Merc now own Brawn

[blacktulip]

from ITV sport

Mercedes-Benz has bought a controlling stake in the world-championship winning Brawn GP team, with the outfit to run as a full ‘Silver Arrows’ works squad from next season.


The German car giant, which supplied engines to the Brackley-based squad in 2009, confirmed the long-expected move on Monday morning – announcing parent company Daimler, and Abu Dhabi-based Aabar Investments, had bought 75.1% of the team in a deal which will see it rebranded as Mercedes GP.

Daimler will be the team’s largest shareholder with 45.1% and Aabar – the biggest single stakeholder in Daimler – at 30% with the remaining equity to remain with Brawn GP’s current shareholders who include team boss Ross Brawn and CEO Nick Fry.


Mercedes also confirmed that it has agreed to continue to supply engines to long-time F1 partner McLaren until 2015, with the possibility that the relationship could extend beyond that period.

The German firm’s parent company will however cease to be a shareholder of the Woking-based outfit by 2011, with the McLaren Group to complete a phased purchase of Mercedes parent company Daimler’s 40% shareholding in the team.


McLaren will continue to be known as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, while its distinctive silver-with-red livery will remain unchanged.




Although the completion of Mercedes’s Brawn deal means team principal Brawn’s name will disappear from the squad's official title after just one glorious season, Mercedes cars president Dr Dieter Zetsche said in a conference call that the Englishman had committed to stay at the team in his current role.


Zetsche said the Brawn tie-up was the best fit for Mercedes's F1 involvement in the reduced era of costs going forward, with the carmaker excited by the prospect of competing with its own team for the first time since 1955.

“Mercedes-Benz is the most valued and best-known premium automotive brand in the world," he said.

"This brand looks for competition of the utmost quality in all relevant fields in order to continually improve its performance in the face of such new challenges.

“Due to the new Formula 1 environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team.

“Our new Silver Arrow Formula 1 team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm.”

No drivers have yet been confirmed for the newly-rebranded squad, but German driver Nico Rosberg is almost certain to be one of them with the young star having already had his departure from Williams confirmed.

World champion Jenson Button had yet to agree a new deal with the team before the Mercedes takeover was announced, with the Briton and the outfit having yet to agree on financial terms.

Increasing speculation in recent days has suggested he could defect to McLaren, having toured the team's Technology Centre last week.

[blacktulip]

Ross Brawn says the Mercedes-led takeover of his team means the long-term future of the double title-winning outfit is now secure.


The Englishman led a management buyout of the Brackley squad in February following former owner Honda’s sudden Formula 1 withdrawal some two months previously and went on to enjoy a fairytale season, becoming the only team in history to win the world championship in its debut year.


However, Brawn had made it clear soon after his deal to save the team that it needed a longer-term solution to prosper in the future and now, having concluded a deal which will see Daimler and its investor Aabar acquire 75.1% of the team, he believes it can look forward to a bright future.


"Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months,” he said in a statement.



“From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines, winning both the constructors' and drivers' world championships, and now accepting Daimler and Aabar's offer to buy our team, which will secure its future”.


Brawn will stay on as team principal at the head of the existing management structure at the new Mercedes GP operation, while also retaining a shareholding in the team.


He admits he’s honoured at the prospect of leading the German car giant’s first F1 works team since the 1950s and hopes it can achieve the results to match Mercedes’s faith in the squad.


"Both I and my fellow directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances,” he said.


“The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1 next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team."


Mercedes confirmed that its new team will continue to work out of its long-time home in Brackley, with Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug charged with coordinating operations between the factory and the German firm’s engine centre in nearby Brixworth.

[blacktulip]

While Mercedes had been expected to buy into Brawn GP for months, the detail of how the deal would be structured, and the future of the German carmaker's involvement with McLaren, only emerged when the takeover was confirmed on Monday.


ITV.com/F1 columnist James Allen looks at how Mercedes’s realigned Formula 1 plans work out for both Brawn and McLaren, explains why the manufacturer has switched allegiances and how this all impacts on the increasingly fascinating driver market.


The legendary Silver Arrows works Mercedes-Benz F1 team will return to Formula 1 racing next season for the first time in 55 years.

Mercedes-Benz will have its own F1 team next season as it is buying 75.1% of the Brawn team.

Mercedes CEO Dr Dieter Zetsche and Mercedes motorsport chief Norbert Haug announced in a conference call this morning that the Brackley squad will be rebranded as the Mercedes team from next season onwards and the colour scheme will change to the Silver Arrow livery.

An artist’s impression of the new look car will be made public later today.


The effects for Brawn and McLaren


The move allows Mercedes to have its own brand to the fore, rather than subservient to the McLaren brand, for a fraction of the cost of what they have spent in the past on F1, thanks to the resource restriction agreement and greater commercial revenues.


