HOWZATT??
author: Leon Botha
HOWZATT??
With half the clever world writing off F1 after the dramatic - add a bit of water instant withdrawal of the mighty (mouse) Toyota team who could never really make a dent in the scene despite their open chequebook budget - there is a sudden reversal in 'opinions' - which of course is a huge 'surprise'?
It took one little move by a bigger player who everyone takes a bit more serious to buy 75.1% of the Brawn Grand Prix team and voila - or in plain German - Bob's your deaf uncle! Grand Prix is again the fashion!
Dieter Zetsche believes that F1 has a strong presence in emerging markets! And so suddenly say those who would like to jump back onto the bandwagon!
Oh, by the way, Zetsche is the chairman of Daimler AG - they are the guys who manufacturer a few Mercedes cars every day.
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Dieter Zetsche - father of the new Silver Bullet Team?
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Now there we have a vote of confidence in the future of motorsport and more specifically F1 if ever there was one?
Fact it that Mercedes could more so than anyone else have walked away from F1 after 15 years of successful participation. They actually won some races - not like some of the "successful" teams who ran away like old maids leaving their tails under the garage door using the downturn in business as an excuse to stop living and caring about their customers instead of their lousy pockets!
Successful participation in the case of Mercedes meant three world championship titles and 60 wins with McLaren!
Still they could have used the downturn in car sales, switched off the lights and they could also have joined the heap of desperados who believe that not making a positive* move will carry them through whatever crisis there is!
McLaren's engine supply may be somewhat in doubt - as they have been a bit naughty not only stepping into the super-luxury car market in direct competition with Mercedes, but also being even more naughty selling a substantial portion of their company to a Middle East consortium. (see last paragraph - corroboration has been confirmed)
Will this be the re-birth of the all-conquering silver arrow of the 1930's and 1950's? The Brawn team offers Mercedes what they have been looking for - a German team from stem to stern and it is unlikely that even a third world war will unsettle a move such as this one after the endorsement by
Dieter Zetsche, CEO of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars said: "You do motor racing in order to promote your brand in the world market. There's no other platform in sport – or perhaps even beyond – with such a strong presence around the globe and in emerging markets."
It will be interesting to throw a curve ball question regarding the future of Jensen Button in this all German Team?
Nico Rosberg will add a little more German to the whole picture than Jenson Button would and although the new investment may have given the Brawn team the required cash to contract Mr Button - they may decide to rather buy a new carburettor for the car and employ a much cheaper Nick Heidfeld who now works as a parking attendant after the yellow bellied BMW clan decided to go play wheelie from robot to robot in upper Soweto!
Achtung and all that jazz to Ross Brawn and his team for the new season and ag shame to those who ran right through the closed glass doors when they thought they could escape having to sell a few cars!
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How exciting - is no one else going to run through a door?
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Maybe they have missed the fact that the modern consumer are not impressed by crawling objects or runners anymore - they are interested in extreme operators - real flyers - the companies that make the adrenaline squish through the veins.
Please father Xmas let uncle Dieter make a turn in South Africa with his interpreter (although his English might be better than the average you hear on TV and in the boardrooms around our country) and drop a few hints at certain super luxurious offices!
Allow me to publish a quote from what Dr.Zetsche said regarding their now confirmed corroboration with McLaren and hope that some people in South Africa will take note:
"We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will co-operate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide.”
The last six words may be of importance even to the Einsteins hanging around locally!
* Cutting marketing budgets have never been positive - not even when you are a bean counter!
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