38 GP RACING APRIL 2020
PRO^04 Business
Perhaps it is understandable, given the challenges facing
every player in the automotivesector. Mercedes is no
exception, and with a multi-billionpound investment in
vehicle electrification under way some have pondered
whether its commitmentto F 1 is wavering.
Except that Mercedes-Benz does Formula 1today rather
differently to the car companies of old, having long ago made
the decisionto let someone else drive it. Toto Wolff may be
a minority shareholder but, as chief executive, he runs the
team in the fashion of an entrepreneur-led privateer.
Daimler has calculatedthat last year F1 generated
$1.5billion worth of advertising value for Mercedes-Benz.
Meanwhile global consultancy Interbrand has estimatedthat the valueof the Mercedes-Benz brand has doubled
from $25billion in 2010 to $50billion today. Formula 1
has played itspart in that trajectory.
Attending a corporate event atthe Nürburgring earlier
this year, former Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug
looked fit and healthy chatting to David Coulthard about
their time together at McLaren. It was Haug, of course, who
vaulted Mercedes from sportscar racing into Formula 1 in
1994, commencing an uninterrupted 26-year journey for
Daimler’s three-pointedstar, including world championship
successes withMcLaren at the end ofthe 1990s and 2008,
plus thatunexpected triumph with Brawn in 2009.
The decision to acquire Brawn was takenunder Haug’s
direction. That Mercedes
increased its involvement
in F1 at precisely the time
when BMW, Toyota and
Honda ran out theexit
door is a creditto him,
and worth remembering
when discussing Mercedes’
current position.
The initial structure,
with Haug asCEO and Ross
Brawn running the team,
had all the ingredients to
work – on paper. By the end
of 2012, however, changeTHE DECISIONTO
ACQUIRE BRAWN WAS
TAKEN UNDER HAUG’S
DIRECTION. THAT
MERCEDES INCREASED
ITS INVOLVEMENT IN F1
AT PRECISELY THE TIME
WHEN BMW,TOYOTA, AND
HONDARAN OUT THE EXIT
DOOR IS A CREDITTO HIMManufacturing giants
BMW,Toyota and Honda
all left F1 just as Norbert
Haug (below) ensured
Mercedes became more
involved by buying Brawn38 GP RACING APRIL 2020
PRO^04 Business
Perhaps it is understandable, given the challenges facing
every player in the automotivesector. Mercedes is no
exception, and with a multi-billionpound investment in
vehicle electrification under way some have pondered
whether its commitmentto F 1 is wavering.
Except that Mercedes-Benz does Formula 1today rather
differently to the car companies of old, having long ago made
the decisionto let someone else drive it. Toto Wolff may be
a minority shareholder but, as chief executive, he runs the
team in the fashion of an entrepreneur-led privateer.
Daimler has calculatedthat last year F1 generated
$1.5billion worth of advertising value for Mercedes-Benz.
Meanwhile global consultancy Interbrand has estimatedthat the valueof the Mercedes-Benz brand has doubled
from $25billion in 2010 to $50billion today. Formula 1
has played itspart in that trajectory.
Attending a corporate event atthe Nürburgring earlier
this year, former Mercedes motorsport boss Norbert Haug
looked fit and healthy chatting to David Coulthard about
their time together at McLaren. It was Haug, of course, who
vaulted Mercedes from sportscar racing into Formula 1 in
1994, commencing an uninterrupted 26-year journey for
Daimler’s three-pointedstar, including world championship
successes withMcLaren at the end ofthe 1990s and 2008,
plus thatunexpected triumph with Brawn in 2009.
The decision to acquire Brawn was takenunder Haug’s
direction. That Mercedes
increased its involvement
in F1 at precisely the time
when BMW, Toyota and
Honda ran out theexit
door is a creditto him,
and worth remembering
when discussing Mercedes’
current position.
The initial structure,
with Haug asCEO and Ross
Brawn running the team,
had all the ingredients to
work – on paper. By the end
of 2012, however, changeTHE DECISIONTO
ACQUIRE BRAWN WAS
TAKEN UNDER HAUG’S
DIRECTION. THAT
MERCEDES INCREASED
ITS INVOLVEMENT IN F1
AT PRECISELY THE TIME
WHEN BMW,TOYOTA, AND
HONDARAN OUT THE EXIT
DOOR IS A CREDITTO HIMManufacturing giants
BMW,Toyota and Honda
all left F1 just as Norbert
Haug (below) ensured
Mercedes became more
involved by buying Brawn