The move is a massive vote on confidence in Ross Brawn personally.

The former Ferrari technical director had nothing left to prove after winning the championship this year with his own team, but here Mercedes are investing in him and he has committed to stay with the team for an undisclosed period, in addition to retaining a shareholding.

By rough estimates, presuming that he held a majority stake in Brawn GP, he must have personally made around £30 million this year from taking on the team from Honda for £1 and then reselling it nine months later.


McLaren’s Ron Dennis responded with a statement saying that the deal was a “win-win” for both companies and that his team would continue to be called Vodafone McLaren Mercedes and would retain its silver and red livery.

Mercedes will continue to supply engines to McLaren until 2015.

Dr Zetsche said that the reason for the move away from McLaren was that the two companies were not aligned on road car projects, with McLaren pushing forwards with a new sportscar, the MP4/12C which is a direct competitor to Mercedes supercar programme.

He refused to be drawn on what effect the spy scandal of 2007 and this year’s lying scandal had on their decision.





The deal in detail


Although this move has been foreshadowed for some time, the execution is subtly different from what has been rumoured.

First the Abu Dhabi investment company Aabar is taking a 30% shareholding in the team, with Mercedes taking 45.1% and Brawn directors keeping the remaining 24.9%.

It had been speculated that Aabar would hold the entire 75% until the end of 2011 when the contract with McLaren was due to expire.

By giving away certain rights, McLaren and Mercedes have arrived at a compromise which works for both parties and allows the Mercedes brand to be at the forefront of its new F1 project.

Dr Zetsche said: “Our relationship with McLaren was affected in recent years by the fact that the other shareholders were interested in building up a new automotive company building sports cars and supersports cars.

“That was not in the interests of Daimler and Mercedes Benz and because of this lack of alignment we were discussing to withdraw and McLaren group agreed to purchase 40% shares from Daimler within the next three years.”

“We can now rearrange our F1 activities with the consequence that we will reduce our F1 budget to about a quarter of what it used to be.

“We want to accomplish that in the next two years.

“The reason for that is the resource restrictions agreement between the teams and the FIA, greater revenues from the commercial rights and greater revenues from partnerships and sponsorships as the Silver Arrows works team.

“We are acquiring 75% of a team which has been very well funded to begin with.”

Mercedes is very cannily taking over a team which is perfectly suited to the F1 business model of the future, which has been built up with Honda’s money.

The company invested over £70 million in 2007/8 building up the infrastructure.

Logistically it makes perfect sense, Mercedes Benz High Performance Engines facility is based in Northampton, 20 miles away down the A43 from Brawn’s Brackley base. They are either side of the M1 motorway.


Who will drive for Mercedes GP?


Drivers-wise we are none the wiser as to what the state of play is, although Haug said that he hoped to announce the drivers next week or the week after.

Jenson Button and his management have made a big play of wanting to be ‘valued’ but they may have got their timing and tactics wrong.

They have tried to back Brawn into a corner.

But I cannot help but feel that Button should have taken the £4 million on offer and signed a contract this Autumn and just got on with it.

Brawn’s team is clearly the place to be and to risk losing everything for the sake of a few million quid when you have fought for your whole career to be in the right car, seems counterintuitive.

Button will have known about this takeover for some time and Mercedes will have been involved in the background of the decision making process.

It presumably means that neither Brawn nor Mercedes rate Button that highly if they are putting him where they are in the negotiations.

Four drivers are in play here – Button, Rosberg, Raikkonen and Heidfeld.

There are three seats available. Although Rosberg may well be the German driver sitting in the Mercedes car for the next two years, there is no doubt in my mind whatsoever that Sebastian Vettel is the driver they want long term and he will become available in 2012.

You have to wonder about Mercedes’ plans for Lewis Hamilton too.


His contract with McLaren is for five years from 2008, but I can imagine that Mercedes and Hamilton would be factoring each other into their plans for the future.

[WickedPlans]

I must admit I was quite shocked when I heard this story, but it looks like it is a good move for Brawn.
Ross deserves every penny of that profit he has earned. He took a team from nothing, to World Champion inside a year.
It's good to see that he will remain at the helm, but I am concerned about the driver line up. Time will tell.
Heidfeld is a good reliable driver with plenty of experience. Rosberg has yet to show his true potential.
Having said that, I never expected Jensen and Rubens to do so well this year.

[gizzy]

Major driver shake up, but you notice it's all German drivers...German team. No suprise.

I would think Mr Vettel will soon be coming over to this franchise. They have to work through the sticky contracts to make this happen.

My prediction is that Seb will eventually come over here...just a matter of time.

Maybe our Brazilian fan club freind of Seb will chime in?