Brawn rules out Schumacher return
• Nico Rosberg confirmed as first nominated Mercedes driver• Fellow German driver Nick Heidfeld likely to join RosbergMichael Schumacher's return to Formula One was effectively ruled out today when Nico Rosberg was confirmed as Mercedes-Benz's first nominated driver for next season's world championship.From the moment Jenson Button, having won the title for the team as Brawn, signed for McLaren last week there had been mounting speculation that Schumacher, who will be 41 next year, was considering a comeback to spearhead the official return of the "Silver Arrows" to grand prix for the first time since 1955.However, Ross Brawn, the Mercedes team principal, made it clear that Schumacher would not be picking up the threads of a full-time Formula One career that ended in 2006, even though he gave serious consideration to taking the role of temporary stand-in for the injured Felipe Massa at Ferrari this year. This plan was thwarted by a neck injury sustained earlier in the year in a motorcycle testing crash."The issue now haunts the media, I know," Brawn told the German newspaper Bild, "but there is nothing in it. The media are trying to put together a dream. Michael would have returned to the cockpit for Ferrari but only temporarily. He has no ambitions to start a new career."If we get a combination of two equally strong drivers, then the strategy will be different than if you have a winner like Michael. Following Button's move to McLaren, we will think differently. My desire is to find two experienced drivers. Nico Rosberg has more than three years in Formula One, so I count him to be experienced."Brawn seemed to be steering speculation in the direction of Nick Heidfeld, another German driver, and one with 167 grand prix starts under his belt. "I do not want a novice who must find his way around racetracks because we have very few opportunities to test drivers now. Performance without much practice is therefore the task. The good thing is we are not in a hurry."Formula OneMichael SchumacherBrawnMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Mercedes to take over Brawn
• Mercedes to end its partnership with McLaren• Move could lead to Jenson Button joining McLarenMercedes-Benz today announced it was taking over the Brawn GP Formula One team while ending its partnership with McLaren.Mercedes engines powered Brawn's Jenson Button to the world championship in the recently completed season while the team also claimed the constructors' championship.They will now increase their involvement while Button has been strongly linked with a move to McLaren to team up with his fellow Briton Lewis Hamilton.Mercedes have taken a 75.1% controlling interest in Brawn, although they will continue to be the engine supplier to McLaren.The team principal, Ross Brawn, is expected to remain in his role but the future of his drivers is more uncertain.Button was recently shown around McLaren's Woking premises after reaching an impasse in his contract negotiations with Brawn.The 29-year-old had turned down a reported £4m contract offer – which represented a £1m rise on his current deal but was less than half of what he had earned with Brawn's forerunner, Honda.Button was widely lauded for accepting a £5m pay cut at the start of the 2009 season and expected his loyalty to have been rewarded after leading Brawn to two titles in their debut season.But Mercedes's new influence at Brawn could lead to the German-born Niko Rosberg being installed as lead driver, with BMW's Nick Heidfeld as his likely partner – allowing Button to pursue options elsewhere.That is most likely to be at McLaren, with the constructor's sponsors Vodafone happy to bankroll at least part of Button's wages if he were to form an all-English drivers' line-up alongside the 2008 champion, Hamilton.Yesterday the Mercedes Sports president, Norbert Haug, revealed he was attempting to secure Heidfeld, who has driven for BMW since 2006. "We are speaking with Nick Heidfeld as well," Haug told DPA. "Mercedes-Benz supports the idea of signing an experienced and capable German driver. There is, however, no reason to finalise the driver situation too hastily."BrawnMcLarenJenson ButtonFormula OneMotor sportguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds 
Mercedes hope to keep hold of Button
Mercedes will bow to Ross Brawn's wishes and negotiate to keep the world champion Jenson Button as a driver next season, a team source has confirmed.
11/17/09
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Hamilton challenge excites Button
World champion Jenson Button says he is excited by the prospect of going head-to-head with former champion Lewis Hamilton at McLaren.
11/19/09
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Brawn: "We're in no hurry for drivers"
Nov.20 (GMM) Boss Ross Brawn has hinted strongly that the newly rebranded Mercedes GP team is only on the market for a single driver for 2010.
11/20/09
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A final twist in the road for Brawn
Everyone knows that in motor racing, Britain's got talent. After all, the past two years have yielded two British world champions.
