Mercedes announce Brawn GP buyout
Mercedes will still supply McLaren with engines for the next six years
Monday, 16, Nov 2009 12:13
By Adam Leveridge
Mercedes-Benz ended months of speculation surrounding its future plans in formula one by announcing it will buy a 75 per cent stake in the double title-winning Brawn GP team.
The German car manufacturer revealed it would be switching its main focus from McLaren to Brawn GP from 2010 onwards but at the same time continuing to supply engines to McLaren for the next six seasons.
Mercedes' move to buy out Brawn GP is thought to signal an end to world champion Jenson Button's successful one-year stay with the team, who are reportedly keen to install an all-German driver lineup featuring any two of Timo Glock, Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld.
Button is now being heavily linked with a move to McLaren, where he would partner fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton in 2010 on a much-improved salary from the £3.5 million he earned with Brawn GP in 2009.
The announcement of the continuing partnership between Mercedes and McLaren quashed rumours the engine specialist would be turning it's back on the Woking-based outfit completely.
As a result of the deal, from next season, Brawn GP will be rebranded as the Mercedes GP team and Damiler chief executive Dr Dieter Zetsche said: "Due to the new F1 environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team.
"Our new Silver Arrow F1 team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm."
Dr Zetsche went on to thank McLaren for a successful collaboration, which lasted 15 years, and added that, although McLaren and Mercedes will be rivals on the track, they will continue to cooperate off-track.
Mercedes-Benz motorsport director Norbert Haug added: "We look back on 15 successful years of great collaboration with McLaren; in that time we won four world-championship titles and finished ten times as runner-up in the drivers' and constructors' rankings.
"Since the first victory in the 1997 Australian Grand Prix, the modern Silver Arrows have achieved a total of 60 victories in 223 races to ensure that our brand symbol, the star, stands for the greatest successes in F1.
"We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership."
Ross Brawn recalled the incredible journey he and his team went through over the last 12 months that started with the shock withdrawal of Honda from F1 last December and ended with Brawn GP winning both the drivers' and constructors' championships with Jenson Button.
"Both I and my fellow directors at Brawn GP are incredibly proud of our staff, drivers and everyone associated with our team and thank them for their commitment, outstanding teamwork and their focus on achieving results in sometimes difficult circumstances," said Brawn.
"The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in F1 next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team."
McLaren chief executive Ron Dennis, who ran the company's F1 programme until 2008 before switching his focus to its road-car division, hailed the deal as "a win-win situation."
"I've often stated that it's my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team," said Dennis.
"That being the case, in order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win grands prix and world championships, companies that run F1 teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities.
"Nonetheless, all of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our F1 programme.
"For that reason, and because the engines they produce are very competitive, we're delighted that Mercedes-Benz has committed to continue not only as an engine supplier but also as a partner of ours until 2015 - and perhaps thereafter."
It was also revealed that the McLaren Group would purchase back the 40 per cent shareholding Daimler AG currently owns, with a phased process to be completed by 2011 and Dennis added: "The next few years will be a very exciting time for McLaren, during which period we intend to become an ever-stronger technological and economic force.
This news comes after newly-crowned champion Jenson Button was given a tour of McLaren's lavish Woking headquarters by Martin Whitmarsh, increasing speculation that the Briton is considering a switch to the team alongside Lewis Hamilton in 2010, after contract negotiations between Brawn and Button hit a brick wall.