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Mercedes: "No Car Maker Will Leave F1!"

Mercedes competition director Norbert Haug assured the F1 fans that none of the current car makers present in the Great Circle are seriously considering leaving the sport. Despite several threats issued by Ferrari and BMW during the past week, Haug insisted an official quit is out of the question for the remainder of the season.

Even Ferrari wants to save (money). Perhaps they are concerned about the terms of the budget cap and the past approaches of the FIA. But a withdrawal is at the moment not at all a topic of discussion,” Haug was quoted as saying by spox.com.

The main topic for FOTA's discussions on Wednesday was, as expected, the voluntary 40M (pounds sterling) imposed by the FIA for the 2010 season. After several hours of intensive talks, the teams' representative have issued a statement urging the FIA to further consult the teams on the budget cap issue.

Former F1 driver and team owner Gerhard Berger insisted teams should be more inclined to accept the budget cap proposal, as it would only increase the effectiveness of F1 spending. However, one condition for that to work would be for F1 boss Bernie Ecclestone to increase the commercial revenues for the F1 teams.

The next step is the Bernie Ecclestone income: he can't possibly keep the prices of the organisers and the TV companies the same, so the teams won't be getting 30 million but only 10 million. If someone spending only 45 million is just as good as you, or better than you, when you're spending 300 million, then the executive committee will soon be asking, 'why aren't we doing this with 45 million?'” argued Berger.
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