Eddie Irvine tells it like it is!!! (Belgium re-cap)

Easy there.

Calling a team, that officially builds road going Mercedes "garagisti" is against the very definition.

Enzo used that term for (British) teams who built their own chassis and slapped on an off the shelf Cossie. If you look at McLaren today, the truth couldn't be farther away.

The only garagisti teams left are Red Bull, Toro Rosso and Farce India. Everybody else is the more or less veiled racing team of a car manufacturer.

McLaren without Mercedes wouldn't exist. They bankroll it all.

 

then Mercedes should stop hiding behind McL's skirt and call a spade a Mercedes , and BMW should drop the Sauber name

the last time I looked TR was an Italian team

and Williams fit the 'garagisti' title fine by Enzo's definition, Brit car with someone else's engine

 

You're right on Williams. Yes TR was Italian, but it fits the garagisti definition.

First off I believe (not sure though) Ron still owns the majority in McL, so Mercedes couldn't rename it even if they wanted. But then again, why would they? Their SLRs carry a lot more prestige with the "built by McLaren" logo than if they were "just another" Mercedes. You could even apply that logic to some degree with FIAT: They own Ferrari, but are happy with a little Fiat sticker on the nose of the Ferraris.

I'm glad BMW hasn't dropped the Sauber part. It is not just nostalgic, but also in respect of the half of the team that actually works and lives in Switzerland building the cars. However I'm sure that Sauber part eventually will go away, particularly once they win the title (if they manage that is).