Rumours are continuing to circulate that McLaren are preparing for life after Mercedes with plans to design and build their own engines in 2013. The long running McLaren-Mercedes partnership began in 1995 and resulted in three driver’s championship, two constructions championships and over one hundred grand prix victories. However, Mercedes are believed to have gradually grown frustrated with the decisions of McLaren’s management who have viewed the 2013 engine regulation changes as the perfect opportunity to finally end their partnership.
Friend or foe?
Following a successful end to the 1990s, the McLaren-Mercedes partnership could not have been stronger. However, the domination of Ferrari in the early part of the new millennium raised question marks about the proficiency of McLaren’s management and it is alleged that Mercedes attempted to buy a controlling stake in the team from Ron Dennis in 2002. These discussions went on to some degree for almost four years but ultimately Dennis decided to sell some of the team to members of the Bahraini Royal Family. This was Dennis’s attempt to maintain control over the team as he still owned the largest majority and could therefore veto any plans of Mercedes which he did not agree with.
The reason why this was so important to Dennis became clear in 2009 when he announced the formation of ‘McLaren Automotive’ which is the new road car manufacturing division of the McLaren Group. Mercedes felt that McLaren’s sports cars would be direct competitors to their own offerings and therefore decided to sell their shares in McLaren back to Dennis. These shares are being sold back over a phased period due to the capital required and will end in 2012 when the McLaren-Mercedes partnership agreement is set to end. In the meantime Mercedes announced a deal to buy the Brawn GP team which was renamed ‘Mercedes GP’ prior to the start of the 2010 season.
The new regulations
The timing of the end of their agreement couldn’t have been more convenient for McLaren as it is also the point at which Formula One will adopt a completely new set of technical regulations which will force the current set of engine manufacturers to completely redesign their existing power plants. This will mean that the engine manufacturers already involved in the sport will not benefit from any advantage.
The new regulations will see engine sizes reduced from the current generation of 2.4 litre V8’s to 1.6 litre four cylinder turbo charged motors. These small capacity turbo engines will be approximately 100bhp less powerful than the present V8’s but this will be recovered by an increased capacity KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) device. These new regulations have evoked a mixed response from the sports key stakeholders, with many fans concerned that some of the spectacle of the sport will be taken away. However, Renault has supported the plans due to the fact that they believe 75% of its road cars will be powered by small capacity turbo’s by 2015. This change has been decided upon due to the potential fuel efficiency improvements possible through such engines, a factor which is becoming increasingly important to drivers as the cost of motoring (mainly due to increases in the cost of fuel and car insurance) continues to increase.
Renault therefore believes that the new Formula One engine designs will be far more applicable to their road car engines than at any time in the past. Mclaren, Volkswagen, Honda and Lotus have all supported this viewpoint; However, it should be noted that these are all car manufacturers with a long held interest in designing engines for use in F1 that have been reluctant to do so due to the advantage of experience held by the sports existing participants. Mercedes meanwhile has been reluctant to welcome the new rules, claiming that it will send costs spiralling out of control. Equally, like the opposing car manufacturers, Mercedes also has a hidden agenda due to the fact that its engines are by far the best in the F1 field under the current rules.
Long-term views
However, these viewpoints are no longer important as the FIA has already set into motion the introduction of the new engine rules. It is alleged that McLaren are planning on designing and building their new engines in their existing F1 factory which is already home McLaren Automotive. It is an interesting point to mention that the recently launched McLaren MP4-12C road car was the first McLaren chassis to be powered by a McLaren designed engine.
Dennis’s long-term view for McLaren is believed to be to turn them into a British version of Ferrari. It is believed that Dennis believes they have a better chance of doing this if they can highlight their British image which is why the team have elected to hire Jenson Button alongside Lewis Hamilton (a driver they previously showed no interest in), along with two British test drivers in the form of Gary Paffet and Oliver Turvey. Mercedes has put a similar strategy into motion with its own F1 team by bringing the legendary Michael Schumacher out of retirement to partner the promising younger German Nico Rosberg. It is believed that Mercedes pushed for a three year deal with Schumacher so that it coincided with the end of Vettel’s contract with Red Bull at the end of 2012.
What ever the driver line-ups happen to be, the competition between these two teams is not likely to be confined to the race track. As has been seen in the current Lotus naming situation, the colour of a teams cars are very important and Mercedes has been symbolised by the Silver arrows colours in almost all of its Motorsport ventures. McLaren has also now become associated with this colour scheme follow its long-term partnership with Mercedes and persuading them to give it up may not be so easy. Could we see a return to the White and Red McLaren of old?
