Lewis Hamilton, Valtteri Bottas, Mercedes, Yas Marina, 2019

F1 “has more than paid off in terms of marketing” for Mercedes

RaceFans Round-up

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In the round-up: Mercedes say their participation in Formula 1 has paid off after extending their dominant championship streak last year.

What they say

Ola Källenius, chairman of the board of management of Daimler AG and head of Mercedes-Benz Cars, told the official FIA magazine Auto their participation in F1 has “more than paid off”:

We have won the world championship six times in a row. That is unique and has more than paid off in terms of marketing. So it has to be seen as a very worthwhile investment.

As RaceFans reported last week, Mercedes is considering whether to continue its participation in Formula 1 beyond the end of this season. It has previously announced a shortfall in profits and plans to cut staff numbers by 10,000. It is due to present its full year results for 2019 next week and hold a board meeting, which we originally reported would take place on February 12th, and is now understood to be scheduled for the 14th.

The team has also announced a new “multi-year partnership” with AMD. The technology company’s logos will appear on the sides of the W11, which will be launched next week.

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Snapshot

University of Bolton engineers scan a Ensign Formula 1 car
University of Bolton engineering students scan an Ensign Formula 1 car

Engineering students at the University of Bolton and the National Centre for Motorsport Engineering are scanning and preparing a 1981 Ensign N180B which will be run in the 2020 Masters Historic Formula 1 championship. Former F1 racer Johnny Herbert is due to drive the car.

Comment of the day

@PSynrg reckons we should call the ‘shark fin’ on some racing cars a ‘dorsal fin’ instead – who agrees?

This is nothing like a shark fin.

Why did this ever get used as a definition? If anything, it looks more like a swordfish (e.g sailfish). A shark’s dorsal fin (always implied) does not extend down its back.

Sorry, winds me up. Change it now!

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Author information

Keith Collantine
Lifelong motor sport fan Keith set up RaceFans in 2005 - when it was originally called F1 Fanatic. Having previously worked as a motoring...

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22 comments on “F1 “has more than paid off in terms of marketing” for Mercedes”

  1. If Mercedes signed a multi-year sponsoring deal with AMD does it sound like they are leaving in a year’s time?

    1. Probably a tech tie in with Brackley. Not a big sponsor.

    2. There could be a lot of exit clauses and terms from that contract. I don’t think it’s entirely unreasonable for them to give the sponsorship money back to AMD for the unused term.

    3. All those HPC can be used to any use by a company of size of Mercedes even if they leave F1.
      Just wondering what this deal means for the deal that AMD has been them and Scuderia Ferrari.

  2. Ok @PSynrg let’s do it: “Nobody cares about the dorsal fin’s name”

    1. Yer right, no one should care. I don’t.
      Why not call it like it is, “Place Sponsor Logo Here”, or just the “Central Bill-Board.”
      The concept has been around since the 50s in one form or another. If it was effective at doing something, then we would have seen more of it and the designers would have pushed for it all along.

        1. Overbody aero and aero in general is not a significant part of an FE car’s performance

      1. @rekibsn, I like central billboard!!

      2. @rekibssn – “Central Bill-Board” FTW!

  3. I seldom bother to read the Daily ****. Here’s one of the reasons why. Jonathan McEvoy has written an article about Lewis Hamilton and Ferrari. In it he’s written “…one-eyed, big-mouthed, know-nothing trolls who write on website comment sections…” He seems to have forgotten the Daily **** is well known for it’s own comments section and the huge number of vindictive trolls who post there!

  4. They could call it a Guppy Flap or something. A Pike Rudder. Eel Extension. Dorsal Doohickey.

  5. Why has this age-old AirAsia bribery-matter suddenly come alive again now? I recall this matter from when it was relevant back in the early-2010s, but why now all of a sudden?

    When will these Ferrari-move rumors go away? They’ve started to get quite redundant already.

    1. That is because Airbus recently settled the bribery cases with several countries @jerejj. I spresume that part of that settlement was also cooperation/handing over information about the depth of the corruption that the company found in internal investigations.

      Funny really, I remember reading about the clever tie in with Fernandez buying Airbus planes over Boeing, partly due to cooperation /sponsorship for the F1 team – I think that was Joe Saward talking about the deal in an article and why it made sense

  6. @keithcollantine – have you seen this: https://twitter.com/ChinaF1Journo/status/1224912969257115648

    All sports event will be suspended in Shanghai until this coronavirus outbreak is finished

  7. Spine sail, anyone?

  8. Let’s face it. Mercedes needed good press after being found of running several cartels, price fixing and now investigated for poisoning the public with emissions cheating.

  9. I wonder if Lewis is happy with the attempts at diversity in that photo? at least 7 women, three guys in the middle who don’t look European and 3 southern Europeans.
    Not too bad for starters. The again maybe they got there on merit and nobody notices any different.

    1. Err… it’s the other way around. The idea is that people’s merit are categorically excluded because of gender, color, religion, sexual orientation etc.. It’s such a stubborn problem that normal encouragement to think sensibly isn’t working and so now has to be forced by the rule of law by installing quota.

    2. I only noticed the attractive woman leaning in on Toto. And him trying to hide something under his cap.

  10. To me, the whole rumour of leaving F1 was done to justify the laying off of that many people. They have to be seen to be aware of the impact that they’re making, while still being in F1.

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