11/21/09
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Brawn set to lose Virgin tag
Ross Brawn does not expect his team's cars to carry the sponsorship of Sir Richard Branson's Virgin Group next season.
11/10/09
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An amazing year for Ross Brawn
Over the last 11 months, Ross Brawn and his team took a bad situation and transformed it into one of the most successful turnarounds in Formula One history: taking a nearly-folded operation, bringing it to double championship glory and then selling three quarters of the team to a world-renowned car manufacturer – and remaining in charge to top it off... Â
Button agrees to join McLaren
• Button will sign contract with McLaren in the next few days• Champion unfazed by being Lewis Hamilton's team-mateJenson Button has agreed terms to join McLaren on a £6m-a-year deal and could sign his formal three-year contract to partner Lewis Hamilton in an all-British line-up within the next few days.The Guardian understands that the world champion has turned his back on Brawn following protracted negotiations and will almost double his salary with the Woking-based team. The 29-year-old was given a guided tour of McLaren's factory last Friday and, although neither the team nor Button's management would confirm the deal tonight, sources close to McLaren hinted: "I think Jenson liked what he saw and they liked him too."In switching to McLaren Button will be going against advice from Formula One grandees including Sir Stirling Moss, Sir Jackie Stewart, Niki Lauda and Martin Brundle, all of whom feel he might be biting off more than he can chew taking on Hamilton on his home turf in equal cars.But for Button the prospect of going head-to-head with a close friend and the man regarded by many in the pit lane as possibly the fastest of all will just be part of the challenge of defending his title. It is unlikely either Hamilton, who earns about £12m a year at McLaren, or his father Anthony, who has managed the 2008 world champion since his days as a teenage kart racer, will have been consulted on this beyond the normal deployment of good manners. McLaren have always had the resources and philosophy required to field two fully competitive cars and have always sought the strongest possible driver line-ups they could engage.The decision by the newly crowned world champion to leave the team built from the ashes of Honda by Ross Brawn came on the day it was officially announced that Mercedes-Benz had switched allegiances from McLaren and purchased a controlling interest in Brawn GP. They will field their cars under the Mercedes banner in 2010.It had been widely thought that Button would remain with the team alongside Nico Rosberg, the preferred Mercedes nominee, for 2010 following Rubens Barrichello's move to Williams. But there are suggestions that Button was never at the top of the Mercedes wish list. In fact, on Sunday Norbert Haug, the Mercedes motor sport vice-president, hinted that the company was already in talks to sign Nick Heidfeld from BMW, raising the possibility of two Germans going head-to-head with two Englishmen for next year's championship. Nick Fry, Brawn's chief executive, played down those rumours tonight, saying: "I can confidently say that [speculation] is totally incorrect – Mercedes is an international company. Clearly a German driver would be nice for them but we don't need two German drivers, that's not the intent."He added: "I hope Jenson is still with us next season. We've been together for a good few years now and we have succeeded in winning the world championship together and we want Jenson to be with us. But we have to recognise that Formula One is not divorced from the rest of the world. We have worked within a budget [and] if we spend in one area then we cannot spend in another area."The purchase of Brawn was funded by Mercedes' parent company, Daimler AG, who will own 45.1% of the team's equity, while Ross Brawn and the other senior management will hold 24.9% and the Abu Dhabi-based Aarbar investments will hold 30%. The team will continue to be run from its headquarters at Brackley in Oxfordshire.Under the new arrangements finalised today McLaren will have the facility of using Mercedes engines through to 2015 if they wish to. "This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler," said Ron Dennis, chairman of the McLaren group and the man who originally forged the team's alliance with Mercedes back in 1995. "I've often stated that it's my belief that in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula One a team must become much more than merely a team. In order to develop and sustain the revenue streams required to compete and win grands prix and world championships companies that run Formula One teams must broaden the scope of their commercial activities."Nonetheless, all of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula One programme. 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."McLaren will not be disadvantaged by no longer being perceived as Mercedes-Benz's standard bearer in the Formula One front line. They and Mercedes have gone their separate ways because of conflicting interests in the high-performance road car arena. But out on the circuits McLaren remains potentially a consistently formidable winning machine. Button knows this and that is why he will be driving one of their cars next season.Jenson ButtonMcLarenBrawnFormula OneMotor sportAlan Henryguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Button out to prove class - Brawn
Mercedes boss Ross Brawn says world champion Jenson Button joined McLaren to prove his driving ability.
