Mercedes GP - Inauguration and 1st season

[Raptor22]

its always relative Johnson.
They may have suffered (everyone did) but they suffered far less than BMW.
I think VW suffered less than all due to their quite diverse brand and model ranges but clever platform sharing.
Hence even Stuttgart would love to have accepted a budget cap but they would have prefered it to be done under the table not in the public eye like Mosley wanted it. Politics, not bad ideas scuppered the budget cap. We'll stil get it but under another name.

[marcush.]

it´s all smiles in the automotive industry again in Germany as I understand .
At least officially...

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I agree Mercedes would welcome a budget cap. For evidence of that you need only look at DTM, and how fierce rivals in Audi and Mercedes joined to cut the costs by around 40%.

Mercedes recorded their best ever sales year in 2010, so I see why they are all smiles
The main driver behind that is China, a country where F1 isnt really accepted yet.

[marcush.]

to my knowledge ,DTM is a marketing tool and costs not contributing to the tool are to be avoided.
So Mercedes and Audi are not interested in having one of the manufacturers run away and they effectively place their drivers how they want the ranking .Well,you still have to drive at the limit to get to the front...

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Well its interesting that Mercedes trounced Audi in the first year of the "non proliferation" agreement.
It is a marketing tool but an expensive one at that. I wonder how much money Mercedes sets aside for an entire season of DTM, and wether that has any impact on the running of Mercedes GP. Also (747 will probably know) will HWA have any resources that Mercedes GP could use?

OT
Looking at the modern day DTM compared to the 190E and 3 series heyday, it is a shadow of its former self.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Mercedes GP are advertising for a few positions.

TEMPORARY IT SUPPORT TECHNICIANS – 7 MONTH FIXED TERM CONTRACT

WIRING TECHNICIAN

INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT AERODYNAMICS DESIGN TEAM

INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT VEHICLE DYNAMICS AND ANALYSIS GROUP - SYSTEMS TESTING

INDUSTRIAL PLACEMENT SYSTEMS ENGINEERING, VEHICLE ENGINEERING AND DYNAMICS GROUP

DEPUTY HEAD OF MECHANICAL DESIGN

I think Mercedes have people in mind but these ads are a legal way of companies offering positions to the general market.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

Mercedes GP to be 100% Mercedes-Benz by Bahrain.

http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/form ... 81317.html

[Morteza]

That's good news for me since I am a Mercedes fan. A 100% percent Mercedes team was not the thing I expected this soon. Mercedes really wants to stay in F1 with this move.

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

That's good news for me since I am a Mercedes fan. A 100% percent Mercedes team was not the thing I expected this soon. Mercedes really wants to stay in F1 with this move.

The story does go quite deep Morteza, but yes the "3 year project" has become somthing much much bigger.
Mercedes are investing pretty heavily in CFD and sim technology at Brackley. Some benefits will be seen of that this year, but mainly we are talking 2012 before Mercedes full weight will be apparent.

My prediction is Mercedes are utilising the sporting strategy to target McLaren and Ferrari in aiming AMG as their standalone sports car. A halo product requires pedigree, and it wouldnt surprise me to see the AMG name appear once the car starts to win races.

[Morteza]

Allianz joins Mercedes GP on the grid :
http://www.sportbusiness.com/news/18296 ... n-the-grid

[marcush.]

I read yesterdays that Mercedes has opened now their new driving simulator .
The whole simulator is mounted on a SLED!!!! to give true acceeration figures.

So this huge thing is the moog 6Degree of freedom thing + a huge building where the simulator is moved around ...amazing....

They considered to have the sled mounted on a second sled (to also simulate braking force and acceleration but that was ditched due to the additional cost and space needed..

[JohnsonsEvilTwin]

I read yesterdays that Mercedes has opened now their new driving simulator .
The whole simulator is mounted on a SLED!!!! to give true acceeration figures.

So this huge thing is the moog 6Degree of freedom thing + a huge building where the simulator is moved around ...amazing....

They considered to have the sled mounted on a second sled (to also simulate braking force and acceleration but that was ditched due to the additional cost and space needed..

Is this the 150 million sim in Germany, or are you referring to Brackley?

[luca]

Button thinks Pirellis will help him

[...]
"I like the feeling of the tyre," said Button after his first day of testing Pirelli's tyres at Valencia on Thursday.

"It has a stable rear when you enter high-speed corners, you have a stable rear when you brake for low-speed corners, and that is something that I really do need with the car.
[...]
Continue reading here: http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/89277

Given that Button has quite an opposite driving style compared to Schumacher (who prefers a loose rear end, but a stable and aggressive front end), this doesn't look too good for Michael. I really hope this is not the case this time.

[marcush.]

I read yesterdays that Mercedes has opened now their new driving simulator .
The whole simulator is mounted on a SLED!!!! to give true acceeration figures.

So this huge thing is the moog 6Degree of freedom thing + a huge building where the simulator is moved around ...amazing....

They considered to have the sled mounted on a second sled (to also simulate braking force and acceleration but that was ditched due to the additional cost and space needed..

Is this the 150 million sim in Germany, or are you referring to Brackley?

it is the new sindelfingen mega bucks thing..I read they can reach up to 10m/s
http://www.daimler.com/dccom/0-5-658451 ... 0-0-0.html

[Morteza]

Mercedes GP Petronas target a top-three finish this season :
http://thestar.com.my/sports/story.asp? ... sec=sports