Mercedes motorsport director Norbert Haug insisted that the Stuttgart-based manufacturer will not switch their factory backing of Team McLaren in the near future, as suggested by several media reports in recent months.
Following the immense success of Brawn GP during the 2009 Formula One Championship – both constructors and drivers titles – and the constant scandals involving Team McLaren, it was rumored that Mercedes was considering a switch of factory support from Woking to Brackley in 2012. The German car maker currently holds 40 percent of McLaren, but their contract with the team is to expire at the end of 2011.
While confirming that Zetsche will inded travel to Abu Dhabi during the course of this weekend, Haug insisted that such a discussion will not take place as such a move would be conditioned by an agreement from both parties.
“There are no signatures. If we want to do something McLaren has to agree and when McLaren want to do something we have to agree. I can only assure you that we have a long term-basis association. Everything else is speculation about which we do not comment,” said Haug in a telephone conference call, as reported by the GMM news agency.
He insisted the reason for Zetsche's presence at the Yas Marina circuit is because “Daimler is 9.1 per cent owned by a government investment arm” and the discussions will be focused on “options (about) how we present ourselves in Formula One.”
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