Mercedes might exit F1 CEO admits

[PurelyRetro]

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090426.001/mercedes-c...

So Mclaren aren't as powerful as they thought, deserves them right what they did.

Discuss.

[JonRB]

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

[navier_stokes]

JonRB said:

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

I agree, Bernie needs McLaren and their sponsors/supporters more than he'll ever let on. This is all putting pressure on the Sir Spankalot/Bernie rather than McLaren.

[PurelyRetro]

navier_stokes said:

JonRB said:

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

I agree, Bernie needs McLaren and their sponsors/supporters more than he'll ever let on. This is all putting pressure on the Sir Spankalot/Bernie rather than McLaren.

As well as that they need Hamilton to spark more interest into the sport, without Mclaren it could well be a downhill run.

[elster]

Mercedes would only be pulling out by name surely?

As well Mclaren is part mercedes.

[Derek Smith]

The problem is that sponsors are looking for an 'honourable extit' and a stand against unreasonable punishment and poor management of the sport provides just that.

Further, Mercedes might well be looking to cut costs as well. They could come out of all this FiAsco with a certain degree of moral strength and leave with their head held high.

There is little doubt that the big manufacturers run the danger of being kicked out by Mossy so might well chose to go when they want.

[Teppic]

navier_stokes said:

JonRB said:

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

I agree, Bernie needs McLaren and their sponsors/supporters more than he'll ever let on. This is all putting pressure on the Sir Spankalot/Bernie rather than McLaren.

But if sMax wants McLaren out surely the news that a major sponsor, and now Mercedes, are threatening to pull out has given him a golden opportunity to bring his personal vendetta to completion?

[RichB]

PurelyRetro said:

http://www.worldcarfans.com/9090426.001/mercedes-c...

So Mclaren aren't as powerful as they thought, deserves them right what they did.

Discuss.

Discuss? OK, it's serves them right or they deserve it but not deserves them right.

[navier_stokes]

Teppic said:

navier_stokes said:

JonRB said:

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

I agree, Bernie needs McLaren and their sponsors/supporters more than he'll ever let on. This is all putting pressure on the Sir Spankalot/Bernie rather than McLaren.

But if sMax wants McLaren out surely the news that a major sponsor, and now Mercedes, are threatening to pull out has given him a golden opportunity to bring his personal vendetta to completion?

As much as that may or not be true, Mosley knows it will do more damage to him/F1 if McLaren were chucked out.

[flemke]

navier_stokes said:

Teppic said:

navier_stokes said:

JonRB said:

On the contrary, I think McLaren are showing their power. There is some serious sabre-rattling going on here. First "a major sponsor" (so that will be Vodafone then) has said they may pull out if McLaren get a harsh punishment, and now Mercedes-Benz are saying the same thing.

Make no mistake, without Mercedes-Benz and Vodafone, F1 will be in a bad position and Bernie Ecclestone knows it.

Edited by JonRB on Sunday 26th April 11:57

I agree, Bernie needs McLaren and their sponsors/supporters more than he'll ever let on. This is all putting pressure on the Sir Spankalot/Bernie rather than McLaren.

But if sMax wants McLaren out surely the news that a major sponsor, and now Mercedes, are threatening to pull out has given him a golden opportunity to bring his personal vendetta to completion?

As much as that may or not be true, Mosley knows it will do more damage to him/F1 if McLaren were chucked out.

Not sure that he believes that it would do more damage to him, or just to F1, if they were out.
This is a guy who is so intensely interested in F1 that he only bothers to go to a few races a year, and that's including the one that is held on his doorstep.
This is the guy who would like to take F1 to a spec formula.
He would also like to mix up the drivers randomly amongst the teams, switching race-by-race.
It's clear that he has wanted for some time to get rid of the major carmakers as entrants. How much more difficult to push around half a dozen huge multi-nationals than it is to push around a bunch of low-budget independents who can only stay in business if they remain in the good graces of the FIA.
Mosley's not a petrolhead. It seems that he's not even a racing fan. He's a dictator who measures success not by whether the entrants' objectives have been met, nor by whether the wishes of us plebians have been met - what do we know, and why should we matter? He measures success by whether his own personal tastes have been met.

