Stuttgart - German carmaker Mercedes-Benz is to buy a majority stake in the Brawn GP Formula One team, Dieter Zetsche, head of the board of management of parent company Daimler confirmed Monday. Under the deal, Mercedes together with its Abu Dhabi investment partner Aabar Investments will take a 75.1-per-cent controlling stake in the new team, which will race as Mercedes Grand Prix in the 2010 season, heralding the return of a Mercedes team for the first time in 55 years.
Aabar, which is Daimler's largest individual shareholder, will hold 30 per cent with Mercedes holding the other 45.1.
"Due to the new Formula One environment, we will face the competition in future on the most important motor sports stage with our own Silver Arrow works team," said Zetsche.
"Our new Silver Arrow Formula One team is a great sporting and technical challenge and we will tackle this with sporting spirit and full of enthusiasm."
Mercedes delivered engines to Brawn in the 2009 season, when the British-based team won the constructors' championship as well as Jenson Button lifting the drivers' title.
Zetsche also revealed that the Stuttgart-based company will give up its 40-per-cent stake in the McLaren F1 team by the end of the 2011 season.
The decision, according to Zetsche, was in order to make the involvement of Mercedes in F1 "more efficient" than at present with costs expected over time to drop by up to 75 per cent.
Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug said "a peaceful solution" had been found with McLaren, which will continue under the name McLaren-Mercedes next season, while Zetsche added that Mercedes could continue delivering engines to the team until 2015.
"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," he said.
However Erich Klemm, chairman of Daimler's corporate works council, criticised the move saying now was the perfect time for Mercedes to end completely its expensive involvement in the sport rather than "starting a new Formula One adventure".
The driver line-up for 2010 has yet to be cleared up, with Haug revealing that it would "still take a while" to finalise.
"We have to address this with care," he said.
It is thought there there could possibly be an all German line-up with Nico Rosberg partnering Nick Heidfeld. Current Brawn team principal Ross Brawn will stay on in his post.
"The senior management group will remain in place to lead our team and on behalf of everyone at Brawn GP, we are honoured to be representing such a prestigious brand as Mercedes-Benz in Formula One next year and will be working together to do our best to reward their faith in our team," the 54-year-old Brawn said in a statement.
The deal is expected to make a move from Button to McLaren as partner to 2008 world champion Lewis Hamilton more likely.
