MERCEDES CONFIRMS F1 COMMITMENT & REVEALS 2020 LIVERY
Mercedes confirms F1 commitment – Photo: LAT
Mercedes has no intention of leaving Formula 1 at the end of the year.
By DAN KNUTSON
That was the word from team boss Toto Wolff during a presentation during which INEOS was named as a principal partner, and the livery that will be used on this year’s cars was revealed. The livery was displayed on one of the 2019 Mercedes cars, and its 2020 W11 car will break cover at the Silverstone circuit on February 14 with drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottas doing the shakedown duties.
There have been rumours that parent company Daimler wants to cut costs, and that the current F1 was not all that relevant to the company’s move towards electrification.
But Wolff insisted that Mercedes is in F1 for “the long-term.”
“F1 provides a great marketing platform for our brand,” he said. “This is what we do. We build race cars and we build road cars. F1 is the halo platform for hybrid engineering.”
Mercedes 2020 F1 livery – Photo: LAT
Furthermore, F1 makes financial sense for Daimler.
“We see the data…participating in F1 is one of the greatest returns on investment in the whole Daimler Group,” Wolff explained, “This is an exercise that costs little in comparison to the billions of marketing value that are being generated.”
Like the other nine F1 teams, Mercedes is negotiating with Liberty Media and the FIA on contract terms for the new Concorde Agreement that will replace the current one that expires at the end of the year.
“It’s an ongoing process and it’s a complicated set of contracts, trilateral contracts between the FIA, the commercial rights holder and all the teams,” Wolff said.
“That needs time and the devil is in the detail. So I wouldn’t want to commit here to give you a specific date because there are quite some topics that remain to be agreed on.
“It’s work in process. Clearly there is the will and the wish for all of the stakeholders to come to a close before we embark on the 2021 season, because [otherwise] that would be an uncomfortable situation.”
Speaking of negotiations for 2021, Wolff wants Hamilton to renew his contract that also expires at the end of this year.
“It is the obvious pairing going forward,” Wolff said. “We would like to have the fastest man in the car, and I know Lewis wants to be in the fastest car so there is an obvious mutual outcome.”
As for the 2020 livery, this year’s paint scheme includes the burgundy logos of global manufacturer INEOS, which has signed a new five-year to become a principal sponsor of the team. Overall, the Mercedes livery retains its Silver Arrows theme with silver, black and turquoise colours.
Originally, in December 2019, INEOS signed on as a performance partner with Mercedes-Benz Applied Science (MBAS), but now that deal has been upgraded to make INEOS a principal partner.
MBAS is working with INEOS’ sports division to tackle technological challenges across their sports and identify ways to improve performance. Team INEOS is a seven-times winner of the Tour de France. Olympic yachtsman Ben Ainslie’s INEOS Team UK is aiming to win sport’s oldest international trophy, the America’s Cup, which will be held in Auckland in 2021.
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