Costa and Willis join Mercedes GP

« Calendar questions: who has what rights?

Murmurings in Austin… and Buenos Aires »

Costa and Willis join Mercedes GP

September 30, 2011 by Joe Saward

Mercedes GP Petronas has been busily sweeping up talent in recent months and has now announced two important new appointments aimed at strengthening the team’s technical structure. Geoff Willis, who has been working for HRT in recent months, has been named as the new Technology Director, while Aldo Costa will join in December as Engineering Director. They will join team a team that is replete with talent and experience, including team principal Ross Brawn and technical director Bob Bell. The team’s chief designer is John Owen, with the aerodynamic department headed by Loic Bigois and Craig Wilson in charge of vehicle dynamics.

According to the team Costa will be responsible for design and development, and Willis will head the aerodynamics, vehicle dynamics, control systems and simulation divisions. Willis is no stranger to the team, having worked there between 2001 and 2006 when it was known as British American Racing. He has also worked with a number of the senior engineers when they were all at Williams in the 1990s.

Costa was previously technical director at Ferrari.

This means that the team now has at least five former TDs on the staff, Bigois having held that role briefly in the days of Prost Grand Prix.

Posted in F1 people, F1 Teams | 37 Comments

37 Responses

on September 30, 2011 at 10:22 Chris D

Are they making the classic manufacturer team mistake of throwing expensive senior resources at a problem rather than empowering creative members of a small team?

Is it BAR and Toyota all over again?
on September 30, 2011 at 10:24 Mark

It doesn’t look like a team focusing on the Resource Restricition Agreement!
on September 30, 2011 at 10:37 Wilson Laidlaw

Too many chiefs?

Wilson
on September 30, 2011 at 10:53 Tom I

Too many cooks?..
on September 30, 2011 at 11:12 Michael C

Interesting information thank you. You know all the bodies involved of course Joe but it looks like loads of chiefs and are there enough Indians (and the right drivers).?

Did many technical people leave when Mercedes-Benz took over from Brawn? Ross seems to have struggled compared to the championship year – who was responsible for the all conquering Brawn?
on September 30, 2011 at 11:35 IainT

A lot of talent so no excuses next year
on September 30, 2011 at 12:08 Hans

Jörg Zander was officially responsible for the Brawn, according to Wikipedia. He now works for HRT. So watch out for that team
on September 30, 2011 at 12:19 Dave C

I have to say I quickly fell out of love with the Brawn team once they became Mercedes, and moreso when they brought back Schumacher…but I’m impressed with this solid group of heads they’ve now pulled together. Makes a bit of an embarrassment of Williams who have sacrificed Michael for the likes of Coughlan and say they’re more determined than ever to move back up the grid…
on September 30, 2011 at 12:29 Tony Dowe

A lot of ego’s bumping into each other, I guess Ross will have his hands full keeping things going in the right direction.
I wonder if Rubins might be in line for a non-driving role? afterall he seems to think he knew what was wrong with Williams, afterall, he told us all he did!
on September 30, 2011 at 12:47 ed24f1

Maybe Chris Dyer is their next target…

If it was anyone else hiring these people I would possibly doubt it, but I have to give some benefit of the doubt to Ross Brawn as to someone who should know how to build a good team around him, and possibly to replace him in the medium term.
on September 30, 2011 at 13:26 OXO

It’s all part of a cunning plan to win the championship by leaving all the other teams without experienced staff. Still got a way to go though
on September 30, 2011 at 13:28 F430-FOX

So how long is it then until Chris Dyer joins to work with Ross and Michael again?
on September 30, 2011 at 13:54 Jerry

Michael C – “who was responsible for the all conquering Brawn?”

Well, firstly, lets remember that the Brawn car was in fact only all conquering for the first half of the season. After that, the Red Bull was clearly superior. Taking that onboard, there are 2 answers to the question. The first is whoever came up with the double diffuser, which was largely responsible for giving Brawn the advantage for the first half of the season. The second answer is Jenson Button. JB was a savvy and mature enough driver to maximise his advantage whilst he had it, and then to protect his lead and hold off a still maturing Vettel for the second half of the season. History may yet recall him as the last man to do this for quite some time . . .
on September 30, 2011 at 14:14 janis1207

