If the planets line up right, yes they have as good a chance as the top teams. Am sure Ham and Nico given a car that can get within sniffing distance of a podium will nail it.
It reminds me of NASA and their quality control approach: To unscrew a panel of the Space Shuttle, they needed 3 "engineers": One to do the work, one to supervise to make sure the first one picks the right panel and a third one to supervise the supervisor and to document it all. Then the paper trail would be handed over to the manager and his supervisor for verification. Above example is not fiction btw, but fact.
****in' eh! Truer words have never been spoken! Fer sure, you've gotta have a *big* budget to win, but unlike most other forms, biggest doesn't equal wins........ +1 Honda, BMW, Lambo, Porsche (although they never had the balls to put their own name on it ), many have come & gone over the years...... Cheers, Ian
This is looking like Honda/bar with Gil de Ferran and about 20'other top guys From about 10 years ago. This will not end well
I was just thinking the same. IIRC, Honda (nee Bar) went on a similar "hiring spree". History tells us what happened there...... OTOH, while Toyota outspent everyone, I don't really recall 'em hiring many "big names" (?) Certainly not 3 head dudes at once anyway. I suspect you may be correct..... I'd say the jury is out....... Cheers, Ian
Still haven't checked, but I'm also pretty sure this was the "Pollock era". So maybe that explains it. Cheers, Ian
Toyota didn't recruit quality drivers and people in general. Their wind tunnel is a thing of beauty though.
I don't think anyone will ever get that crazy successful again, but I do believe MB are inventing the new normal with what they're doing, the same as Ferrari did.
And what do you think Ross Brawn really thinks about this? A few months ago Brawn said that Lowe was not coming, that Lowe was just a plan B in case that Brawn decided to quit...
I don´t. They usually win just outspending everybody else. Although, is there any other way of winning? They were quite succesful (maybe their music was crap, but sold lots of LPs, and you can bet that Mercedes is in F1 to sell crap, not for the music.
Which manufacturer came into F1 and started cleaning up and completely owning the competition then? Ferrari have been there since the start, Mclaren was/is a privateer. Not sure if we can count Red Bull as they're not a manufacturer and I don't think they're even the richest team out there. All big boys have failed so far: Honda Toyota (with an insane budget) BMW Mercedes
Except for Renault, but only in their second incarnation. Let's not forget Ford in the above list. And Porsche. You're right if you're referring to the engines (Porsche, Renault, Mercedes) but not as a team. I have zero fear of MB dominating anything. This year they will remain on their 5th position in the WDC, maybe Hami will win some races (I'd love to see that) but they're not a force in the WDC or WCC. Next year they have a better chance but I'm willing to bet that they even squander that opportunity and by 2015 MB will pull the plug on their expensive adventure. I love Niki but he won't be able to turn the Titanic around from the course Daimler's board set it on.
Yup. I don't think Renault was hugely successful though (nothing compared to what Ferrari was doing in any case), yes they won 2 championships on the trot but they weren't runaways. In 2005 they had very strong competition from Mclaren and in 2006 it was neck and neck versus Schumacher... +1 Although I think the plug might be pulled end 2016 if they don't come close to winning a championship.
Renault's (and Alonso's) accomplishment was though that they ended Ferrari's dominance. Granted that external factors (tires, rulings) helped as well, but still it was something nobody else was able to do for years. What followed however was the true to form of a car manufacturer's behavior: As soon as the going got tough, they reversed course. Timing will depend on how the overall economy and MB sales are doing. And how long Zeschke manages to stay in power.
sour grapes at Mclaren 'Telephone number' pay offer swayed Lowe, says Neale | Page 1 | F1 News | Feb 2013 | Crash.Net
Andreas, Bas, you guys better give me some of whatever you're smoking, that must be some incredible stuff. To each his own, understood.
He's the next best thing to what Red Bull have going with Newey, only Lowe is not an aero guy. Mclaren had the fastest car last year, just wasn't the most reliable so Mercedes know Lowe to be very capable of course. I am concerned regarding Mclaren throwing rocks at Mercedes/Brackley in stating hiring Lowe won't fix issues at Mercedes. What grounds have they in making statements regarding the internals of any other team? Everyone has their price, and Mercedes are doing what Toyota/Honda/BMW did not in hiring the best and Mclaren seem sour on it as they know what's coming. IMO, Mclaren had this coming, they make me bonkers at times. Mclaren have already removed his profile from their website. I have a picture/video in my head of a turnip-red faced Ron Dennis slamming an old heavy rotary dial phone down after he receives the call regarding the above news.
We got the stuff from Prost, who thinks MB has zero chance for this year: Brawn: Neue Turboära große Chance für Werksteams | Automobil | MOTORSPORT aktuell "Mercedes kämpft nicht um den Titel", erklärt er gegenüber 'Reuters'. "MB is not fighting for the title" says Prost towards Reuters.
Oh I completely agree. Best case scenario for MB is 3rd in WCC. Last year was unfortunately a good and very bad year for them. Brawn will figure it out though, and Mercedes commitment is still very much there.
