Mercedes ‘wants own F1 team’
Car magazine, reporting on a potential business alliance between Mercedes and Aston Martin, also reveals Mercedes future ambitions for its own F1 team:
Says a senior source at Daimler: ‘Our agreement with McLaren won’t last forever [Mercedes holds a 40 percent stake in McLaren]. There will be no replacement for the SLR, and as soon as the price is right, we are interested in taking over the F1 business.’
Mercedes became McLaren’s engine supplier in 1995, and together they won three titles in 1998 and 1999. No further titles have followed, though there have been several near-misses.
The two collaborated on the Mercedes SLR McLaren supercar, but there are no future collaborations of the sort in the pipeline.
It isn’t the first time rumours have arisen suggesting Mercedes wants its own F1 team. Could it end up going the same way as its domestic rival BMW, which became frustrated in its partnership with a British F1 team (Williams) and instead took over another F1 outfit (Sauber)?
Mercedes’ links with McLaren run far longer and deeper than BMW’s did with Williams, and the team may deliver its first title in nine years next week. But you can never take it for granted in F1 that things will remain the same forever.
duva said on 23rd October 2008, 22:04
Mercedes and BMW will start cooperation on road cars, according to news I read today. Maybe they could change BMW Sauber F1 to BMW Mercedes F1? ;)
Seriously, I think Mercedes will do nothing at the moment. First, the economic turmoil around the world. We don’t know if it will effect more race organizers or sponsors. Second, the proposed changes to F1 with standard engines. Do they really even want to be in F1 a few years form now if it turn into a cheap standard series, or will they again go for sports cars?
Journeyer said on 24th October 2008, 0:35
A point we must remember, though, is… does Mercedes think they’re getting enough bang for their buck? That is, given that they’re already spending so much for F1, would it be more profitable or cost-efficient to them to just buy the whole lot and do as they please? As it is, they can’t do that with the McLaren structure in place.
My bet: if McLaren wins at least the WDC with Lewis this weekend, such buyout talk will die down. All the more so if McLaren snatch the WCC from Ferrari too. But if Lewis or his car chokes at Interlagos, Mercedes may get a bit sick of celebrating 10 years without a WCC and 9 years without any title.
Manatcna said on 24th October 2008, 2:47
This “news” is not news at all, just another rumour.
But apart from that, I agree it’s not the money keeping Toyota back, it’s just the fact that you can’t run a successful F1 team from the boardroom – Just look back at Jaguar.
Dane said on 24th October 2008, 3:58
Hurry up and go solo mercedes!! The sooner the better
Keith Collantine (@keithcollantine) said on 24th October 2008, 9:01
Manatcna – Which is why I referred to it as a ‘rumour’ and not ‘news’.
michael counsell said on 25th October 2008, 0:26
Jean why not go a step further and refer to Senna as “Him”…
Maybe Mclaren are too grey for Mercedes’ silver.
Manatcna said on 25th October 2008, 3:49
“Manatcna – Which is why I referred to it as a ‘rumour’ and not ‘news’.”
I Know – Just agreeing with you
DG said on 27th October 2008, 9:58
By saying ‘when the price is right’ do Mercedes expect McLaren to sell everything to them? Or are the talking generally about when its affordable to run a team in F1?
I don’t see McLaren giving up racing when Big Ron retires, it is more likely to grow and develop under Martin Whitmarsh, and as others have pointed out, the team will find another engine supplier – McLaren Cosworth maybe?
As for Mercedes, it wasn’t that long ago they were using Sauber designs for sports cars, which turned into Mercedes sports cars, and were supplying engines for the Sauber F1 team. They are also supplying the engines to teams in the British F3 series, so F1 is not their only source of open-wheel ideas.
It would be interesting to see whether a pure factory Mercedes F1 team would race alongside McLaren-Mercedes in the future, and maybe an reborn Prodrive-Mercedes too…
DG said on 28th October 2008, 8:53
Oh, and a Mercedes – Aston Martin tie up? Isn’t the man who owns Prodrive now also the proud owner of Aston Martin? No link there then….
And er, Aston Martin have a habit of winning of GT Races (including class leaders at Le Mans), so at the moment they are probably worth considering to Mercedes, especially since A-M will need engines once their deal with Ford runs out….
Also, a quick look in any car magazine this week will show how Mercedes are building the replacement for the SLR themselves…..
And finally, please remember that although the engines in the McLarens are badged as Mercedes, they are actually built by Ilmor in Essex, with a little help from AMG….so whats to stop McLaren using genuine Ilmors in the future?
Two posts together? Naughty DG!!
Alejandro said on 28th October 2008, 15:12
Most interesting! did not know this, is it this?
http://www.ilmor.co.uk/index.php
got any more info on that? i couldn’t find much about it