A spat between two Britons could drive the German giant Mercedes out of formula one, according to a new media report.

F1 chief executive Bernie Ecclestone recently confirmed he is at loggerheads with Mercedes over the next Concorde Agreement.

But at the same time, he insisted that the Stuttgart marque is “very important to formula one. I have always supported them and I will always,” he is quoted by Auto Motor und Sport.

Indeed, Mercedes has its own and newly-winning works team, powers the marquee McLaren outfit, and also supplies engines to Force India.

Ecclestone’s dispute is with fellow Englishman Ross Brawn, who is the Brackley based Mercedes GP team’s principal.

“I have spoken to the team manager (Brawn) about it (the dispute) and he seems to believe that the team has won a few world titles and about 80 races since the Tyrrell days,” said the 81-year-old.

Sport Bild reports that Ecclestone is refusing to give in to Brawn’s demands for extra Concorde Agreement entitlements for past title successes and history.

The magazine said the relationship has become so intense that Ecclestone has even refused to give a joint interview with Brawn.

“He (Brawn) was never very nice to me,” the F1 ‘supremo’ is quoted as saying.

The German report said there is a risk Mercedes will, as a result of the ‘ice age’ between the British duo, pull the plug on its entire F1 involvement.

Renault will race in formula one this year with a British license.
It means that if Robert Kubica or Vitaly Petrov win a race, it will be God Save The Queen rather than La Marseillaise that is played on the podium.

Boulogne-Billancourt headquartered Renault SA’s ownership of the Oxfordshire based team was one of France’s last remaining links to F1.

But the team, previously operating under a French racing license, is now co-owned by Luxembourg investment firm Genii Capital and the Malaysian-owned British sports car marque Group Lotus.

There is also no French grand prix or active race driver in F1.

“Lotus is an English manufacturer,” Renault team boss Eric Boullier explained at the Autosport International show in Birmingham, referring to the outfit’s new title sponsor and partner.

He insisted that the change of identity for Lotus Renault GP is “important for everybody inside the team”

“We are rebranding everything inside the company now,” added Frenchman Boullier.

Renault SA’s official involvement in F1 this year will be limited to engine supply, with Renault Sport F1 providing V8s to customers Lotus Renault GP, Team Lotus and Red Bull.

Norbert Haug has insisted he is not concerned about Michael Schumacher’s latest motorcycle outing.

According to the Cologne tabloid Express, the seven time world champion this week rented the Dijon-Prenois circuit in France in order to privately ride his 190 horse power Honda CBR 1000 Fireblade.

Also riding at the track were the 41-year-old’s friends including Luca Badoer and Sebastien Loeb.

Schumacher had to call off his intended return to F1 last year because he was still recovering from injuries sustained in a motorcycle testing crash.

But Haug, Mercedes’ competition boss, said he is not worried the same thing might reoccur.

“Michael can deal with the risk, and so can we,” Haug is quoted as saying.

Express also reported that Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn is this week on a four-day fishing vacation in Norway.

According to well-known French commentator Jean-Louis Moncet, a notable meeting involving the Mercedes GP team took place on Monday.

Moncet wrote in his Auto Plus blog that the video conference would involve the Stuttgart based Daimler chairman Dieter Zetsche, and the Brackley based team’s Ross Brawn, Norbert Haug, Michael Schumacher and Nico Rosberg.

He said the “various statements by members of the team to the media” would be discussed, even though a Mercedes spokesman rubbished the report.

And although Mercedes insists the comments were taken out of context, Moncet could be referring to Rosberg’s quoted claims about being frustrated by a lack of development progress.

There have also been hints from Rosberg, Schumacher and Brawn that development of the 2010 car could be stopped in favour of focusing on next year’s project.

But in a team statement late last week, those figures insisted the team is still working hard on the W01.

“It’s been tough for us over the last few races but we are working hard to improve and I am confident we will get there,” said Rosberg.

However, a headline in the German daily Die Welt said “Expectation and reality are far apart at Mercedes”.

The article included Zetsche’s warning of early this year when he said that “If there are clear indications that we can use our money more effectively outside of formula one, we will have to take a new decision”.

And former Jordan and Jaguar designer Gary Anderson said: “The people around Brawn understand the car they have built for 2010 in the same way they understood it in the second half of last year.”

But Bernie Ecclestone thinks Mercedes needs more time to get up to speed with its own team.

“Of course it takes a bit of time to revive a myth, but I am sure they are on the right track and that the Silver Arrows will come back to full strength,” said the F1 chief executive.

(GMM)

Jun.13 (GMM)  Norbert Haug has played down reports that Mercedes could be looking to add a fourth team to its F1 engine programme for 2011.

It emerged in recent days that the German marque’s board of directors met and discussed whether it should supply the powerful 2.4 litre V8 to another team.

Mercedes already powers its own Brackley based team as well as McLaren and Force India, but it is known that Red Bull is open to moving from the Renault stable.

But Mercedes GP team principal Ross Brawn was quoted earlier this week as suggesting a fourth engine customer might be too much.

“That is correct.  We also have KERS, possibly, again next year.

“It would be definitely very difficult for us to equip a fourth team, even if there is no decision taken yet,” said Mercedes’ competition director Haug.

Jun.10 (GMM)  Emerson Fittipaldi will be the race steward presiding alongside the three FIA officials at this weekend’s Canadian grand prix.

63-year-old Brazilian Fittipaldi won his two F1 world championships in 1972 and 1974, before winning the Indy 500 twice and becoming the Indycar title holder in 1989.

In formula one, he won his first race during his rookie season for Lotus in 1970, and two years later become F1′s youngest champion at 25.

In 1974 he moved to McLaren and won the title again, but then moved to his brother Wilson Fittipaldi’s team and struggled.

He stopped driving in F1 at the end of 1980 at the age of 33, joining his brother in managing the team before it fell apart in late 1982.

Fittipaldi switched to American CART racing in 1984, winning the title in 1989 at the age of 43.  At 47 he won the Indy 500 for the second time, but an injury ended his Champ Car career in 1996 when he was 50.

He was a Champ Car team owner in 2003 and recently the boss of the Brazilian A1 GP team.

Fittipaldi’s nephew Christian drove in F1 for Minardi and Footwork between 1992-1994.

Apr.22 (GMM)  The boss of the Italian carmaker Fiat has backed calls for Valentino Rossi to switch to formula one in 2011.

Ferrari president Luca di Montezemolo this week said he wants F1′s rules to be changed so that the Italian team can enter a third car for the multiple and reigning champion of MotoGP.

Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of the Ferrari parent Fiat, admitted that Rossi at the wheel of a Maranello built single seater is “a great idea”.

“Luca says he would like to have a third Ferrari car with Valentino — it’s a great idea if he (Rossi) is willing to do it,” said Marchionne in Italian reports.

The comments are despite Rossi’s contractual ties to Fiat, with the carmaker a major sponsor of his MotoGP team Yamaha.

Marchionne said he “cannot say anything” about Rossi’s future, with the 31-year-old’s contract expiring this year.