Mercedes gearbox option still on the table at Williams

Williams is still considering extending its technical supply deal with Mercedes next season, adding a gearbox package to its current power unit agreement with the German manufacturer.

The Grove-based outfit, a fierce proponent of independence when it comes to being a constructor in F1, has traditionally built its own transmissions, but following a collaboration model similar what Force India enjoys with Mercedes is an option that Williams is looking at for 2019.

"We are in discussions about doing that," confirmed Mercedes boss Toto Wolff.

"They are an engine client of ours. It’s not a huge thing to increase that to a gearbox.

“Nothing is signed, nothing is done and we need to decide in the next few weeks because the chassis design is at an advanced stage for Williams, so we’ll see how that pans out."

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While a gearbox deal would perhaps erode a bit of Williams' independence, technical director and team partner Paddy Lowe insists the relationship would not take extend in the short term to a non-listed part approach such as the one that successfully governs the relationship between Haas and Ferrari.

"Formula 1 is changing. Force India were one of the early ones to abandon the full constructor definition that teams had historically followed of essentially making everything except an engine," Lowe told Formula1.com.

"We’ve seen more and more teams adopting gearboxes from elsewhere. Now we have the Haas model where you adopt everything that is not listed.

"We have our eyes open to all of those possibilities because we owe it to ourselves. You’ve got to move with the times and do the best thing for the performance of the team," added the British engineer.

"But having said that, Williams has a strong culture of being an independent, being a constructor, not only in the parts we are responsible for but also we are making them in-house.

"We have a capacity of manufacturing on our own site and we’ve prided ourselves on that. I don’t see us moving drastically away from that. But we remain open."

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