Good mornin all, nothing like starting the morning off with some gossip
Ineos close to signing a £700million deal’ to buy the Mercedes F1 team
Ineos could move from team sponsor to team owner with the Daily Mail reporting that the company is ‘close to signing a £700million deal’ to buy the Mercedes F1 team. Earlier this year Ineos, one of the world’s largest chemical producers, teamed up with Mercedes in a five-year deal. At the time Ineos owner Jim Ratcliffe and Mercedes motorsport boss Toto Wolff called the deal a “partnership”, not a sponsorship, and one that was worth £100m to the Formula 1 team. However, it now looks as if all that could become ownership.
According to news reports, Ineos has agreed to buy ’70 per cent share in the German team’ which is well on its way to winning a seventh successive championship double. Former F1 team boss Eddie Jordan broke the news. “The ownership of the team is going to be taken over by Sir Jim Ratcliffe and Ineos,” Jordan said. “The Ineos name is already on the side of the car anyway and they have this technological partnership so this is a nice way out for Mercedes. The team will be called Ineos but it will still be run from the factory in Brackley and Mercedes will retain a 30 per cent share in it. It will not be known as Mercedes any more and Toto Wolff, the team principal, will no longer be in charge. It has become difficult for them. How can they keep winning? How can they improve on what they have already done? They can’t. Toto’s reputation as one of the great team leaders in the history of the sport is already secure. What he has achieved at Mercedes puts him in the same league as Ron Dennis at McLaren and Jean Todt at Ferrari but all good things come to an end.”
Mercedes has been rumoured for several months now to be considering letting go of its Formula 1 team. The rumour mill claims that with its unprecedented run of success, parent company Daimler feels that it has nothing more to achieve in Formula 1. Mercedes, though, has denied the rumours several times insisting that it is sticking around. Prior to the delayed start of the 2020 season, the team said in a statement that it is “our clear intention to continue competing in Formula 1 as a Mercedes-Benz works team in the years to come, and to do so with our managing partner, Toto Wolff.” Mercedes has since signed a new Concorde Agreement, committing its future to Formula 1 from 2021 to 2025. That, though, doesn’t guarantee that the team will continue under its current ownership.
Vettel cost racing Point some $40 million
When all was said and done, signing Sebastian Vettel cost Lawrence Stroll an estimated “$40 million” in total. After months of speculation, Racing Point, which will be rebranded Aston Martin, announced on Thursday that Vettel would join the team for “2021 and beyond”. He didn’t come cheap. In order to sign the four-time World Champion, the Silverstone-based team had to say goodbye to Sergio Perez, and goodbye to his sponsors. Auto Motor und Sports reports that ‘Aston Martin really wanted him [Vettel] and it will have cost the owners an estimated $40 million.’
That sum is made up of what Perez accepted to leave the team, said to be $9 million, what Aston Martin will pay Vettel, $15m, and also what losing Perez’s sponsors has taken from the team’s coffers. ‘That shows,’ adds the German publication, ‘how important the transfer was for the team.’ Vettel’s decision to head to Aston Martin is an interesting one as the four-time World Champion will most likely not be taking on Mercedes and Red Bull for the race wins but could be in the hunt for podiums. But, as AMuS points out, he will be a ‘part of the Mercedes family’.
‘Aston Martin is definitely the best alternative after the top teams,’ it added. ‘Even one without great risk. ‘The car will be based on the 2020 Mercedes in 2021 and will be even better than this year. The engine is the best in the field. ‘By the end of the season, the team will have fully understood the new vehicle concept and also brought its racing strategy into shape. ‘So next year Vettel will at least drive where Racing Point is currently driving. Behind two Mercedes and a Red Bull, with a good chance of a podium. And he’s part of the Mercedes family. You never know what it can be for to have your foot in the door.’
Added to that the team is one of the outfits that will benefit from next year’s budget cap. While the likes of Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull will have to trim their budgets, Racing Point is used to operating on a small budget, often punching above its financial weight.
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