Nick Fry out of Merc

[Rob W]

Merc apparently got him out of shareholding so that he will not be able to profit from future success. That will have come at the price of a long term contract.

Of course, they did give him a couple of million dollars last year so he's probably not that bummed. He can go on to another team under the guise of being a success.

[Giblet]

Pitpass is where I go for some decent editorials. I can understand them not being used as purely news source. Many of the people at pitpass are tied in very close with a lot of F1 personnel. Sometimes a rumor has no weight, but if you don't report it, and it turns out to be true, there is little point in being there, as all kinds of others WILL report it. Most of these sites are there to make money, and get eyeballs, so they all must be taken with a grain of salt.

I never liked Fry, but I also don't have a logical reason. His eyes being too small and twinkly for his face is not a valid reason.

Honda was aimless and peaky under him. They had a fast car in 2004, then couldn't figure it out, and 2005 was a dog. 2006 Jenson scored the most points in the last half of the season, but their 2007 car was abysmal, and the 2008 fixed nothing. Demoralized the whole team. 2009 was a good car, because of Ross Brawn putting resources where it was needed, and basically starting over.

Fry was a help of course, but I bet the BGP001 would have been a championship winning car with or without him.

[segedunum]

Surely it's only a matter of time? I've always been suspicious of Nick Fry and that team, in its various incarnations, and its inability to get credible sponsorship in. The Henkel thing should have been the final straw.

[Giblet]

As far as I read, the guy who claimed to represent Henkel was an expert con man.

Usually, if a representative from a large company wants to give you money, you don't assume that they are not on the up and up.

Sure maybe some i's weren't dotted and t's not crossed, but as far as mistakes go, I think it was an honest one.

The con man AFAIK used the contract as collateral to get himself a loan.

[tarzoon]

Well for one thing he immediately turned on Jenson questioning his loyalty to the team when Jenson (while looking for another job, and feeling the speculative breath of Schumacher on his overalls) visited Woking on a job interview.

Another was the supposed sponsorship he had secured from Brazil before the season (2009) began, which failed to materialise.

Another was his inability to secure sponsorship to a winning car in 2009.

Another was his naivity in getting Mercedes involved in the Henkel con.

I could go on...

Comments about loyalty and jumping ship and all sorts of crap come in and immediately out - almost like a condom: put it, use it, throw it away. You got what you wanted without long-term impact. Monty, Ron Dennis, Flavio and so many others are even better than Fry at it. It was actually quite a flat comment, IMO.

Yes, I read those also, and I remember his comment during the Brazilian GP regarding new sponsors. Still, I don't know what happened back there. And as far as sponsorship goes, Virgin pulled out because BrawnGP became an expensive team - Richard Brandson's words.

Securing sponsorship with or without a winning car was difficult. They were probably in a huge fix: how do you ask a company to pay millions for a team that could be a one-trick pony? Can you convince then otherwise or will you go cheap? Easy judging from a distance

If you read my comment again, you'll notice I mentioned that he was liked by BGP/Merc employees. Clearly you're not one of them.