Force India
Mercedes Pledge Good For FI Deal Sustainability
Mercedes power McLaren
By Alianora La Canta
December 6 2008
Mercedes announced that it expects 50% lower expenditure from F1 in the next two years. Most commentators have concentrated on the peril F1 will be in if it continues spending. However, there is hidden good news for Force India, as it suggests Mercedes are basically in it for the long haul if they are going to wait two years before reviewing their presence in F1.
[url=http://www.pitpass.com/fes_php/pitpass_news_item.php?fes_art_id=36695]Norbert Haug has said they want F1 costs in the next two years[/url], as opposed to citing a shorter timeframe or taking action against F1's costs immediately like Honda. The good news is that this strongly implies that despite the credit crunch, Force India will definitely get multiple years from this deal. After several years of discontinuity, it will benefit a lot from heading into a period when it knows where everything is coming from - ironically at a time when there is more uncertainty than usual. Better still, by the end of 2010, the economy should be starting to improve a bit, so Mercedes is quite likely to look at the market conditions and decide that business as modified will do just fine, thus enabling an extension of the deal.
Also worth noting is that Force India will only get to use McLaren gearboxes for one year. Hidden deep within the FIA letter about the Cosworth engine is the fact that all teams must use a standardised Xtrac gearbox in 2010. Since it is forbidden to have two gearboxes in F1, this means Force India will lose that part of the benefit of the McLaren link-up. Still, there will be lots of benefits both sides can get from the arrangement even without the gearbox.
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