Red Bull advisor Helmut Marko has revealed mixed messages coming from Mercedes’ Toto Wolff amid talks over Formula 1’s budget cap.
The topic has become a hot potato in recent weeks with a small cut of the original $175m figure informally agreed, but Ferrari and Red Bull have blocked a bid by McLaren to reduce it to as low as $100m.
Mercedes have been quieter though in terms of their stance, with parent company Daimler keen to see costs cut and still some uncertainty over the future of their works team.
But now it seems their motorsport chief, who’s future is also being speculated upon at present, is now on terms with the other top teams.
“A few weeks ago, Wolff was leaning out of the window when it came to the budget cap,” Marko told F1-Insider.com.
“According to him, Mercedes was even prepared to accept $100m a year. Now he wrote a letter to the FIA, where he suddenly spoke of $145m.”
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The whole debate took an interesting twist this week when the FIA inserted a clause into the regulations whereby only a simple majority would be needed in exceptional cases to make quick changes, potentially ending Ferrari and Red Bull’s opposition.
Mattia Binotto, team boss at the Scuderia, then warned the Italian brand could consider expanding their motorsport activities elsewhere if the cap was reduced significantly.
Another area where Wolff is apparently flip-flopping is over a proposed salary cap for drivers.
“At first he insisted on freezing an upper limit for driver salaries as early as 2021. Now he only wants to take this step from 2025,” Marko said.
This could be linked to ongoing talks over Lewis Hamilton’s future, with the Briton currently paid £40million a year.