Simtek wrote:AndreaModa wrote:Yannick wrote:
No, it is not Sauber, I'm afraid. They had the words "concept by Mercedes Benz" on their airbox in their first year, running the Ilmor-Mercedes engine, and had been the Mercedes works team in sportscars (Group C) before.
I'd say you'd have to go back to 1991 when Eddie Jordan's team entered, which is now known as Force 1ndia.
But they weren't owned by Mercedes were they? Thus they were a privateer team. But either way, we're talking early 90s for the last privateer team which is sad.
Indeed. "Factory-backed" would be a more accurate term in this instance. Much the same as how Benetton and later Stewart were backed by Ford. Not necessarily a works team, but nevertheless had support from a manufacturer in a way similar to a works team.
EDIT: Thinking about this: Are they the same thing? Because I do remember Benetton being referred to as the "works" Ford team in the late '80s. Is a works team an entrant that is entered under the name of a manufacturer, like Renault or Mercedes? Or does it simply need to have significant financial backing and other support from a manufacturer, like Sauber-Mercedes in 1993-94? Perhaps this belongs in the Ponderbox thread...
Yeah there's kind of three levels between, like in the current field:
1: Mercedes, Ferrari (Toyota, BMW, Renault etc. in the past)
2: Red Bull-Renault, McLaren-Honda (Benetton-Ford, 90s Williams-Renault, Stewart-Ford, Brabham-BMW, pre-2010 McLaren-Merc etc. in the past)
3: Everyone else
In theory there shouldn't be much difference between 1 and 2, in both you're the primary team for said manufacturer, and in most cases not paying for your engine, although obviously designing and building the car and engine under one roof (if not physically, but at least under the same ownership) would help with integration etc.
