Mercedes buy out of Brawn to be revealed today
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By Phil Huff
November 16 2009
RealBrawnGP.com understand it is to be announced later today that Mercedes-Benz have taken a controlling share of Brawn GP, and will cease to be partners at McLaren at the end of their contract in 2011, the deal having been concluded last week.
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This will return the Brackley team to full manufacturer ownership just one year after Honda pulled out, leaving a management team to run the outfit using a Honda financed car mated to a Mercedes engine.
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It is assumed that Mercedes will continue to supply McLaren with engines until the end of 2012, by which time McLaren will be in a position to emulate Ferrari and build their own power units.
Negotiations with Mercedes have forced the team to delay signing drivers, but it is expected that Jenson Button and Nico Rosberg will both be announced as drivers for 2010 and beyond, despite the speculation currently rife around internet discussion boards.
World champion Jenson Button recently visited the McLaren factory at Woking, alongside his manager Richard Goddard, but this looks like being a carefully played piece of theatre on both sides, with the Brawn GP driver reminding the team there are other options as they inch towards a mutually acceptable agreement, while McLaren are keen to remind preferred option Kimi Raikkonen that there are plenty of other divers available. Nick Heidfeld is understood to be the third option at McLaren, and second choice at Brawn.
Goddard is holding firm on his demands for more cash for Button, despite being told there simply isn't enough budget available. Once the Mercedes deal is confirmed today, funds may flow more freely, but the days of new $10m deals are over for the time being, and Goddard would be foolish to play too tough a game, as that could see his driver without any seat at all.
Brawn have confirmed that Button is free to take on his own personal sponsorship deals, as he has been this year, and that could boost his earnings by around $3m per season. It's unusual for a driver to own their own rights, and this is a generous compromise.
It's understandably frustrating for fans of both the team and drivers that deals have yet to be concluded, but it's a delicate time in Brackley, and a difficult time financially for all the parties involved. It's also worth noting that all parties said no deals would be concluded until after the end of the season, and that was only two weeks ago. In that time, there's been the Race of Champions in China and a personal holiday for the new world champion.
We have no doubts a suitable deal will be concluded between the team and driver and, as mentioned in the opening, expect the Mercedes buy out to be confirmed today.
