Board approves Mercedes F1 program
The German news magazine Focus last Sunday said the management board recently voted three to two in favor of prolonging Mercedes' 13-year collaboration with McLaren.
"There was no voting by the Daimler board of management concerning formula one," a Daimler spokesman said. "Apart from this it is correct that we continue our commitment."
02/03/09 Mercedes-Benz's participation in Formula One recently came close to being scrapped in a management board vote, according to reports in Germany.
With the world gripped in an economic crisis, Formula One has already lost one of its manufacturer outfits with Honda announcing their withdrawal from the sport at the end of last season.
The team, though, has been put up for sale and although Honda Racing CEO Nick Fry mentioned at the beginning of January that he had at least 30 prospective buyers, the Honda team has yet to be sold.
Honda's demise has already raised some doubts about F1's other manufacturers with reports in German publication Focus claiming that the management board of Mercedes-Benz recently put their F1 participation up for a vote.
And the results are somewhat worrying with the continuation of their partnership with McLaren only surviving by three votes to two.
However, Mercedes-Benz isn't the only manufacturer whose F1 program is in doubt as the publication also reports that BMW are considering their involvement.
Focus reports that should BMW achieve their goal of winning the F1 World Champion the German outfit may opt out of F1 in the aftermath.
02/01/09 (GMM) Only by a narrow margin was Mercedes-Benz's continued presence in formula one approved by the marque's parent board, a report on Sunday claimed.
The German news magazine Focus said Dieter Zetsche, Daimler AG chief executive, recently asked the management board to vote on whether Mercedes should prolong its 13-year collaboration with 2008 drivers' world champions McLaren.
Mercedes-Benz is currently McLaren's largest shareholder, and has supplied works engines to the Woking based team since 1995.
Amid the global financial crisis, speculation continues that other carmakers will follow Honda in withdrawing from the expensive sport.
Focus claims that the management board's vote tallied three votes to two, meaning that for now Daimler AG remains committed to formula one.
The same magazine, however, said BMW might rethink its BMW Sauber-branded F1 program upon completion of the quest to win the title, theoretically at the end of this year.
F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone recently said he is pressing for the manufacturers to commit contractually to the sport long-term in order to "prevent the kind of thing we have seen with Honda".
"If they did (agree) we could sue the arse off them if they left. They wouldn't like that," the 78-year-old said.