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[Hammer278]

Haug has been in charge of Mercedes' reputation in F1 since forever, I can't even recall..1997 was it?

They've been a full fledged team for just 3 years and with so much promise on the horizon, I really can't see a company like Mercedes to pull such a stunt. Haug is the kind of guy who has enough pull to state when HE wants to leave the corporation since he's such a key figure. This seems to be Haug wanting to leave all of a sudden but no idea why.

DD posted that fling thing earlier, maybe it's do with his personal life...it could be anything at this point.

[scotty]

I thought since the start (ie 1993-4) of this current stint, but i might be wrong there.

Personally, i don't think it's personal reasons that caused this. If it was that he'd just have retired surely...

[andrew]

He joined Merc in 1990 and was part of Merc entering F1 in 1993.

[madbrad]

They already threw one German paperweight off, was it not enough?

[andrew]

Haug exit caused 'by disappointing results'

So he's the scapegoat for the poor results.

Hands up who guessed this correctly?

[racechick]

I'm sad he's gone, he was a nice guy. I hope they don't put Lauda in that role. Brawn could do it, but that would take too much time away from F1, so I hope he doesn't.

[andrew]

I don't see any problem with Niki Lauda.

[Hammer278]

I'm sad he's gone, he was a nice guy. I hope they don't put Lauda in that role. Brawn could do it, but that would take too much time away from F1, so I hope he doesn't.

Looks like it was truly a 'mutual' agreement, since I don't see this as Haug getting 'fired' per say...more like he promised them results when he brought them in as a full fledged team and there was probably an agreement that he would take a fall if they do not set a certain standard by this date. His words do not sound like the typical 'yeah I got fired but this is my PR talk' exit speech.

[What's Burning?]

I think they just paid Lewis so much money that there wasn't enough left for Haug.

[Jabberwocky]

I don't see any problem with Niki Lauda.

One word...

Jaguar

[andrew]

I don't see any problem with Niki Lauda.

One word...

Jaguar

To be fair, Jaguar were rubbish before he joined them and they were rubbish after he left.

[scotty]

Oh, so he has essentially been scapegoated for the F1 performance then, judging by what i've read (below). Even though he was just the link between the F1 team and the board, and not the team principal or anything. Lame, seriously lame. It looks almost like a lot of modern football clubs are run - get instant success or else blame everything all on one person regardless of how much they are actually at fault... no time to actually build things properly. And now they expect Lauda to somehow be a fix to all the supposed problems Haug has caused, with his record (or lack thereof)? Standard manufacturer approach to F1... they underestimate everyone already in there and think it should be easy, then overreact when things don't work out.

Mercedes sports boss Norbert Haug says he is leaving his position because of a lack of results in Formula 1.

Mercedes said on Thursday that Haug had agreed with the company's board that he would step down by "mutual consent".

Haug told German news agency SID: "There is always somebody who has to accept overall responsibility.

"Of course we have had our successes in the past three years, but not consistently enough so a direction had to be set and a marker laid down."

Mercedes have won one race - this year's Chinese Grand Prix - since taking over the Brawn team at the end of 2009, when the outfit won the drivers' and constructors' championships.

The decision to run its own team for the first time since 1955 was made as a major shift in policy by Mercedes, which at the same time chose to end its decade-long co-ownership of McLaren, who have won 18 grands prix in the same three-year period.

In October, it was announced that Mercedes had signed Lewis Hamilton to replace Michael Schumacher in 2013 and that triple world champion Niki Lauda had been taken on as non-executive chairman.

Lauda, 63, will take responsibility for liaising between the Mercedes board and the team, a role previously filled by Haug.

But Haug insisted Lauda had had nothing to do with his departure.

"I would like to once again make it clear that this is a decision that the board and myself reached jointly by mutual agreement," he said.

"Niki had absolutely nothing to do with it. We get on and respect each other just like we have done for many years and that is not about to change."

Ross Brawn remains as team principal and insists he is confident the team have put in place the changes they need to be successful.

[racechick]

In a previous interview , some weeks ago,Brawn explained Lauda's role and he said then that Lauda was liaising between Mercedes and the board, so that's not anything new. I don't think he's stepping into Haug's role...well,I don't think it's been announced that he is. I really hope not

[myownalias]

So if Haug was the scapegoat; who are they going to blame next season for their poo performance; they'll probably start off well and fade as the season goes on. I just don't think that Mercedes has the hunger, in my view firing Haug is a great indication of that; Haug had the passion for motorsport; like all manufacturers with the exception of Ferrari solely use F1 as a marketing exercise for their brand. I just have no faith that Mercedes can pull it out of the bag like their predecessors, BMW, Honda, Toyota and Renault!

[Hammer278]

So if Haug was the scapegoat; who are they going to blame next season for their poo performance; they'll probably start off well and fade as the season goes on. I just don't think that Mercedes has the hunger, in my view firing Haug is a great indication of that; Haug had the passion for motorsport; like all manufacturers with the exception of Ferrari solely use F1 as a marketing exercise for their brand. I just have no faith that Mercedes can pull it out of the bag like their predecessors, BMW, Honda, Toyota and Renault!

Sounds more like you want Merc to fail and its obvious to see why.

Apart from Renault, what have the others achieved? I hate to say it, but BMW just got a 1-2 in 1 race victory and left the sport. Honda and Toyota achieved nuts. Merc has already achieved more than them in F1, and they claim to mean serious business heading into the future. The pressure is on the rest to perform, if Merc can remove one of their key members who has been in the sport for so long I'm pretty sure it's a clear signal for the team. Personally, I wish Haug hasn't left but I don't think he has been pushed out per say. This depart seems more like fulfilling a promise if standards were not met, and not simply a call up and tell him on the spot that he's fired.