Lauda hints Mercedes could join Ferrari in quitting F1

Niki Lauda has suggested that Mercedes could be ready to follow Ferrari's suit and quit Formula 1 if rule changes are pushed through for the 2021 season. Scuderia CEO Sergio Marchionne has regularly threatened to pull Ferrari out of F1 over Liberty Media's proposed changes to engine regulations and budget caps.

A planned $150million per season cost cap has been dismissed as "impossible" by Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff, although the Silver Arrows had previously stopped short of suggesting they would leave F1.

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Despite Mercedes' move into Formula E in 2019, Wolff told Auto Bild this week that F1 "is the only global platform that transports our brand".

However, with engines set to made simpler and cheaper - attracting the likes of Aston Martin and Porsche to F1 - Lauda suggested that Mercedes are also considering their future in F1.

"There is certainly a limit for the top teams," Lauda told WirtschaftsWoche.

"It's possible that one or the other team will get out if it's going in the wrong direction."

Lauda has been a vocal critic of many changes made on Liberty's watch, especially the FIA's introduction of the halo safety device and the removal of grid girls.

Models have been replaced by 'grid kids' in 2018, but Lauda says there was no need to be offended by the presence of glamourous women before races previously.

"I do not understand why the grid girls were abolished," he said. "The Americans seem to think they must join in the #MeToo movement.

"The grid girls are not naked for God's sake. In Austria they all have a dirndl."