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Motorsport reports that Mercedes has decided not to pursue further action regarding the FIA’s “confidential” power unit settlement with Ferrari.
In February the FIA announced it had reached a “confidential” settlement with Ferrari regarding its investigation into the Italian team’s 2019 engine legality. This prompted seven Formula 1 teams (Mercedes, Red Bull, McLaren, Renault, AlphaTauri, Racing Point and Williams) to publicly demand transparency from the FIA.
However now Motorsport reports that Mercedes decided to leave the matter be and back out of the group of disgruntled teams. Motorsport’s “high-level sources” say that the German team “has elected to step away from the matter and will not remain a part of any action going forward”.
Furthermore they report that Mercedes Team Principal Toto Wolff has been “one of the main driving forces behind pushing for action against the FIA”, however “sources suggest that Wolff told rival teams during the build-up to the cancelled Australian Grand Prix that the move had come on advice from parent company Daimler, which did not want to remain involved in a battle that could be damaging for both F1 and the team’s image”.
There’s no official word from Mercedes on the matter.
UPDATE 1: Auto Motor und Sport reports that Red Bull’s advisor Dr Helmut Marko confirmed Mercedes backed out.
“Mercedes has suddenly withdrawn,” said Marko.
Source: motorsport.com