Ego bumping sure is possible.
And at Ferrari Brawn was technical director, so in general all ego bumping was managed by Todt. Just remember how he managed to keep di Montezemolo away from Mosley
So Brawn’s skills in this respect are largely untested as yet.
on September 30, 2011 at 14:19 Toastiejoe

There has been something fundamentally wrong with BAR/Honda/Brawn/Mercedes all through. They had a one time lucky (or very clever) jump on the field with the Brawn year, but didn’t have the capability of sustaining that advantage – by half way through that year the others had caught them and the underlying problems with the car began to show. They still haven’t solved that problem, and I fear that adds without subtractions will not solve it either.
on September 30, 2011 at 14:37 riccbat

Joe, can you expand on what is happening/has happened at HRT now that Willis has gone – wasn’t it the case that all the kit used by HRT was leased/rented from him? I know HRT has changed ownership but how are they working now? Have I missed something?
on September 30, 2011 at 14:48 Karen

@Mark

None of the top four teams take any notice of the RRA, it was brought in as a smokescreen to rally the troops against the ‘Coast Cap’ proposal.

€20 million on external services was upped to €30 million.
280 staff was upped to 315, and still the top teams have over 500.

The list of things that increased rather than being restricted is very long, but I guess that’s why spend has gone up by 9% since 2009, and why teams need ever escalating amounts of money to go racing, 20 years ago you could win both championships for £30 million, now you can’t buy a brand centre for that.
on September 30, 2011 at 15:16 John Robinson

Too many chiefs? Too many cooks?

Looks like too many Head Chefs …
on September 30, 2011 at 15:43 Chris D

I think what they should do is cram as many overlapping roles into an overly hierarchical management structure, splitting accountability until no one is responsible for anything. Then watch the wins roll in….
on September 30, 2011 at 15:44 Chris D

Geoff Willis will be paid double his HRT fee for doing half the work with a quarter of the responsibility and none of the accountability. Human nature alone says he won’t work as hard.
on September 30, 2011 at 16:08 GeorgeK

Wow, amazing collection of talent!

How long before Ross is shown the door or elects to leave, from a team management perspective?
on September 30, 2011 at 17:27 Chrisp

The broth is certainly going to be spoiled n Brackley
on September 30, 2011 at 23:58 matt

Is it too late for these 2 to be able to have much input into the design of next years car?
on October 1, 2011 at 07:31 RobbieMeister

Perhaps getting some new people in is a prelude to some existing ones leaving.
on October 1, 2011 at 10:42 Alex

Surely there’s a lightbulb joke somewhere in this story?
on October 1, 2011 at 13:57 StephenAcworth

Off topic, Joe, but somewhat of an interesting alliance:

http://t.co/RFkWtxyn

John Prescott & Max Mosely vs. News International
on October 1, 2011 at 14:52 cyberspacesomewhere

Hello, eco news, F1 has switched to a all peanut powered, V1 biodeisel electo eco hemp fibre future.

Ferrari apologise and offers to scrap all v12′s v8′s and replace with their new Gordini Murrio plasticofantastcio, at no cost to customers.

Hyundai launch rival F-Zero future racing series.

New hollywood movie, where big star plays Rubens B’s big brother making a comeback against a kid that is winning everything.

Race in Adelaide.
on October 2, 2011 at 08:28 John (other John)

cyberspacesomewhere,

you’re not an accountant, by any chance? Sounds the right way to talk about the RRA anyhow.

– j

p.s. Karen, think we all got that idea. They did do MBA’s after the war, which counted, but since then you can pick any random book which cites M&M and some numpties who proselytize impenetrably about management accounts. Tenured profs, usually. Game is to find the english sentence in the thicket. If you can’t fluff it in F1, i’m watching the wrong sport! I thought Ross was completely straight about this: he had to cut staff because the lovely Honda money only had so much runway. Never heard him BS on that.

Jerry,

I got the similar idea bout Jenson, just as he showed his mettle. I always put him down as not having it, especially as he’s comparable age to me, it was no fun at all. I thought him a naïve over his management fracas, but he’d be right saying i can’t drive to save my life . . I agree, on reflection, that year’s drive was pure savvy. Been very pleased to turn around my ideas about him lately. Just wasn’t the WDC win which did it. This year caught me.
on October 2, 2011 at 08:56 John (other John)

Actually, stuff that, MBAs started in the 20′s. It was more intense trade school, no illusions, with maybe a nice certificate. They did get bigger with the demob programme however. Where are the college fees for present (still very young) vets, rather a lot of them? All current specialism fads pigeon hole people, at behest of the unlearned or untrying, mollycoddled jobsworths who cling to “rules”, not understanding. Hence the total rubbish that you have to make it early. It’s so destructive i have no words. Half the people i met who were any good needed no “retraining”, just showing the ropes. I think my generation are wimps. If you’re older, you need us to get cracking to cover you too, so don’t knock it!

