Mercedes GP - Schumacher returns

Well after weeks of speculation the Mercedes GP team have finally announced Michael Schumacher's return to F1. Swopping a one time WDC for a 7 time WDC is quite a coup for Mercedes and will certainly leverage plenty of sponsorship in the Mercedes GP teams direction. The question will now clearly linger until the first race though, 'Has Schumacher still got it?' MS will turn 41 in January and has reportedly signed a 3 year deal with Mercedes which will take him just shy of his 44th birthday.
Nico Rosberg will now be the apprentice to what some argue is the best driver F1 has ever seen, but how will he feel about this when he clearly had ambitions to be the Mercedes No1 driver?
Ross Brawn will clearly be delighted at the prospect of working with Michael again in such a devestating partnership.

Schumacher's lingering decision has also held off Nick Heidfeld from signing for Sauber some i'm sure we will see him move quickly back in that direction now the deal is done.

Read more...

Mercedes GP - Title Sponsor - Petronas

When BMW exited the sport it was thought that Petronas would also use BMW's exit as a strategy to leave F1 sponsorship. However today Mercedes GP have announced a deal that will see Petronas with a bold statement of F1 intent all over the first iteration of the new Silvers Arrows.

Excerpt from http://www.autosport.com/

"Everyone at Mercedes GP is delighted to confirm out long-term agreement with Petronas," said team principal Ross Brawn.

"Our plans for the new season are progressing well, as is the development of our 2010 challenger. We look forward to seeing the car run in the new Silver Arrows and Petronas livery at Valencia."

Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug added: "Mercedes-Benz and Petronas will work together both on and off the track. Petronas' home base in Kuala Lumpur is in a fast-growing region for the automotive industry, which makes this new partnership even more valuable."

Mercedes have also released some more mock images of the Silver Arrow with the Petronas livery

Read more...

Mercedes GP - Jenson Button's Future

Reports this morning from the Guardian are that Jenson has signed or is about to sign a 3 year deal with McLaren for 6 Million a year. This will see the No1 and 2 transferred to the McLaren team.

Read more...

Norbert Haug on Mercedes buying into Brawn GP

Read more...

Mercedes-Benz GP - The Silver Arrows Return

Mercedes-Benz have today confirmed that they are to take a 75.1% stake in the Brawn GP Formula One team and convert Brawn GP to a full works Mercedes-Benz team. In unison they also announced their 15 year tie in with McLaren will be downsized with McLaren to purchase back the 40% stake that Mercedes have invested in McLaren over the next 2 years.

No announcement was made on the driver line up that the team shall field although Nico Rosberg is almost certain to be included in the German Marques roster. Jenson Button and Nick Heidfeld are said to be the 2 drivers most likely to fill the other vacant slot with Jenson seeming to be my only viable choice. Wherever Jenson rests his cap will decide who drives with the No1 and No2 emblazened on their cars for 2010, this could be pivitol in his decision.

The full Brawn GP statement can be found here: http://www.brawngp.com/readstory.asp?bgp=j%C1%AA%C0rZ%7Cg

Read more...

Brawn GP - Mercedes set to make F1 announcement

While typing this the Mercedes board are about to make an announcement regarding it's F1 future. It's muted that the announcement will be in regards to their buy in of the Brawn GP team. Specualtion is rife this morning that they will also announce the driver line up and that Jenson may even be on the move to McLaren to partner Lewis. I don't understand the move personally as this would move Brawn GP backwards in the garage allocation with JB taking the 1 and 2 numbers to McLaren. Why would Mercedes buy into BGP to strengthen their grasp on the ownership of an F1 team only to push out the driver the team is built around?

Read more...

Brawn GP - Abu Dhabi - Post Qualifying Fuel Weights

Pos  Driver       Weight (kg)
 1.  Hamilton     658.5
 2.  Vettel       663.0
 3.  Webber       660.0
 4.  Barrichello  655.0
 5.  Button       657.0
 6.  Trulli       661.0
 7.  Kubica       654.5
 8.  Heidfeld     664.0
 9.  Rosberg      665.0
10.  Buemi        661.5
11.  Raikkonen    692.0*
12.  Kobayashi    694.3*
13.  Kovalainen   697.0*
14.  Nakajima     704.0*
15.  Alguersuari  696.5*
16.  Alonso       708.3*
17.  Liuzzi       695.0*
18.  Sutil        696.0*
19.  Grosjean     710.8*
20.  Fisichella   692.5*
 
* Declared weight
 

Read more...