Mercedes GP

- Published on Dec 9th, 2010 by The Badger

Mercedes GP was created by the German manufacturer's purchase of the Brawn team following the 2009 season. The Brackley-based team's history actually goes back a lot further than that: they were Honda between 2006 and 2008, BAR from 1999 through 2005 and the old Tyrrell team from 1968 to '98. The history of Mercedes in Grand Prix racing is also pretty extensive.

As for the modern Mercedes, they debuted in 2010 with a team absolutely loaded with potential: with seven-time champion Michael Schumacher and promising youngster Nico Rosberg as in the race seats, the vastly experienced Nick Heidfeld as test driver, Ross Brawn running the show and all the might of Mercedes to back them financially the sky seemed the limit.

But things didn't quite live up to billing, with the hangover from Brawn's title fight hurting development of the 2010 car. There was also a lack of pace from Schumacher, who struggled badly on his return to F1, but Rosberg did provide a handful of podiums and clearly has the potential to win races.

The team binned the 2010 car early to focus on this year's challenger, the same tactic that brought about the all-conquring Brawn of 2009. Can Mercedes produce a race-winner this in 2011? If they do then all the other pieces of the jigsaw are in place for a very serious world championship bid.