Mercedes considering "other race-car categories"

Toto Wolff has not ruled out the prospect of Formula 1 giant Mercedes competing in other motor racing categories in the post-Covid era.

The effect of the global pandemic recently forced all 10 F1 teams to accept a significant reduction in the budget cap, dropping from the originally agreed $175million to $145m for next year, then $140m in 2022 and $135m for 2023-'25.

For companies such as Ferrari and Mercedes, it means drastic cost savings are required, one of which is the likely redeployment of staff into other areas.

Ferrari has indicated it may opt to run an IndyCar programme from 2022. IndyCar boss Roger Penske has confirmed discussions have already taken place with Scuderia bosses.

For Mercedes, and parent company Daimler, in particular, it may follow suit.

"We are living in a financial reality that is very different to pre-Covid, and we have accepted the lower budget cap because it is a must that successful Formula 1 franchises actually earn money rather than lose money," said Wolff.

"For us, it is also a way that Daimler not only appreciates the sporting and marketing benefits of the platform but also to make it as cost-neutral as possible. I believe this is why we just need to support such a cost cap.

"For us, it means readjusting, it means changing the way we do things and deploy personnel in new areas."

Assessing the possibilities, Wolff added: "We have a very strong department that is called Mercedes Benz Applied Science where we work for high-performance clients and deploy our services.

"Who knows, maybe we will look at other race-car categories in order to keep the resource and keep the human resource and keep the intellectual property within Daimler, within Mercedes."

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