From GMMAn official of Daimler said on Tuesday that even if Mercedes-Benz was to pull out of formula one , it would not save its struggling parent Daimler."We look into our formula one commitment every year. But even if we dropped out now, we wouldn't be saving a cent because the contracts are long-term," Daimler chief financial officer Bodo Uebber is quoted as saying by German press.But he pointed out that Daimler has "no sacred cows", meaning that a future withdrawal from formula one cannot be ruled out. Red Bull Racing Christian Horner has refused to rule out the possibility of Red Bull switching customer engine suppliers at the end of the 2009 season.The Milton Keynes based team's Renault contract runs out this year, and reports have indicated a switch to Mercedes-Benz is a possibility for 2010 and beyond.Team boss Horner, however, told Germany's Sport Bild that Red Bull is happy with Renault, after the French marque was allowed to catch up its more powerful rivals over the winter amid the engine freeze."In these times, who knows what engine manufacturers are still going to be there in 2010?" he pointed out.Horner said Mercedes' KERS system might also be of interest to Red Bull."It seems to be the best system in the field," he acknowledged. "It's compact and has no negative effect on the car balance, which is really the fundamental problem of (other makers') KERS (systems)." Force India Dr Vijay Mallya is not concerned that a withdrawal from formula one of Mercedes-Benz could leave his Force India team without an engine supplier."We have a five-year contract with Mercedes-Benz High Performance Engines and I don't see any reason why that should not be fulfilled," Indian billionaire Mallya told the German website motorsport-magazin.com.He insisted there is a clear separation between Mercedes as a works partner of McLaren, and the German marque's role as a formula one engine supplier. photo: Force India
F1: The future of Mercedes-Benz in Formula 1