Mercedes must win to stay in F1 – Zetsche

The newly launched Mercedes GP team needs to win grands prix in order to maintain the support of its parent Daimler.

That is the clear message of the German carmaker’s chief executive Dieter Zetsche, who told manager-magazin.com – in an interview to be published on Friday – that winning is “a condition” of the project.

Mercedes, along with its shareholder Aabar, has taken over the title-winning Brawn team and is fielding an all-German driver lineup this year featuring Michael Schumacher.

But Zetsche warned that, notwithstanding some expected defeats, if there are “clear signs” that Daimler’s money could be better spent outside of F1, “we’ll have to make a new decision”.

“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,” he added.

“We take our guidance from Gottlieb Daimler, who said ‘The best, or nothing at all’,” Zetsche said.

© RIF|GMM