Mercedes AMG F1 Team 2012

[Dragonfly]

^ fiohaa This. Pity I can give only one vote.

[marcush.]

well,reality is:
not RedBull or Mclaren or Ferrari are very good in handling potentially political items in fact they all give a s...t and distribute made up announcements showing the hand that is feeding them in effect (the fan base) a long nose.
It´s really fascinating how teams promote their own reputation in the same ways as we are used to with politicians and banks .they don´t hesitate to tell lies and made up stories ,hold back facts for no obvious reason and behave like selfish kids completely ignoring that at least some of their audience is living in the real world ,engineers ,scientists etc who can in fact add up the chaotic points they provide and conclude it is a complete nonsense.
But there you go .we still watch this stuff and feel connected to one or another of those . I will switch my support to Sauber
now as the sole reason for my supporting them has finaly given up on them.

I have to confess i believed in them when Schumacher committed and really had the view Brawn was the guy .X and Seg vowed from the start the whole thing would never fly ...but i would still be optimistic they would be able to turn it around.
The writing was on the wall from day one .The built quality ,attention to detail and their ability to get to the root of their issues was simply catastrophic from day 1 and the rate of progress was fitting perfectly .i finally realised understood .

[schumifan]

and on skysports he referred to kobayashi and the sauber team doing well

[SeijaKessen]

Why would Michael want to continue driving for an inept team?

MGP made a big mistake here.

Either way I am not sold on Michael being completely done driving in F1.

If he were to be on the grid in a Sauber next season, I would not be the least be surprised. I could see this retirement claim being such that he was doing it as a favor to Ross and the Hutt to keep them out of trouble. It would look really bad if Michael signed with Sauber now because the Daimler board would be asking the question of why was Hamilton signed if Michael is still available? By announcing retirement for now, then Ross and the Hutt can tell DrZ and the board that they had to make the move on Hamilton since Michael wasn't coming back.

If in the offseason he signed somewhere else, they can just use that excuse for not resigning him so they can't be blamed for anything.

Maybe we can put some hope into this theory. So Schumacher might still go to Sauber but waits to announce the decision until the end of the season. This would take a lot of pressure of him because the journalists don’t annoy him now anymore since he already declared his retirement. Also for Sauber it’s no big deal to announce the drivers somewhere after the season. Plenty of average drivers want to drive there but no real talent is currently available. I saw one short interview on RTL this weekend where Schumacher said something like maybe this is his ultimate decision and gave a blink with the eye to the camera. Maybe marcush saw that as well. I don’t really know how to judge it.

However, if Schumacher goes to Sauber then it will always end up that Mercedes looks bad by this and actually one reason to go there is to prove that it was the cars fault and not the drivers. The idea of him winning another WC died long time ago. I guess the guys at Mercedes where the last ones to dream of that.

Well I have a feeling Michael will never say anything bad about MGP even though most other drivers would have thrown the team under the bus for what has gone on the past 3 years.

As such, I could see him signing with Sauber. Then when asked about his retirement announcement, the easiest way to approach it would be to say, "I believed I was finished with racing in September, and said as much to the team so they could plan for their future without me. In January I was having lunch with Peter Sauber who lives not all that far from me and we got to talking about whether or not I would be involved in Formula 1 in the future. I realized during our conversation that those feelings I had of being ready to retire again were not there. I asked Peter if he would have any interest in me being on the team since Sergio left for McLaren. We came to a deal where I will race for at least the 2013 season, and I will revisit the decision after the season is over. I truly enjoy the competition and I realized I need an outlet to be competitive in. Since I can't go back to MGP, Sauber gives me an outlet, and it helps they use Ferrari engines which some of you may know I have some familiarity with."

DrZ and the board wouldn't have much to say since they can just blame him for indecisiveness. Ross and the Hutt can continue on their path of doom.

[fiohaa]

i think all this talk of him going to Sauber......even after announcing the retirement, is absolutely ludicrous lol, im sorry to say.
dont get me wrong i am diehard schumi fan...and when the retirement was announced i felt gutted, but his mission was clear from the moment he signed for Merc.

