Mercedes to take over F1 team

Car magazine, reporting on a potential business alliance between Mercedes and Aston Martin, also reveals Mercedes future ambitions for its own F1 team:

Says a senior source at Daimler: ‘Our agreement with McLaren won’t last forever [Mercedes holds a 40 percent stake in McLaren]. There will be no replacement for the SLR, and as soon as the price is right, we are interested in taking over the F1 business.’

Mercedes became McLaren’s engine supplier in 1995, and together they won three titles in 1998 and 1999. No further titles have followed, though there have been several near-misses.

The two collaborated on the Mercedes SLR McLaren supercar, but there are no future collaborations of the sort in the pipeline.

It isn’t the first time rumors have arisen suggesting Mercedes wants its own F1 team.