Mercedes expecting better in 2011
Dieter Zetsche wants to give Michael Schumacher a car that suits his driving style © Sutton Images
Daimler CEO Dieter Zetsche has confirmed that Mercedes are in Formula One for the long-term despite the team's disappointing 2010 season.
"We have been in F1 for some time and we're staying there for the longer term," Zetsche told the DPA news agency. "We don't want to be deciding each year whether we are in or out. And we didn't sign a one-year contract with Michael Schumacher, we signed for three years."
Mercedes finished a comfortable fourth in the constructors' standings, albeit a fair way behind third placed Ferrari. But Zetsche said they could not have expected much more on their long-awaited return as a manufacturer.
"On the one hand, we can't have expected more as a newly formed team. We would not have complained if we had won the championship, of course, but it wasn't a realistic expectation.
"It is clear that the public, and also ourselves, expect us to be looking better than this year. One must, however, accept that in F1 - and in sport more generally - success is not reliably predictable. Otherwise, it would be dead boring."
Much was also expected of Michael Schumacher on his return to the sport but the seven-time world champion struggled with the handling of the Mercedes and was comprehensively outperformed by team-mate Nico Rosberg. But Zetsche says the team must first give him a competitive enough car for him to show what he can do.
"It is very difficult to put in an impressive performance with a less competitive car. First we have to give him the car to show us his capabilities.
"We want to demonstrate our leadership in this industry to be the best. It's not arrogance, it is what is expected of us and what we are measured against. Of course this means that if we don't meet this standard, we are criticised. We have to bear that. But this is also evidence that we are trusted to deliver."
Credit: ESPN F1 (espn.com)
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