Missed deadlines and ‘firefighting’ - The truth about Mercedes’ early F1 days
A Mercedes insider has given a detailed account of the team's troublesome first days in Formula 1
Mercedes’ early F1 days were dogged by missed deadlines and “chaotic firefighting”, a key insider who experienced it first hand has revealed.
Chief operating officer Rob Thomas, who joined the Brackley team in 2010 as Mercedes returned to F1, has shared a fascinating and honest insight into the early workings behind the scenes at the team.
Thomas admitted that standards at Mercedes were very different when he first arrived and that the team was not as operationally efficient when compared to today.
“There were detailed plans [when Rob joined the team], but they weren’t really respected,” Thomas explained. “A lot of internal dates were a bit optional, and we’d do our best to hit those deadlines, but generally we didn’t.
“Things got later and later and what you ended up with was people working in a chaotic firefighting way, trying to get parts together.
“We wouldn’t get either the result we needed from performance or reliability either. That all leads to going to the first races in a massively sub-optimal condition, not getting the learning you want and leading to people being burnt out.”
Thomas says strong leadership from the engineering and operational departments helped address the issues, enabling Mercedes to become a well-oiled machine that has won eight constructors’ world titles over the following 13 years.
“We’ve worked hard for years on behaviours in the team and making sure we have a defined set of values,” said Thomas, who described the winter period as a “really intense time” for everyone working in the factory.
“It’s really this time of year where it comes together, everyone is in [the factories] and each department is an expert in what they do.
“But to deliver the car, it relies on every department interacting so closely together. Everything is done respectfully, but very fast.
“There’s a line of trust in each area. There’s never finger-pointing. If anyone has an issue, they’ll fix it and if they need help, they’ll come and ask.”
Mercedes hope their revamped W15 will allow them to challenge Red Bull this year after two massively difficult seasons, with 2023 marking their first winless campaign since 2011.