It was a 3 year plan. He said that repeatedly. Why 3 years? well he would have known back in 2009 christmas that the team wouldnt have been as strong. It might have needed 2 years to build strength, to go for a championship assault in 2012.
That would have been his long term goal - hence 3 years.
Despite his resistance to the ageing process...time simply wasnt on his side to race for more than 3 years.

maybe in hindsight, he should have only signed a 2 year deal, to leave his options open for 2012.

for me he has proven this year hes lost none of the raw speed, due to that Monaco pole, arguably the only circuit on the calendar where driver really can make a big difference on a qualifying session. hes clearly lost none of his racecraft either, and its such a shame to see him go - i would have thought 1 year at Ferrari would have been on the table as a serious option, because it ticked all the boxes, but it seems like it was never even discussed (which is strange).

but to entertain the idea that he might go to sauber, after announcing a 'fake' retirement, is just plain silly.

[marcush.]

-to bring this completely off topic:

Schumacher could do hios Friend Peter Sauber a favour and do the winter testing with the new car for them and as soon as it is a fact that this car is as competitive as desired he would rethink his retirement for one final season.

I think this is just a boys dream really.Schumacher would not do something made up like this .He will keep shut up and disappear.
I tend to believe we will see something special from him in USA -his favorite country- and in the final race .Obviously the car will not carry him to a win -if god has no soft spot for him and allows for a heavy shower ....but then ...

[mep]

I have the feeling RedBull handles a bit better with the fans than the other teams. McLaren and Mercedes are the worst when it comes down to telling lies. Well Ferrari also lies but that is to cover some cheats.

I will switch my support to Sauber now as the sole reason for my supporting them has finaly given up on them.

Welcome on board.
Whereas I still wonder if Mercedes will do better next year. They have hired a lot of new staff. Not just on top level but also on lower ones what you don’t hear in the news. At some point all this has to pay off. In contrary to the hiring of Lauda. I don’t think he will have any significant impact on the team. He said to RTL that he is a member of a board (Aufsichtsrat) and they will meet 4 times a year. I really can’t see how this should work out or bring any improvement to the team. It seems Mercedes is implementing a typical automotive organisation structure. But that is just going to distract the team from its work and essentially slow down their progress even more.

[diego1960]

Sadly, I don't see MSC switching to Sauber although I would love this scenario. You know what would be even better? I discussed it with X about a month ago, maybe less. Schumacher "disappearing" for the 2013 season and suddenly resurfacing in 2014 for Red-Bull/Audi, a marketing and athletic masterpiece it would be. One can only dream though. It would be like a dream from heaven, and I dare say that I would like the bad publicity that would haunt Merc forever in case he scored a podium/win.

Seriously, though, something doesn't add, something is weird. The MSC I saw racing today (even from TV) does not look like a beaten old-guy who wants to retire, his "battery" is not in the red-zone even if he "admits" so. He seems full of energy and the speed from his part is there, even if he doesn't enjoy battling hard for 10th with the Toro Rossos. I get the feeling that he genuinly wanted to continue if the car was competitive, and he let the decision drag until he saw some results. Somewhere there, he learned that Hamilton signed for Mercedes and found himself without a seat. At his age, I think he realizes that its his last chance of winning, an he wanted a big team but McLaren had already signed Perez, Red-Bull would keep the line-up and Ferrari was a no-go because of Alonso. His only realistic option would be Sauber but that's a big bet, who would like to risk drivnig for a midfield team that next year might field a slow car that wouldn't reach tthe points? He was only left with the "retirement" option to save face. Even in his speech on Thursday, he looked like he was acting, and badly too, just reading out of the paper without any emotion. I don't know, maybe its just me.

As for Mercedes, if Lauda does intend to stir the pot, I think they are heading for an unforseen disaster. No one can perform, regardless of their title/job in the whole Brackley organization if they are constantly in fear of a resuffle or losing their job because there is no stability and the "misty" management decides to change the team's direction. To make things worse, imagine the trouble that would be caused from Hamilton's bitching and cries of withdrawal from the sport from the Stuttgart suits if they fail to deliver.

