Company name Mercedes Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Racing Name Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team
F1 Guide name Mercedes
Address Brackley
Northants
NN13 7BD
England
Team principal Ross Brawn, Manchester, England
CEO Nick Fry, Epsom, England
Vice President Norbert Haug, Pforzheim, Germany
MD Engines Thomas Fuhr, Haiger, Germany
Race drivers 7. Michael Schumacher, Hurth-Hermulheim, Germany
8 Nico Rosberg, Wiesbaden, Germany
Race Engineers 7. Peter Bonnington
8. Tony Ross
Test drivers TBA
Debut 1954 French Grand Prix
Latest race 2011 Brazilian Grand Prix
WCC 0
WDC 2 (1954, 1955)
Races competed 50
Race Wins 9
Race win % 18%
Pole positions 8
Fastest laps 9
2011 position 4th (165 points)
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Ken Tyrrell started managing lower formula groups and
training drivers in 1958. Amongst the careers he started were Jackie Stewart,
John Surtees and Jacky Ickx.
History
Tyrrell Racing
In the first year the Matra MS 9 and the MS 10 came second in the constructors championship. The following year, 1969, Jackie Stewart won both constructors and drivers championships with the Matra MS 80. This was an astonishing feat in only the second year of competition.
Matra merged with Simca and this precluded Tyrrell from continuing to race Matra cars as he was sponsored by Ford and Simca was a Chrysler subsidiary. Tyrrell purchased March 701 for the 1970 season while developing his own car.
The Tyrrell 001 came out for the last 3 races of the 1970 season and earned Jackie Stewart a pole position at the Canadian Grand Prix. The cars proved unreliable and did not finish any of the three races.
The Tyrrell 002 and 003 were out for the 1971 season and Jackie Stewart and François Cevert won the constructors and drivers championships in the Tyrrell 003. 1972 was not such a good year and Tyrrell came second in the constructors.
In 1973 François Cevert was killed in a practice session before the US Grand Prix and Tyrell did not compete in any more races that season and still came second in the constructors championship. Jackie Stewart retired at the end of 1973.
Tyrrell continued racing till 1998 but never reached the performance of the early years.
Tyrrell sold his team to British American Tobacco, the team becoming British American Racing,
The first year, 1999, was a disaster and Jacques Villeneuve had only 4 finishes out of 16 starts.
The next 4 years saw only 2 podium results, both of them 3rds. Though 2003 saw Jensen Button join the team.
2004 was the best year for BAR. Jensen Button achieved 10 podiums out of 17 starts but no wins, 4 x 2nd and 6 x 3rd and BAR were second in the constructors championship.
2005 saw BAR back to 6th place in the constructors championship and at the end of that year Honda bought out the team, to race as a constructor themselves.
Honda Racing had been involved in formula one from 1966 to 1968. The highest they achieved was in 1967 where they were 4th in the constructors championship with John Surtees as their driver. The Honda Team withdrew from formula one when their other driver Jo Schlesser was killed in an accident in the 6th round of the championship. They finished the year but were only 7th in the constructors championship.
In the interim Honda supplied racing engines to other teams at various times but not when Honda was a constructor.
Having bought out BAR, Honda were once again a constructor and raced for the 2006 to 2008 seasons. The used only 2 drivers, Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello, for the three years. In the first year Jenson Button managed 3 podiums, two 3rd and 1 stunning 1st at Hungary. Honda finished 4th in the constructors championship for that year. After that there was no more success with Honda finishing 8th and 9th in the following two years; though Rubens did score a podium with a 3rd in Canada. Honda then announced its immediate withdrawal from formula one citing the world economic downturn as its reason and that the team was for sale.
Eventually it was announced that a management buyout had been organised with various sponsors, and the team principle Ross Braun would head the next year.
Enter Braun GP. A change to Mercedes engines and the car developed by Honda for 2009 was an inspired combination. Jenson Button and Rubens Barrichello were retained for the season.
The Braun GP cars started the season with a clear advantage over the other competitors and in the first 7 races Jenson Button had 6 wins with Rubens Barrichello coming in second in 3 of those occasions. Three 1 - 2 finishes and every race in the points (except the seventh where Rubens did not finish) was a great start to the campaign towards the championships.
Inevitably, as is usual in formula one, the other teams chipped away at Braun GP's advantage and the remaining ten races were not such a runaway success. In the next 10 races the drivers were always in the points except for 3 races. That is 17 point positions with Rubens Barrichello 2 wins and a 3rd, and Jenson Button a 2nd and a 3rd. Jenson Button's second at Italy made another 1 - 2 finish but this time with Rubens Barrichello in first place.
Braun GP won the constructors championship and Jenson Button the drivers championship.
At the end of the season Daimler AG announced that they were purchasing a 75% stake in Braun GP and that the team would be named Mercedes GP Petronas for the 2010 season and that Ross Braun would remain as the team principle. Daimler was the constructor when as Daimler Benz they raced in formula one in 1945/5.
Mercedes GP announced that Nico Rosberg and Michael Schumacher would be their drivers for 2010. It was a surprise that Michael Schumacher would be racing again but not for whom, as Michael Schumacher had his racing career start with Mercedes and his relationship with Ross Braun goes back to the Benetton days where he won his first drivers championship.
The 2010 season was not a resounding success as they could only achieve 4th in the constructors championship with 214 points. Michael Schumacher managed 2 x 4th place finishes, no podiums and was in the points for only 12 of the 19 races in the season. Nico Rosberg did better with two 3rd place podium finishes and scored points in 15 of the 19 race season. The points for the two drivers were Nico Rosberg 142 and Michael Schumacher 72.
2011 was very much the same as 2010 where the team maintained its 4th position. The car was not good to the Pirelli tyres and both drivers suffered as a result. There were no podium finishes and the points for the two drivers were Nico Rosberg 89 and Michael Schumacher 76.
So the connection from Tyrrell Racing in 1968 to Mercedes GP Petronas in 2010 has been traced, with many of the constructors other involvement in formula one outlined, above; see the graphic From Tyrrell Racing to Mercedes GP Petronas above.
The team's racing name has been changed with AMG being added, so it is now Mercedes AMG Petronas Formula One Team.