Friend or foe?
Following a successful end to the 1990s, the McLaren-Mercedes partnership could not have been stronger. However, the domination of Ferrari in the early part of the new millennium raised question marks about the proficiency of McLaren’s management and it is alleged that Mercedes attempted to buy a controlling stake in the team from Ron Dennis in 2002. These discussions went on to some degree for almost four years but ultimately Dennis decided to sell some of the team to members of the Bahraini Royal Family. This was Dennis’s attempt to maintain control over the team as he still owned the largest majority and could therefore veto any plans of Mercedes which he did not agree with.
The reason why this was so important to Dennis became clear in 2009 when he announced the formation of ‘McLaren Automotive’ which is the new road car manufacturing division of the McLaren Group. Mercedes felt that McLaren’s sports cars would be direct competitors to their own offerings and therefore decided to sell their shares in McLaren back to Dennis. These shares are being sold back over a phased period due to the capital required and will end in 2012 when the McLaren-Mercedes partnership agreement is set to end. In the meantime Mercedes announced a deal to buy the Brawn GP team which was renamed ‘Mercedes GP’ prior to the start of the 2010 season.
The new regulations
The timing of the end of their agreement couldn’t have been more convenient for McLaren as it is also the point at which Formula One will adopt a completely new set of technical regulations which will force the current set of engine manufacturers to completely redesign their existing power plants. This will mean that the engine manufacturers already involved in the sport will not benefit from any advantage.
The new regulations will see engine sizes reduced from the current generation of 2.4 litre V8’s to 1.6 litre four cylinder turbo charged motors. These small capacity turbo engines will be approximately 100bhp less powerful than the present V8’s but this will be recovered by an increased capacity KERS (Kinetic Energy Recovery System) device. These new regulations have evoked a mixed response from the sports key stakeholders, with many fans concerned that some of the spectacle of the sport will be taken away. However, Renault has supported the plans due to the fact that they believe 75% of its road cars will be powered by small capacity turbo’s by 2015. This change has been decided upon due to the potential fuel efficiency improvements possible through such engines, a factor which is becoming increasingly important to drivers as the cost of motoring (mainly due to increases in the cost of fuel and car insurance) continues to increase.
Renault therefore believes that the new Formula One engine designs will be far more applicable to their road car engines than at any time in the past. Mclaren, Volkswagen, Honda and Lotus have all supported this viewpoint; However, it should be noted that these are all car manufacturers with a long held interest in designing engines for use in F1 that have been reluctant to do so due to the advantage of experience held by the sports existing participants. Mercedes meanwhile has been reluctant to welcome the new rules, claiming that it will send costs spiralling out of control. Equally, like the opposing car manufacturers, Mercedes also has a hidden agenda due to the fact that its engines are by far the best in the F1 field under the current rules.
Long-term views
However, these viewpoints are no longer important as the FIA has already set into motion the introduction of the new engine rules. It is alleged that McLaren are planning on designing and building their new engines in their existing F1 factory which is already home McLaren Automotive. It is an interesting point to mention that the recently launched McLaren MP4-12C road car was the first McLaren chassis to be powered by a McLaren designed engine.
Dennis’s long-term view for McLaren is believed to be to turn them into a British version of Ferrari. It is believed that Dennis believes they have a better chance of doing this if they can highlight their British image which is why the team have elected to hire Jenson Button alongside Lewis Hamilton (a driver they previously showed no interest in), along with two British test drivers in the form of Gary Paffet and Oliver Turvey. Mercedes has put a similar strategy into motion with its own F1 team by bringing the legendary Michael Schumacher out of retirement to partner the promising younger German Nico Rosberg. It is believed that Mercedes pushed for a three year deal with Schumacher so that it coincided with the end of Vettel’s contract with Red Bull at the end of 2012.
What ever the driver line-ups happen to be, the competition between these two teams is not likely to be confined to the race track. As has been seen in the current Lotus naming situation, the colour of a teams cars are very important and Mercedes has been symbolised by the Silver arrows colours in almost all of its Motorsport ventures. McLaren has also now become associated with this colour scheme follow its long-term partnership with Mercedes and persuading them to give it up may not be so easy. Could we see a return to the White and Red McLaren of old?
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