Mercedes takes over Brawn GP, engine deal with McLaren continues
Who would have expected this? After taking over from Honda, the Brawn GP team that made history by clinching both the driver and constructor titles in its maiden year, has been sold to its engine supplier, Mercedes-Benz. The team will now be called Mercedes GP and the automaker has a 75.1% stake in the team.
Ross Brawn will continue to serve as team principal and along with chief executive Nick Fry will maintain the rest the stake, which is figured at 24.9%. This means that Mercedes-Benz returns with its own team for the first time since 1955. The German automaker also confirmed that its partnership with the McLaren team will continue at least until the end of 2015. Although the new team did not reveal the 2010 driver line-up, rumors in the paddock suggest that it will be an all German line-up with Nico Rosberg and Nick Heidfeld on board.
On the other hand, World Champion Jenson Button is expected to jump to McLaren and race along side fellow Brit and 2008 World Champion Lewis Hamilton. This means, with Honda, BMW and recently Toyota out of the sport, Mercedes-Benz and Renault (if its still in that is) become the only teams representing major or mass manufacturing auto companies.
The announcement suggests that Mercedes has been looking for the right opportunity to be involved in Formula 1 as a team and now it has found its golden ticket, by buying a championship winning team.
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pretty good read…packed with a lot of Jamboo and Guava action.