Mercedes to stay in Formula One

McLaren's partners Mercedes will stay in Formula One despite pressure from powerful union representatives in Germany for them to leave, motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug said on Friday.

"Some people have suggested that Mercedes are pulling out," he told reporters at the Bahrain Grand Prix. "Mercedes is not pulling out."

"We have the confirmation… for our activities," he added, while recognizing that was not open-ended.

Helmut Lense, chairman of the workers council and a member of the managing board of Daimler AG, which owns Mercedes-Benz, had urged the Stuttgart manufacturer to pull out as part of a 2 billion euro ($2.63 billion) cost-cutting plan.

"The reaction of the staff at works council meetings in April at all Daimler plants showed: Formula One is not accepted by staff. That has to be accepted," he told the Stuttgarter Zeitung newspaper on Wednesday.

"Daimler has the goal of being a leader in ‘green technology," Lense added.

"Does Formula One match up with that? Wouldn't it be the right signal now to exit Formula One and instead of that concentrate on environmentally friendly technologies?"