The withdrawal of Mercedes desired by certain shareholders
Still not listed among the signatories of the Concorde Agreements for the 2013-2017 period, Mercedes is now facing a rebellion from some of its shareholders, whose attitude could lead the brand to reconsider its commitment to F1.
Constantly under heavy fire from critics since its return in 2010, the Mercedes team struggles to regain its former glory, that of an era when, having barely arrived in the discipline, the brand with the Star propelled Juan-Manuel Fangio to the World Championship title in 1954 and 1955. Two prosperous and victorious seasons, with a dominance cut short by the Le Mans accident in 1955, which claimed the lives of 82 spectators and Pierre Levegh, one of the drivers of the Silver Arrows, who left Formula 1 at the end of the year.
Having since retired from the premier category as a full-fledged constructor, Mercedes once again tasted the joy of victory as an engine supplier, with McLaren in 1998 and Brawn GP in 2009. Believing it found a sufficiently sound base for its return in the structure owned by the British engineer Ross Brawn, the German manufacturer purchased it and jumped back into the big league. A decision that, more than two years later, still struggles to satisfy all stakeholders.
Without any significant performance in 2010 and 2011, Mercedes was more of a talking point as the lackluster setting in which Michael Schumacher returned to his first love than as a team fighting for victory. While the 2012 season started better, with the car seemingly showing a higher level of performance at this stage of the competition compared to previous years (two qualifications in the second row), it paradoxically had a (slightly) worse start in terms of points, scoring only one point compared to 29 in 2010 and 2 in 2011.
A situation that further weakens the company’s chosen direction and does not please everyone, especially the shareholders. Ingo Speich, head of Daimler’s investment fund, which owns Mercedes and acquired 45% of Brawn GP, delivered a speech at a shareholders’ meeting advocating for Mercedes’ withdrawal from Formula 1, which was reportedly applauded by some of the company’s financiers, according to the Austrian website Die Presse. On the same site, Speich stated that Mercedes is no longer the benchmark in the premium sector, at a time when Audi announced record sales for the first quarter of 2012, and referred to the “lost decade” to describe the 2000s, during which the Stuttgart brand experienced a certain decline in favor of the four-ring brand or BMW.
Statements that echo those made following the announcement of Brawn GP’s acquisition by Mercedes. Thus, Erich Klemm, a member of the supervisory board of Daimler AG, stated: « In our factories, every cent invested must return threefold. Our employees are strongly affected by the crisis: they have fewer working hours and therefore lower incomes. In these difficult times for the economy, our company should invest better in marketing its series cars. We don’t understand why the board decided to embark on a new F1 project ». Dieter Zetsche, still at the head of Daimler, noted for his part that « from 2011, the budget for Formula 1 will be under 60 million euros per year. This amount represents about a quarter of what we spent in recent years. In the future, we will draw attention to our brand at a lower cost. »
As a reminder, Mercedes is the only leading manufacturer that has not ratified the new Concorde Agreements binding the signatory teams to Formula 1 for the next five seasons.
