McLaren Mercedes - Formula One Team Information

Mercedes-Benz in the 2001 Formula One season

A successful partnership is what unites Mercedes-Benz and McLaren. In 2000, Mika Hakkinen was runner-up in the Drivers' World Championship and the West McLaren Mercedes team came second in the Constructors' Championship. In the last three years, the Partnership has achieved a total of two Formula One Drivers' Championship titles (1998 and 1999), one Constructors' Championship (1998) and finished three times as runners-up in the title race - once in the Drivers' and twice in the Constructors' Championship. The TAG McLaren Group and Daimler Chrysler are also co-operating away from the racetrack, above and beyond their exclusive Formula One contract.

Daimler Chrysler has a 40 per cent stake in the TAG McLaren Group, the parent company of the McLaren International Formula One team. The holding forms part of a long-term strategy that is intended to safeguard the Mercedes-Benz brand in the increasingly tough competition of Formula One and creates new perspectives for both Partners. The first visible result of this unique link between a team and its engine-building Partner, will be the Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren supersports car, to be launched in 2003. The Mercedes-Benz SLR McLaren, which will have 544 bhp and Formula One technology, will be manufactured in Paragon, the newly constructed high-tech facility in Woking, England. Both companies are investing about 200 million euro in this project.

Mercedes-Benz and McLaren have been partners on the racetrack since 1995. In 1998 and 1999, the Anglo-German Partnership celebrated its most successful period to date - winning one Constructors' and two Drivers' World Championships. The target for the 2001 season is to win back the Formula One Drivers' World Championship title as well as the Constructors' crown. Mercedes-Benz is committed to consistently pursuing the targets it sets itself, of putting its competitiveness and technological skills to the test during every racing weekend.

Over the last four years, since resuming Formula One in traditional racing silver, results have been impressive: out of 66 starts, West McLaren Mercedes have taken 31 pole positions and 26 victories, of which 13 were one-two placings; Mika Hakkinen and David Coulthard have had 66 podium places between them; they have made the drivers' standings on 84 occasions (495 points); and they recorded 32 fastest lap times. In all, a West McLaren Mercedes was in front for almost 45 per cent of all laps raced over these four years. In the words of the Mercedes racing boss, Norbert Haug; "the Partners have future goals to improve effectiveness and technical reliability still further."

Since the Partnership was established, the 10-cylinder engines have been built at the Mercedes racing engine subsidiary Ilmor in Brixworth in the English Midlands. The units, designed by Mario Illien using compact and light-weight assemblies, are distinguished by their ability to make engine power 'driveable' across a broad rpm range -an important requirement for fast laps.

Daimler Chrysler has a holding not only in the TAG McLaren Group, but also in the racing engine subsidiary Ilmor, which has access to all the technical resources of the Daimler Chrysler group. Continuous further development of the racing engines is guaranteed by the co-operation of the Mercedes-Benz Motor Sports Group, headquartered in Untertürkheim, Stuttgart, where a team of around 30 engineers and technicians are dedicating themselves to basic research. Every new engine is subjected to an extensive test programme on a transient dyno test rig. Mario Illien refers to this successful co-operative venture as his "extended arm".

Norbert Haug, Head of Mercedes-Benz Motorsport, believes the brand's successful commitment to racing should underline "how dynamic, innovative and pioneering our company is". The demands placed on the West McLaren Mercedes team have increased with the entries of other major automotive manufacturers into Formula One.

Identification and motivation extend far beyond those directly involved; there is a keen interest in the Formula One commitment throughout the entire group. 2000 was not only another successful year for Mercedes-Benz on the racetrack. Once again, more than a million cars were sold. World sales were 600,000 at the start of the Formula One commitment. Whilst no-one involved with the company's motor racing interest would presume to attribute such record growth to motor racing alone, it does show that the dynamism of a product range in harmony with racing success can also produce magnificent results in sales.

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