If Mercedes were to go, following Honda, it would be a cinch for BMW to go. That would leave three carmaker teams, of which Renault's commitment seems to be hanging by a thread. Why would Toyota stay, if the only competition were Ferrari (with whom they do not compete in a single market segment, and probably never will do) and a bunch of wee independents that, in reality, would quickly become dependents?

[sirtyro]

I thought I read that Mercedes is making money selling engines to the other teams at the moment. And having 3 teams run your engines, 1 of which seems to be doing rather well with it with not much testing is great publicity for the company.

I would hope that as has been suggested Vodaphone and Merc are using this as an opportunity to help Mclaren not get penalised as much......good to see the sponsors take it to Bernie and Max!

[flemke]

sirtyro said:

I thought I read that Mercedes is making money selling engines to the other teams at the moment. And having 3 teams run your engines, 1 of which seems to be doing rather well with it with not much testing is great publicity for the company.

I would hope that as has been suggested Vodaphone and Merc are using this as an opportunity to help Mclaren not get penalised as much......good to see the sponsors take it to Bernie and Max!

Mercedes could always supply teams with engines without putting up the big money that they give to McLaren, or they could become title partners to a different team that is thought to have less baggage.

[elster]

flemke said:

sirtyro said:

I thought I read that Mercedes is making money selling engines to the other teams at the moment. And having 3 teams run your engines, 1 of which seems to be doing rather well with it with not much testing is great publicity for the company.

I would hope that as has been suggested Vodaphone and Merc are using this as an opportunity to help Mclaren not get penalised as much......good to see the sponsors take it to Bernie and Max!

Mercedes could always supply teams with engines without putting up the big money that they give to McLaren, or they could become title partners to a different team that is thought to have less baggage.

Don't mercedes own a share of McLaren anyway? So they would have to put up money anyway.

[flemke]

elster said:

flemke said:

sirtyro said:

I thought I read that Mercedes is making money selling engines to the other teams at the moment. And having 3 teams run your engines, 1 of which seems to be doing rather well with it with not much testing is great publicity for the company.

I would hope that as has been suggested Vodaphone and Merc are using this as an opportunity to help Mclaren not get penalised as much......good to see the sponsors take it to Bernie and Max!

Mercedes could always supply teams with engines without putting up the big money that they give to McLaren, or they could become title partners to a different team that is thought to have less baggage.

Don't mercedes own a share of McLaren anyway? So they would have to put up money anyway.

They own 40%.
They would not have to put up the money anyway. They could sell their stake. Alternatively, they could refuse to agree to a McLaren budget of more than the £30M, or whatever the proposed cap were.
They could reckon that they get most of their favourable marketing impact from their engines, and go for being an engine supplier rather than a chassis-making entrant - as Honda have done in the States.

[Racefan_uk]

Gazboy said:

If Merc goes, will others follow?

I'd be surprised if Renault are involved in a proper manufacturer capacity next season to be honest. And if they don't actually win a race this year, despite the apparant qualifying speed of the car, I should think the heads at Toyota might call time too. Just how much longer can they keep firing money at an F1 project that hasn't yielded a return yet?

[ScoobieWRX]

I have no idea why the teams don't just all pull out and start their own race series outside of the FIA.

All the teams then make the rules jointly, policed by a committee of ex F1 racers, and they then don't have to suffer the bu115hit that is Bernie(The Poison Dwarf)Ecclstone, Max(The Goosestepping Sex Fiend)Mosley, and the FIA and it's band of miserable men!!

X-F1 teams would soon get all the international media coverage and TV deals they wanted, sponsors would be queuing up to sign on the dotted line and everyones happy.....except the FIA of course, and good riddance IMHO!!