Daimler CEO denies Mercedes' upcoming departure from F1

Mercedes will not take long to go to the front to react to the rumors. The British publication Coach, in collaboration with the website Racefans.net, announced on Wednesday that the question of the continuation of the factory program F1 of the German manufacturer would be decided at a future meeting of the board of directors of the parent company Daimler. 

« This is not true ", replied Ola Kaellenius, who succeeded Dieter Zetsche last year, on the sidelines of the annual meeting of the German automobile industry in Berlin, in comments reported by agency Reuters.

However, these noises do not come out of nowhere; they have even resonated in the F1 paddock for months. Mercedes is undefeated in the hybrid era and has just completed six consecutive Drivers-Constructors doubles since 2014.

Even if Formula 1 has already disclosed its 2021 regulations, the commercial agreements which will govern the discipline over the period 2021-2025 have not yet been officially ratified by the teams. 

On paper, the timing is therefore ideal to withdraw without incurring a penalty. Mercedes has nothing left to prove in Grands Prix and the group has just published falling commercial results. The Star brand is also engaged in Formula e, a 100% electric competition more in tune with the times, hostile to thermal engines and fond of soft mobility.

Coach et Racefans.net are based on “ high-ranking sources » to affirm that the crucial meeting will take place on Wednesday February 12. In the event of withdrawal, the publications put forward the hypothesis of a resumption of Brackley by Aston Martin with Toto wolff, current Mercedes team principal, and Lawrence Stroll, boss of the Racing Point team, at the helm.

An internal source at Mercedes told us that this was not the case, but another interlocutor assured us that the subject of a departure from Mercedes was indeed on the table. Who to believe in this lying poker?

These rumors come at a time when Wolff's future and that of Lewis Hamilton remain uncertain. The Austrian manager has already been tipped to replace Chase Carey, CEO of the Formula One Group, but an actor in the paddock told us at the time that it was more of an attempt to destabilize a rival team. 

The six-time British world champion, for his part, did not deny having had contact with Ferrari at the end of 2019 but we wonder to what extent this exit was not a clever lever activated in salary negotiations with his current employer. Hamilton, 35, is coming to the end of his contract with Mercedes in 2020. 

Whatever happens, the German manufacturer must remain involved in Grands Prix beyond 2020, since Mercedes has already signed engine supply agreements with McLaren et Williams, until 2024 and 2025 respectively.