Mercedes’ Schumacher signing questioned 04/01/2010 |
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The works council of Mercedes’ parent company Daimler has slammed the signing of former world champion Michael Schumacher for its Formula 1 team, saying the money could have been better spent elsewhere.
The Daimler Works Council has already questioned Mercedes’ decision to take over Brawn GP at a time when employees are being laid off on the automotive side of the business in the wake of the global economic downturn.
Now, works council leader Uwe Werner has told newspaper Frankfurter Rundschau: “For many colleagues, [the signing of Schumacher] is unimaginable.”
He added that the seven-time F1 world champion’s multi-million-Euro annual salary is “hard to justify to our people” when some of Mercedes’ manufacturing plants and therefore jobs are being transferred overseas, prompting protests in Germany.
“The staff would have understood better if Mercedes had withdrawn from the expensive F1 business altogether,” he continued.
However, Daimler chief executive Dieter Zetsche insists that “it would be a missed opportunity” not to take advantage of the increased global possibilities in F1 now that there are only three manufacturers – Mercedes, Ferrari and to a lesser extent Renault – left in the sport.
Mercedes Benz Motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug added: “[Our increased involvement in F1] will sell a lot of cars and make a lot of people aware of the quality of the [three-pointed] star. We believe we know how to invest our money.”
Meanwhile, Mercedes GP has announced that Malaysian oil company Petronas has signed a deal to become the inaugural title sponsor of the new team.
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