But it is no secret that Renault may well have left Formula One had the old
V8s remained, and Honda would not have returned in 2015.
Mercedes’ indication that they would have seen increasingly little reason to
stay in the sport suggests that without the rule-change Formula One could
have been faced with a dwindling number of engine suppliers.
Professor Dr Thomas Weber, on the Daimler board, was asked if the German car
giant would have left if F1 did not adopt its efficiency drive.
“I think so, yeah,” Dr Weber told BBC Sport. “Because we
had the discussion.
“We had at different times the challenge to discuss F1 with the (Daimler)
supervisory board.
“We had hard discussions. And it was always – and even more so when it
came to the later years – harder to explain why we were using naturally
aspirated engines.
“Now with these new regulations I can clearly convince the supervisory
board that the (F1 team) are doing exactly what we need.”
Niki Lauda, the former world champion and Mercedes non-executive director,
added that it was imperative F1 adopted a “future-orientated”
approach.
The team have won the first three races, enjoying one-two finishes in both
Malaysia and Bahrain. The Brackley-based outfit already have nearly three
times as many points as their closest rival in the constructors’
championship too.
Meanwhile, Red Bull and McLaren became locked in a legal dispute on Wednesday
over one of their star designers.
Dan Fallows was announced as Red Bull’s head of aerodynamics, only for McLaren
to confirm they are consulting their lawyers as they believe he is still
under contract with them.
Fallows was part of a number of signings made at the back end of last year
designed to reverse McLaren’s fortunes, but in their statement today Red
Bull merely said that Fallows had “left the team for a short time last
year.”
Eric Boullier, McLaren’s racing director, clearly did not agree.
“Dan Fallows has a legally binding contract with McLaren, and the matter
is now in the hands of our lawyers,” the Frenchman said.
McLaren even spoke of their “excitement” at recruiting Fallows –
along with fellow Red Bull designer Peter Prodromou – upon launching their
2014 car in January.