Mercedes motorsport partner HWA has denied rumours suggesting that it is interested in extending its relationship into
Formula One over the next couple of years.
The company, the motorsport arm of Mercedes tuning partner AMG, has successfully run the Three Pointed Star's
DTM effort for most of the past decade, but was rumoured over the weekend to have begun casting its eye towards the top flight, with suggestions that Mercedes may use the move to end its partnership with McLaren.
HWA recently landed the deal to design and develop Mercedes' next road-going supercar, a role fulfilled on the latest SLR by McLaren, but has now denied that talk of
Formula One was unfounded.
"There is nothing to it," director Jürgen Mattheis told
sport1.de, It's pure speculation and only that. Right now, we have no ambitions to be in F1."
The initial rumours suggested that Mercedes would use HWA to run its F1 team and assume control over the programme by ending its relationship with McLaren, possibly by buying Ron Dennis out of his stake in the team. Dennis currently holds a 15 per cent share of the
McLaren company, while Mercedes' parent DaimlerChrysler holds 40 per cent. A Bahraini consortium holds 35 per cent following a deal struck in January this year, with long-term
McLaren partner TAG owning the remaining 15 per cent.
