Will we see Mercedes GP fighting with the top 3?

[Hemsy]

I wouldn't mind next year's car being slow as long as it is fundamentally sound. You can always improve a slow car just like Force India have done this year but a flawed concept like Renault's FEE and you have to live with it for the entire season. Bell is known for making "safe" cars, which might not see Merc challenging RBR but at least they can mix it up with Ferrari & Mclaren & with a good base can build on it for 2013. Just look at RBR who have used used the same concept since 2009 and improved on it every subsequent year.

[Aryoh]

Ross Brawn try to build good foundation for next year.
http://www.autosport.com/news/report.php/id/94915

[dren]

I expect a 3rd or 4th place car, but one that is much closer to the top teams. A podium contender due to true pace on occasional circuits.

[N12ck]

Alot has been said recently about mercedes beefing up their technical team, and upping their budget, do you think they will be fighting for podiums, wins, or championships?


Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... bdffab.781

N12ck

[Lycoming]

not straight away I don't think, but they certainly have the capability to get there soon. Brawn has immense talent under him. If he can make all the pieces fall together, they can fight for wins, thats for certain. The question is how long that will take, and whether or not he can get the pieces together in the right order.

[N12ck]

Yeah, I think there is one thing mercedes needs, which is pace of development, I wonder if mercedes get a win or a few podiums, will schumi decide to stay on and do another year, but if you look at the ferrari model, it took them 3 years to build it up til they started winning alot, so if brawn is a man of his word, will they tie it all together to consistently be on the podium next year, or maybe get the odd win,

[raymondu999]

Hopefully they can start being competitive. What I've always found most alarming about the 2010 and 2011 Mercedes cars were that both of them were never fundamentally sound. They always had balance issues etc while having core pace. I personally feel it should be the other way around (it's ok to be slow, but upgradeable)

[donskar]

I would think there would be small but real improvements next season, but not enough for wins. The following year, IF the group of individuals becomes a team, there should be some wins. I wonder, though: can a group of top quality technical types beat a similar group led by a genius? Who at M-B matches Newey?

[scuderiafan]

Ramping up their budget and technical team won't necessarily get them immediate results, or any for that matter. Look at what happened to Toyota. Now I doubt that Mercedes GP will do as poorly (on paper) that Toyota did, but take this news with a grain of salt and don't hold your breath.


Still though, I'd love to see Merc get some good results, and Schumi get a win.

[Mr.S]

I think no-one at Formula1 single handedly in the last couple of years have been able to match Newey.Both the cars have been runaway successes(RBR 7 & . Seb alone winning 7-8 GP's till now this year proves it. Last year should have been equally dominating had not it been for reliability issues & rookie like mistakes.


I do think at this point of time taking on Newey as the group is the best option. Mclaren got Sam Michael to support Paddy Lowe & to be honest whatever his trackside job is in name,he will be putting technical feedback because that is his strong point. Ferrari are roumoued to be using Rory is a big way to support Pat Fry & Luca has openly said Ferrai will take on Red Bull as a technical team & not a 1 man show.

You see Mercedes-Ferrari-Mclaren adopting somewhat similar strategies. I think the 1 man experiment has flopped for the last 2 years.In case of Mercedes it was essential to significantly beef up their staff,top & bottom because they dont have enough quality as the top 3 & I am not sure if Bob Bell alone can beat Newey,who has fantastic staff sorrounding him.

I think it is a smart move & we can hope to see Mercedes challenging the Top 3 a lot more. I expect a few podiums on merit,the car may not be the quickest from the start but with Costa-Bell-Willis working together I atleast expect decent in-season development. In 2013 I expect race wins & there is no reason not to unless there is big clash of ego's among so many talented people.

Also another point I would like to make is that the recruitment drive is not restricted to the upper layer. Mercedes have been increasing their number of staff significantly with big " JOB ADVERSTIMENETS" seen everyday. Also rumour has it a few worthless people were shown the door too.

[Dragonfly]

I am certain we will see them fighting at the top. Not sure about when. If 2012 shows a noticeable advance with podiums and eventual race wins, then it may be as soon as 2013.
They may as well hit a sweet spot even next year, we'll see.

[WhiteBlue]

Not any time soon.

[PlatinumZealot]

Alot has been said recently about mercedes beefing up their technical team, and upping their budget, do you think they will be fighting for podiums, wins, or championships?


Source:
http://www.google.com/hostednews/afp/ar ... bdffab.781

N12ck

Never with the current rules, I think.

[ringo]

Ramping up their budget and technical team won't necessarily get them immediate results, or any for that matter. Look at what happened to Toyota. Now I doubt that Mercedes GP will do as poorly (on paper) that Toyota did, but take this news with a grain of salt and don't hold your breath.


Still though, I'd love to see Merc get some good results, and Schumi get a win.

I slightly disagree.
The 2009 Toyota could have won races in Alonso's, Kimi's or Hamilton's Hands.
It was a very good car.

Toyota's weakness was strategy. I'd put them where the ferrari is at the moment.

Merceds seems to have the right support systems for these big name guys.
These guys also can have more freedom now that they are in a new team. More new energy too.
I change my thoughts on mercedes now. I always said it was the engineers who were lacking the talent. Hence why i like that they are adressing it now.
This injection of talent can only put them on the podium and maybe get a Monza win with the powerful Mercedes engine.