Mclaren hints at major tech signing

Indeed.....

Replace Whitmarsh as principal? I can't see that.

I just don't see him "fitting" in Woking, but stranger things have happened I guess.

FWIW, the latest from the Rat;

"Successor Paddy Lowe"..... ??

Interesting times indeed....

Cheers,
Ian

 

Ross has to negotiate his role with Lauda?

Wonder why he'd ever think of leaving.

 

Good point!....

Lauda, Toto, the Merc board? Who the hell knows? Probably not even Ross....

Cheers,
Ian

 

When you need an updated and annotated org chart to know which azz to kiss and which to kick its time to get the resume in shape.

 

"non-executive chairman Niki Lauda"?? What the heck does that mean?

 

I think T12 has always maintained the problem with Merc is the top dogs and who to answer to.

Too many cooks.

Redbull have it right they are the model team at the min, all the jigsaw pieces in place, and the results speak for themselves.

 

If Ferrari don't sign Ross then they are really dumb.

 

Ferrari would not say "no" to him. It is not Ferrari who said "No" last time. It was Ross. He stated he wanted a "challenge".

 

Well, going back to Ferrari now would certainly be a challenge!

Build a reasonable car that can be adapted to different conditions/tracks.

Manage two world champion drivers.

 

I would imagine Ross brawn moving to another team would require quite a substantial gardening leave

On the other hand Lowe did not serve his. Is that a hint?

 

+1

 

Oct.10 (GMM) Jenson Button on Thursday said Ross Brawn is "for sure" not joining McLaren in 2014.

Amid reports Brawn has decided to step down at Mercedes, there has been speculation linking Button's former Honda boss with McLaren.

So with McLaren linking up with the returning Honda for 2015, Button at Suzuka handballed the question to his boss Martin Whitmarsh.

However, 2009 'Brawn GP' champion Button did say: "One thing is for sure -- Ross Brawn will not join the team next season," he told F1's official website.

That leaves the door neatly open for 2015. Button, 33, said he could also be Honda-powered again the season after next.

"There's a chance, yes," Button told reporters on Thursday. "There's definitely a chance.

"I think it's very special for Japan to have a manufacturer in the sport, but obviously that's not for another year and a half.

"We've got a long time before that and hopefully a very good year next year with Mercedes-Benz," he added.

 

Jensen might be better served worrying where he'll be.

 

They still haven't signed him??

 

Ross says he's not going anywhere, nor that he's talked to Honda or McLaren.
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Ross Brawn has ruled out leaving the Mercedes Formula 1 team as discussions continue about how the squad will be run in the future.

Ahead of a decision later this year about whether or not his team principal role will be revised, Brawn has rubbished any talk he is looking at options elsewhere on the grid.

Instead, he has made it clear that the most important thing is working out how Mercedes will be made stronger over the longer term.

"Genuinely, I have not had any discussion with Honda or McLaren about the future," Brawn told AUTOSPORT, referring to speculation he could be on the move.

"I am in discussion with Niki [Lauda] and the board about how we run the team in the future. Also we've got Paddy [Lowe] on board now.

"Niki and Toto [Wolff] are getting more familiar with the team and we need to understand how we're going to run the team in the future. So those discussions are on-going but we have not reached any conclusions yet."

Mercedes underwent a major management overhaul last winter, with the German car manufacturer installing Wolff as its new motorsport boss to replace Norbert Haug.

Lauda was also brought in with a non-executive role to help assist matters, with Lowe being recruited with a view to him being Brawn's long-term successor.

The new structure appears to be working well, but Brawn says that it is important staff do not become complacent in their current roles.

"The team has come a long way in the last 12 months, but we've got to make sure it keeps going the right way," he said.

"Next year is very exciting with the new engine and I think this engineering group that's been put together under Bob Bell has still got more it can do.

"But we all need to understand our roles and make sure that we're all happy and motivated by them. But I'm not looking at going anywhere else."

 

I meant in general he has to get his own act together.
He may well be signed but there's a lot of work to be done turning Macca around. It's not inconceivable that they might not be here in five years.

 

Come on Dave, that's a little extreme.

 

Its easy to lose a pile of money in F1 when the winning stops and its easy to lose a pile of money when you try to become an auto manufacturer.
I don't think that it WILL happen but I won't be amazed if it does.

 

Waaay extreme.

Apparently their road cars business is going to start making money soon, and the F1 team is still one of the biggest and is going to get Honda $$$ soon.

Even if they´re starting their downfall, look at Williams: big empires need a lot of time to disappear.

 

As I said. I don't expect it but won't be amazed if it happens. Macca is involved in two mega money sucking ventures and it doesn't take too long for your backers to take a powder if things go bad.

F1 in general is facing very tough economic times. I doubt that it will resemble what we see now in a few years.

 

McLaren signed Red Bull's aero head! And they're saying they've still got more coming. Interesting that it's been done so early since he's still got a year on the Red Bull contract. So is that a one year 'gardening leave?'

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Red Bull's aerodynamics chief Peter Prodromou is closing in on a deal to join McLaren, but his potential new bosses may have to wait until 2015 to get him.

Just a week after McLaren team principal Martin Whitmarsh hinted at a major staff signing for his squad, a report that first emerged in respected German publication Auto Motor Und Sport suggested that Prodromou had been convinced by McLaren to return to the Woking outfit.

The news has not been confirmed by McLaren, and senior Red Bull sources insist that Prodromou remains under contract until the end of 2014 and will not be released early if he wants to leave.

However, it is understood that advanced negotiations with McLaren have taken place regarding his future and an agreement is in place.

Red Bull insists that Prodromou's future remains open and it will be happy to working with him if he does not complete the move.

A team spokesperson said: "Peter Prodromou has worked with Infiniti Red Bull Racing for a long time, he's a valuable member of the team and there's some considerable time remaining on his current contract with us.

"We would be very happy to continue working with him in the future, He's part of a very strong technical team, led by Adrian Newey."

MCLAREN EYEING TECHNICAL RESTRUCTURE

Prodromou knows McLaren well, having been its chief aerodynamicist until 2006 when he was lured to Red Bull by chief technical officer Adrian Newey.

He and Newey had worked together closely at McLaren, and the pair helped create a formidable partnership at Red Bull - with the team set for its fourth consecutive Formula 1 world championship title.

Whitmarsh had suggested that in the wake of a disappointing 2013 season the team was looking at how to boost its technical structure.

"We have been recruiting in the technical team, strengthening that quite a lot actually," he said in Korea. "There have been quite a few new starters this year.

"There are some yet unannounced that will be headline grabbing when they are announced, so there are things going on clearly.

"We have to look at ourselves as a team, from the top of the management all the way through to our technical team, to make sure we can return to winning ways as quickly as possible."