Mercedes warns Ferrari/Haas partnership could lead to 'arms race'

Toto Wolff says the big F1 teams will all need collaborations with junior teams in a development "arms race" if the Ferrari partnership with Haas is deemed legal.

Mercedes has requested clarity from the FIA over a number of aspects of the partnership between Ferrari and F1 newcomers Haas, saying the current regulations are ambiguous. The Stewards are considering Mercedes' questions in Abu Dhabi and hope to deliver a decision ahead of Sunday's race, but Wolff warns of the consequences if the collaboration between the two teams is cleared.

Asked if it could mean all big teams would need to have a junior team to work with, Wolff replied: "Yes.

"This is the trigger of reorganising your structures to share ATR (aerodynamic testing restriction) quota, to collaborate and educate personnel jointly, share infrastructure and it would eventually lead to a situation where it could become an arms race of how many co-operations or partners you could actually sign up in order to develop at a greater speed."

However, Wolff insists the call for clarity is not aimed at bringing any punishment against Ferrari or Haas, saying no retrospective action can be taken.

“We haven’t launched anything against a particular team. We haven’t mentioned or referred to any particular team. What we have sought from the FIA is clarification to understand what you could do within the rules because we believe the regulations in that area are a bit wide and a bit vague.

"We have sought advice from the FIA for a while now, like many other teams and their responses were equally vague because I think it is a difficult topic and because the answer is not very simple. We do not want to go in to unknown territory and launch ourselves in to a project which could potentially be seen as not within the rules. So this is why we have sought the clarification.

“We were advised by the FIA prior to Abu Dhabi that the only way of getting a firm answer would be to do it during a meeting with the stewards. Even that could potentially lead to an answer as the courts need to be heard. But again I want to emphasise on the matter that it is about transparent information for all teams about what was within the rules and not, and not at all about pointing a finger at anybody or anything similar.”

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