Jerry’s comment about Jenson got me really thinking how legends are made retrospectively. I think we all need our present, past and future hats on, when evaluating drivers. – j
on October 2, 2011 at 09:52 John (other John)

cyberspacesomewhere

could we have “- F1″?

Like T-Zero.

Or the only time i get sent a real paper bill now is when i owe a – sum, got it ahead and it messes up their database rotten . . there is a sad movie plot in this idea . . here in fact is the prescient cartoon: https://www.xkcd.com/327/

eff.point.five

Formule, Non.

just a naming thing, isn’t it?

– j
on October 2, 2011 at 13:20 cyberspacesomewhere

hmm maybe all these muslim heathen oil rich ayrabs who actually build GP tracks might want to sit on their oyal a bit and like batteries?

Also, again, if Indycar doesn’t work in USA, F1 is a dream.

USA should want F1 not the other way around… best tv for decades seeing USA fans going mental throwing bottles after the tyre fence. F1′s great media bite. Cannot have cone chicanes in F1, etc right Mr FIA at time? Well done.

And after all, there is nothing like electric motor torque for starts, just ask Mark Webber. Ha!

yours from cyberspace somewhere, Michael R
on October 2, 2011 at 13:29 cyberspacesomewhere

thanks StephenAcworth,
after seeing Mr Max. Moseley breaking down on the James Hunt doco, about playboys, that I downloaded, methinks surely himself could stop wasting time worrying about what the nasty press say about him and his etc and get a bit more serious about safety, and progress, etc and bringing Adelaide back to F1.

Without bothering to read the link …!
on October 2, 2011 at 13:46 cyberspacesomewhere

It was Adelaide’s brilliant “medical surgeons” that saved world champ Mika Hakkinen’s life from dangerous F1, after all.Greater than Spa!

Without having been to Belgium.

Mika was great, he was so good at the Finish.

When Kimi rules F1 again in his new Hyundai Mika’s words will come true. Again.

If you want to win, get the fin!
on October 3, 2011 at 22:53 Adrian Newey Jnr

BAR was run by committees reporting to Honda HQ. That never works. Ross is a pretty good judge of character and must have recognised talent. No doubt he could have hired any of the other staff floating around (eg Sam Michael, etc) but chose not too. That says something.

Ross has plenty of experience managing egos. After all, he spent a few years at Ferrari.
- on October 4, 2011 at 06:46 joesaward
  
  Adrian Newey Jr,
  
  I believe that they approached Sam and he turned them down.
on October 4, 2011 at 02:53 RShack

To Chris D,

> I think what they should do is cram as many overlapping
> roles into an overly hierarchical management structure,
> splitting accountability until no one is responsible for anything.
> Then watch the wins roll in….

With you on this one… wonderfully said and v. funny, with truth in spades…

> Geoff Willis will be paid double his HRT fee for doing
> half the work with a quarter of the responsibility and
> none of the accountability. Human nature alone says
> he won’t work as hard.

Not with you so much on this one. I don’t know Geoff Willis, he could walk right up to me and I wouldn’t know who he was… so, no comment on him in particular… but I have had the pleasure of working with high caliber people… and I’ve learned that some people do everything to the highest standard regardless… so, while there is some truth to the idea that environment can (and often does) encourage or hamper the quality of one’s work, it’s also true that top quality people tend to act the same regardless… they do so because of who they are, not where they are… whether that applies to Mr. Willis, I do not know…
on October 4, 2011 at 07:40 RShack

cyberspacesomewhere,

> Also, again, if Indycar doesn’t work in USA, F1 is a dream.

IndyCar was working fine until the IMS scion used his control of the track as a weapon with which he started a 15+ year war that destroyed the sport…

> USA should want F1 not the other way around…

That certainly seems to have been the attitude. I’ve wondered if there is any sound reason for it. Perhaps you can explain it? Too competitive an environment for F1? Or something else?

Comments are closed.