Mercedes-Benz parent company Daimler AG will have stakes in two Formula 1 teams next season, with a majority shareholding in Brawn GP coming into effect while its 40% stake in McLaren Racing is set to be bought out by the McLaren Group over the coming year.

"In a transaction structured so as to be completed by 2011, the McLaren Group will undertake a phased purchase of the 40 per cent shareholding currently owned by Daimler AG. As a result, the McLaren Group will become a fully independent stand-alone corporate entity," the company confirmed in a statement on Monday.

This year's championship-winning Brawn GP team will be renamed Mercedes Grand Prix, and Daimler AG's statement confirming the purchase used the term 'Silver Arrows' to describe its future single-seaters.

However the collaboration with McLaren will continue beyond the buyout of Mercedes' stake, since the German manufacturer will maintain its supply of engines to McLaren until 2015, at which time a prolonging agreement may come into place.

"The team will continue to be known as Vodafone McLaren Mercedes, its distinctive silver-with-red livery will remain unchanged, and Mercedes-Benz will continue as both an engine supplier and a partner," read the McLaren Group statement.

By the time the new engine-supply agreement reaches its term in 2015, the working relationship between McLaren and Mercedes-Benz will have reached its 21st year. "By which time it will have become by some margin the longest such association in Formula 1 history," McLaren pointed out.

"For the benefit of both Mercedes and McLaren, we will continue our partnership cooperation in the future," said Dieter Zetsche, Daimler CEO and head of Mercedes-Benz, in a separate statement. "We will be rivals on-track but, off-track, we will cooperate with McLaren and the other teams in order to create the best possible product for spectators worldwide."

Mercedes-Benz Motorsport boss Norbert Haug looked back at the 60 Grand Prix victories, four titles and ten runner-up positions gained with McLaren Racing since 1995 in the drivers' and constructors' championships: "We thank our partner and will continue to work with McLaren based on an excellent partnership. "

"The reaffirmation of the two companies' commitment to each other is the result of many weeks of careful and cooperative discussion," the McLaren Group statement explained, adding that the agreement "covers both parties' continued involvement in the Vodafone McLaren Mercedes Formula 1 partnership as well as a shared intention to act in the overall best interests of the sport of Grand Prix racing.

"It also reflects the independent vision of both companies with regard to their automotive production strategies," the press release indicated, referring to McLaren Automotive's intention of building "its own range of high-performance production sports cars" starting in 2011.

"This is a win-win situation, for both McLaren and Daimler," said Ron Dennis, the Executive Chairman of McLaren Automotive and founder of the McLaren Group.

"I've often stated that it's my belief that, in order to survive and thrive in 21st-century Formula 1, a team must become much more than merely a team," Dennis explained. "The next few years will be a very exciting time for McLaren, during which period we intend to become an ever-stronger technological and economic force.

"Over the past two years we've analysed in great detail the challenge of entering the high-performance production sports car market," he continued, however underlining that "Formula 1 will always be a core activity, for sound business reasons as well as for historical sporting reasons.

"All of our partners will of course continue to play a crucial role in our Formula 1 programme," Dennis said. "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."

Daniel BASTIEN
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