Wolff: It is 'conceivable' that Mercedes could leave F1

Toto Wolff has warned the owners of Formula One, Liberty Media, that Mercedes could follow Ferrari's threat to leave the sport in three years if certain compromises are not met over the proposed controversial changes announced by the American company.

Wolff has lamented a lack of vision from Liberty, and insisted that decisions such as recruiting legendary boxing announcer Michael Buffer to introduce the drivers to the fans at the US Grand Prix in Austin does not impress him and papers over the cracks of bad sporting decisions.

"Doing erratic actions like Michael Buffer in Austin does not make the sport any better," the Mercedes boss told Germany's Kronen Zeitung.

"We do not see any vision. Nobody knows where the journey is going. All we know now is that sales and profits have fallen sharply."

The two changes which have received the most criticism in certain quarters of the sport are the introduction of a new standardised engine throughout all the teams as well as a more even distribution of revenue across the teams. Ferrari chairman Sergio Marchionne has been the biggest critic of the ideas, and warned Liberty that the Scuderia could go as far as to leave Formula One if they were put in place, something Wolff has warned also with Mercedes.

"Such a scenario is quite conceivable. Just as it is for Ferrari," said Wolff.

"Everything Marchionne says must be taken seriously.

"F1 must remain the pinnacle of technology and the best competition, and if you dilute this message with standard specifications and false situations that penalise the best and help the weakest, I think that's not our DNA," Wolff added.

"If we do not see what Formula 1 stands for, then we have to ask ourselves the difficult question: not if but where do we want to operate in motor sport at the highest level?"