Bernie Ecclestone has confirmed he is still at loggerheads with Mercedes over the new Concorde Agreement.
The German carmaker’s team is the big missing name, after F1 chief executive Ecclestone announced recently he has agreed terms with “the majority” of the teams including Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull.
“Mercedes is very important to Formula One. I have always supported them and I will always. I’m talking about the car company,” Ecclestone told Germany’s Auto Motor und Sport.
The distinction he is making is that the disagreement he is having is with Brackley based Mercedes GP, the Ross Brawn led works outfit. The team believes it should have been offered a better deal, based on Mercedes’ long history in the sport.
Ecclestone disagrees.
“If you trace the roots of that team, they started as Tyrrell,” he said. “Since then, there have been four different owners and four different names. I can see little history with this (Mercedes) team,” Ecclestone insisted.
The Briton confirmed that teams will receive bonuses under the new Concorde for “history and success”, adding that Mercedes has won “one race” so far. He confirmed that he has been in contact with Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche.
“I talked to him last week about my position on Mercedes. I think he undertood,” said Ecclestone. “I have spoken to the team manager about it and he seems to believe that the team has won a few world titles and about 80 races since the Tyrrell days.”
Source:GMM
