Jordan predicts Mercedes will quit F1 post 2018
- Published on 07 Jun 2017 12:05
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- By: Fergal Walsh
Eddie Jordan has predicted that Mercedes will leave Formula 1 after 2018. The former team owner states that the team has won all they need to as a manufacturer and will return to the job they used to be synonyms for - providing engines.
Mercedes were prominent prior to the second world war in auto racing. After the driver's championship was established in 1950, the German manufacturer entered as a team in 1954, winning the championship that year and the next with Juan Manuel Fangio.
At the end of 1955, the team withdrew from auto racing, mainly due to the horrendous 1955 Le Mans disaster, which still stands as the most catastrophic racing accident of all time. In 2010 the team returned as a constructor, and the rest is history.
Jordan, who ran his own race-winning team from 1991 to 2005, was asked if he thinks Sebastian Vettel will move to the Silver Arrows from Ferrari for next season: "No," he replied. "He has everything he needs at Ferrari. And also because Mercedes will probably pull the plug at the end of 2018," the Irishman added.
"I think they will go for the titles this and next year and then the board of directors in Stuttgart will decide to sell the team and stay only as an engine maker. I would do the same, because Mercedes have won everything and can only get worse from now. So it's better to go back to their old core business in formula one, which is developing and delivering high-tech engines."
Fergal Walsh
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Replies (7)
Login to replyf1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
His crystal ball is back out.. Would they really pull a Rosberg, quit while they're on top?
F1todayfan101
Posts: 120
Shut up eddie...
talktohenry
Posts: 362
He is well connected and will probably be right, I would guess the ''three huggers'' on the board not happy about spending a few hundred million on this project, and they've achieved their goals.
f1fan0101
Posts: 1,804
Its not the worst prediction, but I'd see it happening in 2020 maybe
ajpennypacker
Posts: 2,475
That prediction doesn't make sense to me, unless the regulations severely diminish the manufacturer advantage, in which case Ferrari would probably threaten to walk away (i.e. it's not going to happen)
Squirrel10
Posts: 36
I do wish Eddie would shut up and retire to his yacht
calle.itw
Posts: 8,527
It wouldnt surprise me, it'd be a rational move, but I dont think they will. Mercedes are far too sportsmanlike for that, they wont give in that easily. If they will leave, it will most likely be shortly before or after the next engine regulation switch.