Mercedes Deny Not Wanting to Become Red Bull Supplier

Red Bull yesterday revealed to the media that Mercedes Benz did not want to supply them with their powerplants for the 2010 season of Formula One, as “they knew that if we had that engine, they wouldn't see us (on the track).” The statement was made by the team's advisor Helmut Marko, who made it very clear that it wasn't Red Bull's fault for the negotiations failure between the two parties.

Obviously, the Mercedes officials did not take long in denying those claims, pointing at McLaren Team for the shortcut in engine deal negotiations. While admitting they were in contact with the Milton Keynes team after last season, Merc's hand were tied by the negative feedback from their exclusive partners McLaren.

“McLaren was (our) exclusive partner and did not agree. Mercedes would have leased its engine to Red Bull, and these facts are well known to Red Bull,” said a Mercedes spokesman, according to Cologne newspaper Express.

Additionally, the guys at Red Bull – Marko and also design guru Adrian Newey – hinted in recent weeks that Mercedes currently benefits from the strongest engines because they did not respect the FIA engine development freeze rules. Consequently, they asked the ruling body to allow the other engine makers in the series to update their powerplant to reach the performance level Mercedes are at.

“Everything that our engineers do is strictly in conformity with the regulations and with the knowledge of the FIA. The FIA would gladly confirm this,” added the spokesman for the German marque.

The entire engine saga was triggered by the problems encountered by Red Bull during the Bahrain Grand Prix, when a failed spark plug of the RB6's Renault powerplant ruined Sebastian Vettel's race on Sunday.