LONDON • Mercedes are likely to stay in Formula One after major changes come into play in 2021 but that cannot be taken for granted, team principal Toto Wolff said on Tuesday night.
The Silver Arrows have won both the constructors' and drivers' championships for an unprecedented six years in a row, but next season will be the last year before a financial, technical and sporting shake-up.
The 10 F1 teams are still negotiating a new agreement with commercial rights holders Liberty Media to replace the one that expires at the end of next term, with their positions being staked out.
While Mercedes' immediate future is set to remain with the sport, things remain up in the air for the long term.
"Everything indicates that we will stay. But it's not a given," Wolff, who is missing this weekend's Brazilian Grand Prix to deal with commercial matters, told motorsport.com.
"We are in the middle of discussing the new Concorde Agreement. In connection with this, and independently of it, we are discussing the development of the automobile and its effects on sport.
"In which direction is the automotive world developing? In what form is F1 relevant as an entertainment and technology platform?
"As a brand, whose first car was a racing car, do we want to stay on this platform in the long term?"
Mercedes are making their competition debut in the all-electric Formula E series later this month, while they are also spending US$10 billion (S$13.6 billion) to develop a raft of electric cars.
They hope to have a carbon-neutral car fleet by 2039 to avoid hefty fines by regulators and Wolff insisted that while the likes of Ferrari built their business on racing in F1, they had another model to pursue.
He said: "We had a very successful run. There's nothing more to prove. We're doing something else now. Both are absolutely plausible strategies."
He also cast doubt over their deal to supply three other teams - McLaren, Williams and Racing Point - with engines from 2021, adding: "You can be only pregnant or not pregnant, not half pregnant.
"So, either we participate in the platform or we do not."
REUTERS
