I have always wondered why that is, any ideas ? It is interesting that most of the best race cars comes from GB and yet, they build seriously lousy road cars. With the excpetion of McLaren, are there any other British owned road car manufactures left ?
Good question. I think it is for the same reason you have a bunch of super car manufacturers around Modena (Ferrari, Lamborghini, Maserati, Zonda): Inbreeding It needs a specially trained and experienced workforce. Talent you can't use easily elsewhere, so they hang around in one area with competing corporations. If the workers leave, they can just go next door for their next job. You can find similar groupings in the US with Detroit, Indianapolis and Charlotte. Or if you pick another industry, there is Silicon Valley with the computer wiz kids.
Pretty much! I'd add history & experience. I was based inside Silverstone back in the day, and there were little shops that could make just about anything, all inside the track. In a hurry if needed and you had the $..... This was before the days of composites of course... Cheers, Ian
Indeed. Just outside Paris IIRC. But the cars are designed & built in Enstone...... +1 However, iirc, not even that got finished..... I saw some pix of cf parts, but not after being bonded into a tub(?) Did they really do those? Or was it a myth started by; - the 'under employed' guys in the factory? - the Tailenders utube guys? I vaguely recall #1 may be true?..... Cheers, Ian
The Germans call the shots with MB's engine development and F1 development which means they are controlling the direction of the company, hiring and firing whom they chose. That means it's a German company with UK employees and not a group of UK employees telling MB what to do. Same goes for any team
Indeed. But, they came about somewhere..... The first reference I can find is in the Tailenders "USF1, Day 4" video; [EDIT; Day3!] [ame=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QB6eJluXEbs]US F1 - Day 4 - YouTube[/ame] [FWIW, day 3 [edit; 5] is even funnier to me and the epilogue is epic..... If you haven't watched 'em in a while, the whole series from day 1 on is worth visiting in order IMO. A quick utube search will turn 'em all up of course.] Then, IIRC it was picked up by someone in the USF1 design office - They posted a CAD drawing, and it really was from them..... I could then be imagining it, but someone (may or may not have been inside the team?) then actually made some carbon toaster panels based on the drawing. Most of the subsequent Tailenders episodes mention it too - Kinda took on a life all it's own. Cheers, Ian
You're probably correct in that "senior" engine guys get rotated in & out from Stuttgart. But, as you well know, their foundation in Brixworth was as Ilmor back in the early 80's. And Ilmor was very definitely a British manufacturer. Merc bought their way in and eventually took 'em over completely, but the "ancestry" is right. I'm not sure on that one. Certainly don't know, but I'd surprised if Toto (too new) or Niki (better things to do) were involved in many hires. I'd go as far as to say if I were interviewing I'd be amazed if I were interviewed by a German - At the "high" level, Ross or the aero nerds, but seems there's no "department heads" from the Fatherland (?) They may have German bean-counters setting budgets, but it appears that's pretty much limitless right now too - Easy to count beans when you've got plenty. Cheers, Ian
+1 on the first part, meant to mention I could take offense at the second. They're not "British" (what current guys are anything but "global?), but Ford UK and even Vauxhall are building some nice cars these days. I'm outta touch, but they're not *that* bad! The days of spontaneous combustion and random bits falling off are long gone. Now, the US auto makers OTOH have given us more **** over the years than everyone outside the old Eastern bloc....... Cheers, Ian
LOL, thanks Ian that genuinely made me laugh. Needed that, thanks. Haug split and took the fall for the last 3 years, whether or not it really was his fault is unknown, but MB clearly wanted to shake things up and I cannot blame them. I'm going to guess that was a German decision, so I think we're both right in a way. The big shake-ups, budgetary decisions, and overall direction while probably advised by Brawn is a German decision while the local happenings such as what engineers or technical directors they head hunt next are conspired in Brackley. Stuttgart does indeed do things for the team though so I'd be interested in knowing how involved they may be in the coming years. Eventually a possible move to the homeland?
According to this article: http://www.the-mia.com/assets/14-16_TOYOTA70423.pdf : "Although Toyota pulled out of Grand Prix racing soon after the end of the 2009 season its naturally aspirated, 2.4 litre V8 remains one of the engines homologated for Formula One under the ongoing engine specification freeze. Produced by wholly-owned subsidiary Toyota Motorsport (TMG) in Cologne, Germany, it is a state-of-the-art Grand Prix engine, which was highly competitive last year as witnessed by its pole at Bahrain and second-place finishes in Singapore and Japan." And I'm pretty certain all their F1 engines were built in Cologne.
Basically, yeah. As I said, they're not "British", but what current guys are anything but "global"? They're certainly "involved", but who exactly owns who anymore is a grey area these days - Seems to me most of 'em have "deals" with each other and indeed complete nations. Outside the "boutique" manufacturers I'd say they're pretty much all global corporations today with no "loyalty" to any one country. Many Nascar fans are still upset that Toyota is considered (my virtue of volume/value) a US manufacturer these days..... Cheers, Ian
+1 I suspect that he left of his volition though - Seems like it took 'em (Ross & Stuttgart) a little by surprise. *Maybe* he saw the writing on the wall, but nothing I've seen suggested he was "fired". [Overall, he has one hell of a fine record at MB Motorsport.] Don't get me wrong, I'm not trying to argue "right & wrong", just idle perceptual debates. Do they? Beyond keeping the money spigot open and the essential PR/marketing BS, do they really "help" the team? In what ways? [Again, I'm not arguing, just questioning how much value the suits from Germany add?] Nah! Never gonna happen IMO. Partly for the reasons Phil alluded to and I "addressed" above. Cheers, Ian
I've been told Stuttgart were responsible for at least a couple things: the simulator, and helping with suspension development which may have taken place partly with AMG people as well, not completely clear. Point being that Stuttgart mainly does in fact hand out the cash but they also do some things for the team albeit not much.
What worries me is Lauda's involvement at Mercedes. I remember when he got a job with Ford watching over their Premium brands (Jaguar, Volvo and Aston) and an executive position in the F1 team. Team principal Bobby Rahal soon resigned, and the Jaguar team went down. He was a brilliant driver, but I don't think Lauda is a brillant manager.