[FoxHound]

Schumacher could do his Friend Peter Sauber a favour and do the winter testing with the new car for them and as soon as it is a fact that this car is as competitive as desired he would rethink his retirement for one final season..

That's a bit of a cop out isn't it?
"Yea let me drive it, then if it's quick I'll sign where you want". Yeaaaaaa... it doesnt work that way.

The rug got taken out on Schumacher, and in all fairness rightly so. Business cannot be conducted on the whims of a driver. Hamilton was serious about joining....and then it all fell into place.
Hamilton is going to have bite his tongue hard for the first few months....but It seems this ship is heading to choppier waters.
Saying that, They have a stay of execution, but the Hang mans noose is getting tighter on Brawn one suspects.

[marcush.]

I have the feeling RedBull handles a bit better with the fans than the other teams. McLaren and Mercedes are the worst when it comes down to telling lies. Well Ferrari also lies but that is to cover some cheats.

I will switch my support to Sauber now as the sole reason for my supporting them has finaly given up on them.

Welcome on board.
Whereas I still wonder if Mercedes will do better next year. They have hired a lot of new staff. Not just on top level but also on lower ones what you don’t hear in the news. At some point all this has to pay off. In contrary to the hiring of Lauda. I don’t think he will have any significant impact on the team. He said to RTL that he is a member of a board (Aufsichtsrat) and they will meet 4 times a year. I really can’t see how this should work out or bring any improvement to the team. It seems Mercedes is implementing a typical automotive organisation structure. But that is just going to distract the team from its work and essentially slow down their progress even more.

the board is in existance since 2009 and now Lauda is a mamber of it -chairman- the board has to release the budgets and
has a controlling vote on the doings of the CEO-Nick Fry-
Before the mercedes buyout Brawn and Fry were ceo /principal and board at the same time. The separating of these functions is quite common and useful
I don´t think Lauda will stick to this just controlling task regarding budgets and CEO ...he will get involved and stirr around as he did at jaguar -till Rahal was sacked...

as for the sauber test only deal :

why not ,Schumacher has expressed his desire to develop and contribute also in the future.He would drive a lot of interest and sponsorship towards sauber.Not a bad prospect for the team.
They have Kobayashi and others are waiting with some cash in the suitcase ..so no reason to hurry.

[Raptor22]

Schumacher could do his Friend Peter Sauber a favour and do the winter testing with the new car for them and as soon as it is a fact that this car is as competitive as desired he would rethink his retirement for one final season..

That's a bit of a cop out isn't it?
"Yea let me drive it, then if it's quick I'll sign where you want". Yeaaaaaa... it doesnt work that way.

1993,
McLaren Mp4/8
Confirmed driver: Michael Andretti
Race by race Contract driver: Aaryton Senna Da Silva

the situation is well documented.

[clipsy1H]

Guys with all respect but Michael will retire he can't afford to change his decision again...... i don't think so there is more than 0.0001% chance to move at Sauber or any team next year maybe if he didn't have that press conference.

its sad but .... thats it .... it was a pleasure for me to watch him again on track but this team i can also bet next lineup at Sauber will be Kamui and Jaime after this race we know all teams line-ups for 2013. Massa for sure will remain at Ferrari.
I still pray for a wet race in last 4 (no chance to rain in Abu Dhabi)

[Raptor22]

I'm not disagreeing with you that he will retire. I think he will.
However I disagree with your principal that because he held a press conference and told everyone what he was going to do at the end of the season, that he can't change his mind later. There is no rule that says you have held press conference therefore you will do what you said you will do.

[schumifan]

if mike gets a win a will be satisfied and will move on - if not i will be hoping for him to do something special somwhere else just to prove a point - no notion what that could be though

[schumifan]

I'm not disagreeing with you that he will retire. I think he will.
However I disagree with your principal that because he held a press conference and told everyone what he was going to do at the end of the season, that he can't change his mind later. There is no rule that says you have held press conference therefore you will do what you said you will do.

yes indeed and clearly many would pray you are right - but surely we can only dream and is michael not too stubborn and proffessional for these sorts of inconsistencies - agree though that even though he seems miserable, he is still fast and fighting fit

terminator