12/23/09
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Schumacher sets sights on eighth title
• German signs one-year contract with Ross Brawn's team• Schumacher will be 41-years-old upon return to trackMichael Schumacher believes he can win an unprecedented eighth Formula One world championship next season after confirming that he will come out of retirement to drive for Mercedes.Schumacher, who will be 41 on 3 January, has signed a one-year contract, with options for a further two seasons, to partner Nico Rosberg at the former Brawn team. Brawn GP collected the drivers' championship, through Jenson Button, and the constructors' title last season and Schumacher is targeting identical success for the rebranded squad."I have won it seven times and I'm with the team that won both titles last season, so what do you expect?" he said. "You can't expect anything else other than to go for the world championship and that's what we are aiming for."Schumacher secured the last of his championships with Ferrari in 2004 and has not raced in Formula One since 2006. The German will be the grid's oldest driver. Button, Lewis Hamilton and Sebastian Vettel, three likely title rivals, will be 30, 25 and 22 when the season starts.A neck injury sustained in a motorcycle accident in February ruled out Schumacher's proposed comeback for Ferrari last season as a substitute for the injured Felipe Massa. But he has no doubts about his fitness or competitiveness in joining the Mercedes team run by Ross Brawn, who managed Schumacher's seven world championships at Benetton and Ferrari."I am absolutely confident I can do what's necessary," Schumacher said. "When I returned to the go-kart [for a recent race against F1 drivers in Brazil], I straight away was on the pace. Now I have to prove it in the real car and go wheel to wheel with many of those guys."The motivation is pretty straightforward. I got a call from Ross at the beginning of November asking me to race again, telling me Mercedes were going to be involved. That seemed pretty good to me. I was tired of F1 by the end of 2006 and three years' absence gave back all the energy that I'm feeling right now. Having played around with motorbikes and go-karts, I feel ready for some serious stuff."Before I gave a final OK, I had to be sure 100% that there were no further issues with my neck. Unfortunately it was too close to the accident in the summer when I considered going to Ferrari after Felipe's accident. But the time is enough now to heal [the injury] completely. I have tested everything that I can and I have no problem whatsoever now."Brawn said the renewal of his association with Schumacher did not come at the expense of Button, who has joined Hamilton at McLaren for 2010. "We made a big effort to keep him but it wasn't possible in the end," he said. "I had a loyalty to Jenson but, when that started to look difficult, I started talking to Michael."Brawn said he had let Schumacher answer questions about his motivation and speed following a long absence from such a competitive arena. "I trust him implicitly and he told me he can do it. He has always been his own best critic, the man himself knows what he is capable of. I am very comfortable and confident and put my trust in Michael, and it won't be misplaced."Schumacher's lengthy list of records includes the most world titles, most race victories (91), most pole positions (68) and highest number of wins in one season (13 in 2004). His return with Brawn severs a 14-year connection with Ferrari, Schumacher having spent the past three years as a consultant and ambassador there."The only reason I seriously thought about my return is because it is old friends that have asked me. Working with Ross and Mercedes is now possible and I'm happy to give something back that Mercedes gave me in the early days," he said, referring to its support for his career before he reached Formula One.Hamilton welcomed the chance to race Schumacher, whom he described as "a legend". He said: "I used to watch Michael race when I was in the junior categories and I always hoped that I would be in F1 while he was still around. I'm really looking forward to seeing him on the track and back at the top. It's brilliant news."Michael SchumacherMercedes GPFormula OneMotor sportMaurice Hamiltonguardian.co.uk © Guardian News & Media Limited 2009 | Use of this content is subject to our Terms & Conditions | More Feeds
Mercedes in no hurry to replace Button
Ross Brawn has hinted strongly that the newly rebranded Mercedes team is only on the market for a single driver for 2010... Â
Mercedes confirm Rosberg capture
Nico Rosberg will drive for the new Mercedes F1 team in 2010, but there is no news about the second driver.
Mercedes ditch McLaren to take over...
Mercedes-Benz today announced they were taking over the Brawn GP Formula One team, according to reports in Germany.
11/16/09
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Brawn: "I want experienced drivers"
Nov.23 (GMM) Confirmation of Nico Rosberg's move to Mercedes GP is edging nearer, with both sides now alluding to a deal.