there's nothing else to talk about.

 

1) It hasn't put the track on fire.
2) It was the first to break down.
3) It is a Merc. I don't think they're capable of building a WDC winning car.

oh and:

4) This is Ferrarichat. I rather celebrate Ferraris than Mercs.

 

Because they don't know what they're doing:

Merc is running their F1 effort in the same failed way that Toyota and BMW did. F1 teams are only successful with short control spans, direct command structures and a "benevolent omnisavient dictator" at the top. Brawn was that figure at Brawn GP and to some degree at Benetton and Ferrari. At Merc he is just another employee following orders from the board.