Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG will have stakes in two Formula 1 teams next season, with a majority shareholding in Brawn GP coming into effect while its 40% stake in McLaren Racing is set to be bought out by the McLaren Group over the coming year.�In a transaction structured so as to be completed by 2011, the McLaren Group will undertake a phased purchase of the 40 per cent shareholding currently owned by Daimler AG. As a result, the McLaren Group will become a fully independent stand-alone corporate entity,� the company confirmed in a statement on Monday.
This year�s championship-winning Brawn GP team will be renamed Mercedes Grand Prix, and Daimler AG�s statement confirming the purchase used the term �Silver Arrows� to describe its future single-seaters.
However the collaboration with McLaren will continue beyond the buyout of Mercedes� stake, since the German manufacturer will maintain its supply of engines to McLaren until 2015, at which time a prolonging agreement may come into place.
�The team will continue to be known as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, its distinctive silver-with-red livery will remain unchanged, and Mercedes-Benz will continue as both an engine supplier and a partner,� read the McLaren Group statement.
By the time the new engine-supply agreement reaches its term in 2015, the working relationship between McLaren and Mercedes-Benz will have reached its 21st year. �By which time it will have become by some margin the longest such association in Formula 1 history,� McLaren pointed out.
�For the benefit of both Mercedes and McLaren, we will continue our partnership cooperation in the future,� said Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO and head of Mercedes-Benz, in a separate statement. �We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will cooperate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide.�
Mercedes-Benz Motorsport boss Norbert Haug looked back at the 60 Grand Prix victories, four titles and ten runner-up positions gained with McLaren Racing since 1995 in the drivers� and constructors� championships: �We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership.
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�The reaffirmation of the two companies� commitment to each other is the result of many weeks of careful and cooperative discussion,� the McLaren Group statement explained, adding that the agreement �covers both parties� continued involvement in the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 partnership as well as a shared intention to act in the overall best interests of the sport of Grand Prix racing.
�It also reflects the independent vision of both companies with regard to their automotive production strategies,� the press release indicated, referring to McLaren Automotive�s intention of building �its own range of high-performance production sports cars� starting in 2011.
�This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler,� said Ron Dennis, the Executive Chairman of McLaren Automotive and founder of the McLaren Group.
�I�ve often stated that it�s my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team,� Dennis explained. �The next few years will be a very exciting time for McLaren, during which period we intend to become an ever-stronger technological and economic force.
�Over the past two years we�ve analysed in great detail the challenge of entering the high-performance production sports car market,� he continued, however underlining that �Formula 1 will always be a core activity, for sound business reasons as well as for historical sporting reasons.
�All of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula 1 programme,� Dennis said. �For that reason, and because the engines they produce are very competitive, we�re delighted that Mercedes-Benz has committed to continue not only as an engine supplier but also as a partner of ours until 2015 � and perhaps thereafter.�
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