Breaking news
Formula 1
Downsizing could make Mercedes race elsewhere to keep F1 staff
Mercedes Formula 1 team boss Toto Wolff has suggested that the marque may enter other categories of racing in order to utilise surplus resources after the cost cap is imposed in 2021.
Adam Cooper
Edited: Jun 8, 2020, 1:11 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
The cap has been reduced from the original $175m to $145m for 2021, before going down to $135m.
The top three teams now face the prospect of reducing their F1 head counts by well over three figures over that time.
Ferrari has already indicated that it may deploy staff in other racing programmes, and Wolff says that Mercedes may follow that strategy – and made it clear one of the reasons was to prevent a mass exodus of staff with inside knowledge of its technology.
Wolff also stressed that the cap ensured that F1 made more financial sense for the marque.
"First of all we're living in a financial reality that is very different to pre-COVID," said Wolff. "And we have accepted the lower budget cap and it is a must that successful F1 franchises earn money rather than lose money.
"For us it is also a way of making sure that Daimler not only appreciates the sporting and marketing benefits of the platform, but also to make it as cost neutral as possible. And I believe this is why we need to support such a cost cap.
"For us it means readjusting, it means changing the way we do things, and deploy personnel in new areas. We have a very strong department that is called Mercedes Benz Applied Science, where we work for high performance clients, and deploy our services.
"And who knows? Maybe we will look at other race categories in order to keep the resource, and keep the human resource and intellectual property, within Mercedes."
Read Also:
- McLaren: ‘Massive and painful’ task to hit F1's new budget cap
- World Council approves lower cost cap and other F1 rule changes
Wolff also dismissed continued speculation that the German manufacturer may quit it works support of F1 – and insists that racing is a "core exercise" to which the Stuttgart management remains committed.
"There's always some kind of campaign and agenda going on," he said. "I think it's clear that every automotive company faces difficult and insecure times.
"Every single day you open up a magazine, or a newspaper, it's about VW, or Renault or Fiat or Daimler. And in that respect, I completely understand that our sporting platform is being questioned.
"The top management of Mercedes very much sees Formula 1 as a core activity. We build road cars, and we build race cars. And actually the first ever car was a race car.
"And in that respect, we don't see it simply as a marketing platform that generates valuable marketing dollars, but we see it as a core exercise. There is a technology transfer between the road and Formula 1, and it's not being criticised within Daimler.
"Nevertheless, we discuss all our activities and all our investments every single year. And I think we're just a target of somebody that wants to create some headlines and then maybe have more clicks."
Read Also:
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article Wolff says Hamilton right to take a stand against racism
Next article Leclerc a mix of Raikkonen and Schumacher - Alfa
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Adam Cooper
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Formula 1
Formula 1
Japanese GP
RB: Tsunoda “mentally on a different level” in 2024
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti planning F2 and F3 entries to promote US talent to F1 team
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
Formula 1
Formula 1
Andretti F1 team formally opens new Silverstone facility
More from
Mercedes
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
14 h
Franco Colapinto, George Russell to sit out FP1 at F1 Mexico GP
Toto Wolff dismisses Helmut Marko's Russell theory: "He still has what it takes"
Formula 1
Formula 1
United States GP
17 h
Toto Wolff dismisses Helmut Marko's Russell theory: "He still has what it takes"
Latest news
Chevrolet's 1st through 6th sweep at Talladega was its first since 2013
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
1 h
Chevrolet's 1st through 6th sweep at Talladega was its first since 2013
NASCAR warned nearly the full field at Talladega for minimum speed violations
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
4 h
NASCAR warned nearly the full field at Talladega for minimum speed violations
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Talladega II
8 h
Carson Hocevar credits tow truck driver for saving his race at Talladega
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
NASCAR Cup
NAS NASCAR Cup
Martinsville II
9 h
Brad Keselowski to address questions about NASCAR future and RFK exit at Martinsville
Feature
Discover prime content
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe