Mercedes GP is undergoing internal evolution

The Mercedes GP team is still in an evolution phase at this point in the 2011 championship. Ross Brawn, the director of the German team, stated that the team was looking to increase its workforce to get closer to the top teams. «We are seeking the best possible combination between the team’s external expenses and internal expenses, namely everything related to personnel. »

However, there is an agreement between F1 teams, the RRA (Resource Restriction Agreement) since early 2010, which imposes the fact that teams must be limited to 47 people on track (which does not include the marketing and communication services of the teams, notably). But the British engineer wants to reassure regarding this limit applied to his team. «We still have some leeway. So far, we have not worked with the maximum possible staff. We are trying to move closer to the limits allowed by the agreement. »

In fact, Ross Brawn is reportedly looking to amend the agreement to allow 55 people on the track this season, then 65 next year.

On the other hand, Mercedes GP has welcomed a defector from Renault in the person of Bob Bell, as the technical director of the German team. For Ross Brawn, Bell has managed to identify some of the team’s weaknesses. According to the Briton, the basic structure is in place and it should be possible to progress in terms of personnel. The ideal is to perform well with as few people as possible, despite the limit imposed by the RRA. But our goal is to move this limit.

We remember that before becoming the Mercedes GP team we have known for almost two years, the Brackley-based entity is the one that won the drivers’ and constructors’ titles in 2009, under the name Brawn GP. The team then had 667 employees before experiencing a reduction of about 270 people in the second half of the season and a second reduction of about 150 people at the beginning of 2010 (as Mercedes GP this time) following the Resource Restriction Agreement agreed upon between the teams.