Mercedes to Quit F1 Unless Winning Project

German manufacturer Daimler AG might have chosen to form their own team in Formula One this season – after purchasing more than 75 percent of the title-winning Brawn GP last November – but their F1 operations might come to an end sooner rather than later if the Brackley based team doesn't continue its winning trend in the series.

This time, it was the German carmaker's very chief executive Dieter Zetsche to send the message loud and clear to motorsports director Norbert Haug, saying that his company will continue to pump money into their F1 operations only if the team give something back. Obviously, unless than “something back” won't translate into a race wins or titles, things could turn ugly.

“The fact that Aabar came along with us as an investor not only shows that we are distributing our risk, it is also a signal that the Formula One team must pay for itself. We take our guidance from Gottlieb Daimler, who said 'The best, or nothing at all',” said Zetsche, according to a report from manager-magazin.com.

Additionally, the Daimler boss made it very clear that the company will reevaluate their investment in the Formula One team constantly and, if there are any signs that the money they pump into it could be better spent elsewhere, “we'll have to make a new decision.”

Following Brawn GP's success in the 2009 F1 championship using Mercedes engines, the company decided to switch factory backing from McLaren to the Brackley organization, purchasing 75.1 percent of the team alongside its shareholder Aabar. At the same time, they announced they'll gradually sell their 40 percent share of McLaren F1 Team back to the British manufacturer in the upcoming few years.

In the meantime, Mercedes already set an all-star Germany team at Brackley, with 7-time world champion Michael Schumacher joining German-licensed Nico Rosberg in the team's lineup for the 2010 season of F1.