© Steve Etherington for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd.
Mercedes F1 Team’s CEO Rob Thomas explains what is going on at Mercedes’ factories while they are working on their 2024 car.
Mercedes is currently working hard on their 2024 car, and hoping that it could bring the team back to their winning ways.
While the work continues over the winter break, the team’s CEO Rob Thomas explains what is going on at their Brackley and Brixworth factories.
“It’s always an interesting time because it’s a period of working six days a week, they’re long hours, it’s dark and cold,” Thomas told Manufacturing Today.
“However, what we generally find though is the excitement builds as we progress. It starts in design and that design then goes into manufacturing or purchasing. And then you start seeing bits of new car appearing everywhere, which gets people talking.
“We make big events of the key milestones. Firing up the car, for example, is massive and then we do the first test, and we communicate very regularly with people on the program.
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“Otherwise, it’s just a long slog for six months. But those wins are so worth it. We’re all part of something bigger, and that emotion, you just don’t get that anywhere else.
“No two days are the same. I think that’s what keeps us fresh, and with that sort of motivation that we have to get back to winning again, you just don’t get that anywhere else.”
Thomas then explained what the team’s key values are.
“Some of the things we looked at very seriously in those first few years was the culture, which we’ve since worked on.
“Our key values are based on what we call PRIDE: Passion, Respect, Innovation, Determination, Excellence. If people don’t perform, that’s what they get marked against.
“We’ve now become a group of very driven people, there’s loads of support and humility, and nobody’s bigger than anyone else.
“We kill status and hierarchy so that there’s space for ideas to be shared because, at the end of the day, we’re trying to be the best in the world, so we all need to do our bit to contribute.
“However, we’re also aware of this cycle where the team works incredibly hard in the winter season, then recovers over the summer, and then we rinse and repeat.
“And if we’re not careful, we forget to enjoy the wins because we constantly looking for the next thing to improve.
“So we’re also working hard to balance that aspect where we also celebrate the successes – we’re not always great at it, but we’re getting there,” he concluded.
