It wasn't so long ago we'd have said the same things about Williams. McLaren are in serious trouble now they've lost the Mercedes backing.
Belgium Grand Prix 2010, Spa-Francorchamps Circuit - Race 13/19
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It wasn't so long ago we'd have said the same things about Williams. McLaren are in serious trouble now they've lost the Mercedes backing.
Let's hope they atleast go back to red and White !
I'm not so sure about this.
They certainly are not able to produce the quality of car which RBR have now been producing for the last 2 years, however, at their disposal, McLaren have 2 fantastic drivers, who should be able to make up any performance gaps.
McLarens big problem will be if Ferrari come up with a super fast car...in the hands of Alonso, they won't be able to rely on Hamilton's skill to make up the difference in performance. Another problem could be if Vettel gets his act together.
Only time will tell if the lack of Mercedes backing will make any difference. Personally, in the next few years, I think Ferrari will be the strongest, specifically because of Alonso, but McLaren should also be competitive as they have (arguably), the fastest driver in F1.
Man of Honour
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McLaren have much stronger backing though. They are pushing into production car manufacturing and have a lot of money coming in from the middle east. Plus the way mercedes are dealing with Brawn GP, I think McLaren are best shot of them.
Not a chance, they would rather still have them as a title contributor. The reason Brawn/Mercedes will continue to be crap and they will be crap next year as well is because they are a small team with funding but not the right areas to spend it. The same as BAR and then Honda. Always next year, always giving up on the car mid season.
The difference is made up in the depth of knowlwdge of the personel and facilities at Mclaren over a Mercedes/Brawn.
Mercedes start with a bad car and will end with one, they don't have the depth to focus on multiple areas like Mclaren or Ferrari. Mclaren are constantly evolving and learning from mistakes, pumping effort at finding where they went wrong. I've lost count of the number of years even going back to 97 where they start with a car that isn't the best and finish the season with the fastest car.
If Honda had come back to F1 and joined Mclaren, they would have won multiple titles together again. They made a mistake like BMW/Toyota did thinking they could do it all themselves.
Williams died because they didn't find other areas to increase funding, Mclaren did and so can easily survive and adapt without Mercedes funding.
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I'm not sure of the extent to which McLaren have lost the backing of Mercedes. I believe that they have Mercedes engines until 2015 and they seem more than capable of producing pretty decent F1 cars. Their independence may actually give them greater flexibility (in terms of decision making, not wing design of course
).You do rather wonder whether Mercedes are regretting their decision to buy Brawn GP?
If mclaren were that worried about losing merc backing surely they wouldn't have spent a large chunk of money buying their independence from merc?
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Many think this is why Mercedes took over Brawn GP, it was a clever way of pulling out/reducing investment into F1. They give the team hardly any money. Hell, the team have already spent the little money they were given this year - hence starting development of last years car.
Surely not just after 1 year?
F1 is an investment which rarely gives immediate results. Any manufacturer/investor should wait at least 3 years before they make their decision of pulling out or continuing...unless of course they have completely run out of money.
I actually think that Mercedes GP could do well, but they have to concentrate their efforts on a single driver and not some 41 year old who is past his best. MSc can definitely help speed up development of the vehicle, but in all fairness, he is neck and neck with Rosberg now and unless he has a better car than Ferrari or McLaren, he can't possibly hope to be able to beat Alonso/Hamilton to the title.
If Mercedes are serious about F1, they would do well, to bring in somebody like Kubica, who has shown that he is a decent driver and in a good car, looks capable fo challenging the top drivers. The jury is still out on Rosberg.
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I just don't see it though. I just find it very hard to believe that Brawn and Schumacher would both be there if it was so obvious that Mercedes would never be a contender.
And those guys know a hell of a lot more about successful F1 teams than anyone here.
And those guys know a hell of a lot more about successful F1 teams than anyone here.
mercedes is one of the smallest teams on the grid they have half the staff of some of the teams and mercedes arent spending a lot of money as brawn has already said.
it was a way for mercedes to almost pull out of formula one but to stay visible without spending loads of money every year.
also F-duct still not working team seems to have gave up.
blown diffuser , still melting after claiming they had used more heat resistant materials.
even lotus are getting upgrades right and moving forward mercedes are doing another brawnGP accept this time they didnt have the fastest car on the grid to start with.
This is true, however, like any sport, there is no such thing as a sure thing. Everything is gamble.
When the season started if you remember, MS, Brawn, Mercedes...they were all claiming that they would be going for race wins and the title this year. They made this prediction, despite knowing that MSc had not raced in 3 years and that Alonso and Hamilton were now in competitive cars. Even when it became clear, after race 1 that RBR had the best car, they still continued to say that they were going for the title.
Based on the above, although they do know a lot about winning and how to win, their accuracy for predicting their success rate, is not high.
My own take is that they need to get themselves a new lead driver OR produce a car which is so much quicker than the opposition that even a lesser driver can win the title for them.
For all those stating that Mercedes are small team on a low budget...according to the following article:
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40573
Mercedes' budget is only topped by Ferrari. They are the 2nd richest team in F1.
http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=40573
Mercedes' budget is only topped by Ferrari. They are the 2nd richest team in F1.
its an ESTIMATED budget probably based on the amount of money mercedes got from cmlaren and what brawngp's budget would probably have been.
brawn already said mercedes havent invested much in the team but its there if he wants it.
how can a team that is already under what the proposed staff cap have the second highest budget when they have half the man power of most teams.
brawn already said mercedes havent invested much in the team but its there if he wants it.
how can a team that is already under what the proposed staff cap have the second highest budget when they have half the man power of most teams.
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Very interesting that Sauber have a lower budget than Lotus.
Very true. Schumacher was very talented, but he also had a lot on his side - luck, money, people (like Brawn), a second fiddle team mate, the FIA, other teams coming out with exceptionally bad designs. All in all, it worked out very well for him. Until Bernie realised his dominance was killing the support and subsequently tried to change rules etc. to try to bring it to and end.
Exactly, to a large extent it was a case of being in the right place at the right time, Schumacher himself could spend the next 20yrs at Mercedes but he'll never have it as good as before.
I doubt another driver will ever match his record outside of extraordinary circumstances.
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Seeing that Red & White was a Marlboro sponsorship colour and the current Silver is a McLaren colour (nothing to do with Merc) I wouldn't hold my breath for that one. Orange and Black, on the other hand, now we are talking.
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You do remember that they laid off a lot of staff there just as it turned to Brawn GP? Before that they had one of the largest elvels of staff, and to my knowledge (given to me by someone who worked for the team) had too many people working there. They are now at a level that is correct and doesn't contain bloat.
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I would expect them to go back to a red and white colour scheme though not in the style that we all know and love.