Mercedes take over world champs

Formula One champions Brawn will compete as Mercedes Grand Prix next season after the German carmaker announced a takeover...

Formula One champions Brawn will compete as Mercedes Grand Prix next season after the German carmaker announced a takeover on Monday along with the sale of their stake in McLaren.

Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche,whose company owns Mercedes,said Ross Brawn would remain team principal while the carmaker will continue to supply long-term partners McLaren with engines until at least the end of 2015. In the changed environment of Formula One,we will face the competition on the most important motor sports stage from now on with our own Silver Arrows works team, he said.

Mercedes had been 40 per cent shareholders in McLaren but that team,who won the 2008 drivers title with Lewis Hamilton,said in a separate statement that they had agreed to buy back the stake by 2011. Brawn GP,who emerged from the remains of departed Honda, won the championship in their debut season last month with Jenson Button also securing the drivers title.

Rosberg on board?

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Mercedes would not comment on who would be driving for Brawn,although Germanys Nico Rosberg looks certain to be in the lineup after leaving Williams. Button is out of contract and has also been talking to McLaren as well as Brawn. The takeover deal gives Mercedes a majority shareholding in Brawn along with Abu Dhabi investment company Aabar,who bought a 9.1 per cent stake in Daimler last March. The two combined will own 75.1 per cent of Brawn,with Daimler holding 45.1 per cent.

Incredible journey

Brawn GP has been through an incredible journey over the last 12 months, said Ross Brawn. From fighting for our survival to forging a strong relationship with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines,winning both the constructors and drivers world championships,and now accepting Aabar and Daimlers offer.

Mercedes and McLaren have been partners since 1995 but the relationship has been strained by McLarens determination to emulate Ferrari as a road car manufacturer as well as a racing team. The strains were further tested when McLaren were fined a record $100 million for a 2007 spying controversy.

Our relationship with McLaren was affected in recent years by the fact that the other shareholders were very much interested in building up the new automotive company, said Zetsche. He added that there would be an immediate re-branding of the Brawn cars. Mercedes motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug rejected a suggestion that they would opt for an all-German lineup,saying the team would be an international operation with the best available drivers.