Mercedes rule out joining F1 anarchy

On the grid: Mercedes Motorsport owns 40 per cent of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team
13 April 2012

Mercedes Motorsport boss Norbert Haug is refusing to join Formula One rivals in threatening to boycott next season's championship over the budget cap.

Ferrari, Renault, Toyota, Red Bull and Toro Rosso say they will quit unless FIA president Max Mosley ditches plans for a £40million annual spending limit.

The teams fear it will create a two-tier Formula One with those adhering to the voluntary cap being given greater technical freedom.

Haug, whose company owns 40 per cent of Lewis Hamilton's McLaren team, maintains that pulling out of F1 "is not a topic at Mercedes".

It is thought Mercedes do not want to be heard criticising the FIA after the organisation took a lenient view on McLaren last month over the Liargate scandal. However, Haug can appreciate Ferrari's stance and is keen to see the row resolved, with Mosley due to meet the teams tomorrow.

"I know that Ferrari have thought about this threat very well," said Haug. "After 60 years in Formula One they would not do so without some serious thinking. We will try to help to find a solution. All the teams are agreed that there cannot be two regulations in one series."

Create a FREE account to continue reading

eros

Registration is a free and easy way to support our journalism.

Join our community where you can: comment on stories; sign up to newsletters; enter competitions and access content on our app.

Your email address

Must be at least 6 characters, include an upper and lower case character and a number

You must be at least 18 years old to create an account

* Required fields

Already have an account? SIGN IN

By clicking Sign up you confirm that your data has been entered correctly and you have read and agree to our Terms of use , Cookie policy and Privacy notice .

This site is protected by reCAPTCHA and the Google Privacy Policy and Terms of Service apply.

Thank you for registering

Please refresh the page or navigate to another page on the site to be automatically logged in