Simply put, 2010 has not been the year that Mercedes was hoping for. The team that was once Brawn GP, a team that took both the drivers title and the constructor’s title received a huge boost when they signed Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher, but both drivers have struggled up to this point. Along with trying to field their own manufacturer effort, Mercedes has supplied McLaren and Force India with power plants for their challengers over the last couple years. Speculation had the German team also perhaps supplying Red Bull Racing with engines next season on top of their current contracts. However, Ross Brawn and Norbert Haug have suggested that it probably won’t happen.
Some of the things that weighed on the decision was the probable re-introduction of the Kinetic Energy Recovery System (KERS) and one would have to think their own poor performance. Remember back to last year when the KERS was first brought into the sport. What many people thought to be a stupid idea and waste of weight in the car has now been brought back with a perhaps different flavor and look. This system runs the risk of stressing the Mercedes engine department to the point of failure and seems to be THE number one point in not providing to Red Bull. While they (Mercedes) have not ruled it out the language they are putting out there would indicate another stint with Renault for the RBR folks.
I also think that Mercedes should focus on their current contracts as well as themselves. Let’s face it, this year has been a disappointment for the factory effort after all the preseason hype. The customer teams are still perfroming ok, but when the Mercedes Board of Directors says they will pull the plug on the team if they do not win, it is time to sit back and look at your problems before helping others. The whole entire Mercedes team platform has been the slowest of the big four and looks to be getting worse if Canada was any indication. I think that it would do the team some good to sit back and fix their problems before biting off a bit more than they can chew. Who knows, maybe next year the Mercedes will be the fastest car on the grid with the best drivers. RBR will do nothing more than hamper the team’s ability to reach their goals so I agree with the team’s initial decision.
Should Mercedes support RBR? Should thy pull out as a manufacturer effort and go back to just supplying engines to teams on the grid? Drop us a line and let us know what you think.
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mercedes should replace the exhaust headers on their engines with vouvozellas
Very nice Mike! I knew you would come around!