Mercedes buys Brawn

[MCS]

Wow - What do you think of the latest news!?!

They're still going to supply engines to McLaren for another 5 years, but I view this as huge news.

I'm bummed that BMW stepped out of the lineup. Would of been fun to watch BMW battle Merc on the F1 circuits.

Hope no other big names give up on F1 (Renault).

[E90SLAM]

It just make sense for Renault to leave F1, after all the drama couple months ago. (and i blame fucking Piquet Jr for this). ING left them, they do not have a competitive car and the drivers are not the best. Its going to be a tough year for them in 2010.

Don't forget Renault has yet to decide if they are going to stay or leave next season.

[FStop7]

Nick Heidfeld is the luckiest man in F1

[KANdaddy]

nice! I wonder how this will effect McLaren. Will Brawn have a competitive advantage of Hamilton given they are the #1 MB team now?

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

nice! I wonder how this will effect McLaren. Will Brawn have a competitive advantage of Hamilton given they are the #1 MB team now?

Guess nothing for now until their contract and partnership ends in 2015. Then McLaren will be a fully independent team with their OWN engine. Like the supercar MP4-12C.

[vgame64]

Originally Posted by FStop7

Nick Heidfeld is the luckiest man in F1

Haha, yeah. He's not a bad driver though...just needs a great car and he will shine.

[xbook]

This is surely very big news. But, I do have to say this didn't come as a HUGE surprise. Brawn and MB have been linked ever since they threw an MB power plant in the back of the Brawn car.

To me what is MORE interesting is how MB has decided to move away from McLaren. Those 2 companies, MB and McLaren, have been joined at the hip since the 1995 season. And at one point, I want to say shortly after the '98 season, Mercedes even went so far as to purchase a 40% stake in the McLaren group. Mercedes even went so far as to go into production with McLaren with their SLR supercar. Although, I am not familiar with all of the details of that partnership. It had always seemed that McLaren would somehow turn into the Mercedes-Benz GP team.

So, to me, for the Brawn GP team to be taken over by MB is a HUGE slap in the face for the McLaren Group. No doubt the decision being influenced by the 2 "transgressions" the McLaren F1 Team had with the regulations, over the past 18 months or so. Sounds like MB wanted a team that didn't have the "baggage" of the Maccas. Something they could mold into the image they are looking for, and maybe not a team with "issues" with their credibility.

Oh and yeah, the Brawn team did win the WDC and the WCC. That might have counted for something

Sure hope the folks @ Brawn have a chance to line their pockets. And not just the higher ups. Hopefully the rank and file see something good from this too.

[nordique14]

Originally Posted by xbook

Sure hope the folks @ Brawn have a chance to line their pockets. And not just the higher ups. Hopefully the rank and file see something good from this too.

You know Ross made out well. He bought the team from Honda for nothing. Only one year later and I am sure MB paid him very well for it.

[1BMW4fun]

This is big news, although I dont think it was a slap on the face for McLaren. I have a feeling that they intended to be independent for awhile and gave Mercedes a big heads up. I think they want to head down the Ferrari road of producing their own street/F1 cars with their own engine.

Anyone think they are going to be competitive next season with Ferrari and McLaren? Although McLaren will still retain the silver and red so it would be two Mercedes teams on the grid.

[rzm3]

wow wonder how much Russ Brawn made from this

[escobar929]

wow, didnt see this one coming but guess it makes sense since they were already using MB engines

[Ramos]

Originally Posted by xbook

This is surely very big news. But, I do have to say this didn't come as a HUGE surprise. Brawn and MB have been linked ever since they threw an MB power plant in the back of the Brawn car.

To me what is MORE interesting is how MB has decided to move away from McLaren. Those 2 companies, MB and McLaren, have been joined at the hip since the 1995 season. And at one point, I want to say shortly after the '98 season, Mercedes even went so far as to purchase a 40% stake in the McLaren group. Mercedes even went so far as to go into production with McLaren with their SLR supercar. Although, I am not familiar with all of the details of that partnership. It had always seemed that McLaren would somehow turn into the Mercedes-Benz GP team.

So, to me, for the Brawn GP team to be taken over by MB is a HUGE slap in the face for the McLaren Group. No doubt the decision being influenced by the 2 "transgressions" the McLaren F1 Team had with the regulations, over the past 18 months or so. Sounds like MB wanted a team that didn't have the "baggage" of the Maccas. Something they could mold into the image they are looking for, and maybe not a team with "issues" with their credibility.

Oh and yeah, the Brawn team did win the WDC and the WCC. That might have counted for something

Sure hope the folks @ Brawn have a chance to line their pockets. And not just the higher ups. Hopefully the rank and file see something good from this too.

WRONG... Mclaren wants to be a fully independent car manufacturer, they already shown production ready pictures of their upcoming MP4-12c street car which looks amazing... Mercedes cannot continue to race with them when they are about to become competitors in the street car front...
As a matter of fact, the upcoming Mclaren will not have a Merc powertrain and the Merc SLS was not co-developed by Mclaren like the SLR was...

I think they are just going their seperate ways, no one is bitch slapping the other, Mclaren will but back the Merc 40% share in exchange for engine supply through 2015...

It all makes sense

[Ramos]

Just saw the numbers on this deal...

75% Ross Brawn stake was sold for a mere 110M British Pounds
He had bought the team from Honda a year earlier for a nominal value of 1 euro

Now that is a nice return on investment !!!!

[MCS]

nice bit of arbitrage there Ross...

Although he was the perfect insider. He knew and directed how much research/investment Honda had given to the 2009 Brawn car...

I just read that Jenson has signed with McLaren. Boo - i was hoping Kimi would take that spot.

Maybe Kimi will sign with Brawn? 2010 is shaping up to be a very interesting season...

[KonigsTiger]

Originally Posted by Ramos

WRONG... Mclaren wants to be a fully independent car manufacturer, they already shown production ready pictures of their upcoming MP4-12c street car which looks amazing... Mercedes cannot continue to race with them when they are about to become competitors in the street car front...
As a matter of fact, the upcoming Mclaren will not have a Merc powertrain and the Merc SLS was not co-developed by Mclaren like the SLR was...

I think they are just going their seperate ways, no one is bitch slapping the other, Mclaren will but back the Merc 40% share in exchange for engine supply through 2015...

It all makes sense

Yea, I think this is more in line with what really happened. Have any drivers been confirmed yet?

[Ramos]

Mclaren: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
Brawn (Mercedes GP): Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld

[KonigsTiger]

Originally Posted by Ramos

Mclaren: Lewis Hamilton and Jenson Button
Brawn (Mercedes GP): Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld

Rosberg and Heidfeld??? Hmmmm, I don´t know, vs. Hamilton/Button and Alonso/Massa!! More hmmmmm. They gotta get better drives if Mercedes really wants to pounce on all the rest.

[rzm3]

Bloomberg: Daimler and Aabar paid $185 million for 75% stake in Brawn GP.

So Brawn is worth about $250 million!

[Ramos]

Yep, Ross has managed the biggest return on investment in the history of man...
Turning 1 Euro into 200 Million in 1 year...

[E90SLAM]

Originally Posted by Ramos

Yep, Ross has managed the biggest return on investment in the history of man...
Turning 1 Euro into 200 Million in 1 year...

technically less than a year...
he didn't buy Honda until the last minute in early months of 2009....

[rzm3]

so how much exactly did Ross Brawn pay for Honda F1?

I've searched many web sites and looks like it was quite a secretive deal...