So, who would they buy? Williams? I can't see them constructing a new team from scratch. They bought Brawn to get back into F1. And what would they call it? Benz? Maybach? Smart? https://www.motorsportweek.com/news/id/16560
As the former owner of not one, but two, SmartCars, I can see a certain humorous appeal to having the SmartCar brand in Formula 1. All the best, Andrew.
Immediately when I saw the title of the post you hit the first thought in my head re Williams. I don't think I could see an outright purchase of another team, but an involved partnership would make sense. Call it Williams-Maybach or the like. Since 2015 Mercedes have a fully floating and profitable F1 team so it makes perfect sense that they may want to expand their already Himalayan presence.
Williams have shown with their dealings with BMW, that they won't have anything more than an arms length relationship with an OEM. Force India would be the natural partner. It's an existing customer, well run (unlike Williams) and the owners would sell a stake or be open to closer relationship with more $$, given their personal legal situation.
I agree. Force India looks to be the likely candidate SHOULD Mercedes acquire B-team PLUS the drivers of FI are way better than the Williams drivers IMO.
I can see the logic behind a RBR/STR format system to have a feeder team to develop drivers while keeping more Mercedes branding on the track. The name probably doesn't matter as much, but I would see them using Daimler instead of Maybach honestly. Lots of subsidiaries under Daimler whereas Maybach is really just a sub-model of their S-class model and a full fledged brand is not coming back anytime soon or in big sales/revenue.
Williams makes a lot of sense,they are in a maze right now ,with no obvious way out.MB could come in with a big hedge trimmer and bring them back to where the belong. Not to mention putting some decent drivers in there,they have a few waiting in the wings already.
If they buy a team it will be Force India. a) it's for sale b) think it still is dollar for dollar the best performing team
I don’t think Alfa will be such a massive event for ferrari, it’s a non-issue really........ they will get a version of the ferrari tech, and maybe, on occassion, perform ‘in race testing’ of components for the works team, providing no risk to the scuderia feedback on items...... if they work, they go onto the works car next race, if they fail, it was just the mid field Alfa that didn’t reach the end. They won’t have the autonomy to win, but there may be a few additional ‘must comply’ statements added to the team radios codes as in ‘get the **** out the way, Seb/Kimi is coming through’ and hopefully ‘get the **** IN THE WAY, and punt elton off if you get the chance’
So are you suggesting they rebrand ‘red bull’? Now that would be something..... Mercedes engines plus newey honing their aero......**** me no one will catch up till the oil runs out.
Was thinking more in terms of Force India renamed Aston with as it was about to happen already in 2016 https://www.motorsport.com/f1/news/force-india-door-still-open-for-aston-martin-partnership-676096/
Ahhhh, I didn’t hear about that, I’ve only heard about the red bull connections more recently Sent from my iPhone using FerrariChat.com mobile app
JANUARY 12, 2018 Mercedes to keep supporting ousted Wehrlein Mercedes will continue to support Pascal Wehrlein, even though there is no place for the ousted Sauber driver on the 2018 grid. As Toto Wolff was campaigning for the 23-year-old to be considered by Williams, he warned that Mercedes cannot financially prop up the German's place in F1 forever. But after Wehrlein lost his Sauber seat to Ferrari junior Charles Leclerc for 2018, Wolff now says Mercedes will keep backing the 2015 DTM title winner. "Pascal definitely deserves a place in formula one," Wolff is quoted by Italy's Autosprint. "He is among the fastest drivers. "At the moment things seem a little difficult regarding the available seats, but he will absolutely remain in our team." However, an exact role for Wehrlein within the Mercedes programme is yet to be announced. "It is not clear if he will race in a category outside formula one, but what is certain is that he will remain part of our team," Wolff added. The man who decided to oust Wehrlein - new Sauber chief Frederic Vasseur - admitted it is tough for some of F1's younger drivers to make their way in the category. "Even if a newcomer is very competitive it is not easy for him," the Frenchman is quoted by Auto Hebdo. "This is evident in Mercedes and Ferrari, who do not risk putting their drivers Ocon or Leclerc in their cars because the stakes are too high. "Instead they give their drivers experience in partner teams. The top teams do not feel confident in their young drivers," Vasseur added.
The answer, mr vasseur, is allow in season testing, and allow testing teams to run alongside the main team if and when someone wants too, that way, these young drivers get tested in a formula one car, and one or two might obviously quickly make the grade required for a works team, or might show the talent only to start in the B and C teams before being considered. I have no doubt that if LeClerc had been driving the works ferrari in testing last year for any decent mileage (which would be impossible given the limitations) then he may well have been in Kimi’s seat this year because he would be a measured bet, rather than a wildcard. You can’t expect teams to take a flyer on new drivers untested in the car, because it not only could cost you points, but it could cost you valuable development information if they aren’t able to perform at the highest limits of the car
