Wolff warns Liberty Media not to provoke Marchionne and Ferrari

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff has warned Liberty Media, and in particular their director of motorsports Ross Brawn, to stop 'provoking' Ferrari following the Scuderia boss Sergio Marchionne's various threats to leave Formula One if certain compromises could not be reached with the new American owners of the sport.

Liberty Media have proposed a raft of changes since taking over nearly a year ago, including the standardisation of engines, the more even distribution of prize money, and an engine limit of three per season.

The alterations led to Marchionne claiming that Brawn was 'behaving like Moses with the ten commandments'. Wolff has thrown support behind Ferrari, despite the obvious feud with Mercedes, and has warned Brawn not to test the patience of the Prancing Horse.

"We currently have a powertrain that is the most powerful and efficient racing engine ever," he told Welt am Sonntag.

"With new engine regulations there are possibilities to optimise this. But to develop a new engine that does not meet the high tech aspects of electrification, efficiency and power - that is, some archaic engine - is not what we want."

"I'm not afraid [of Ferrari's threat to leave], but Marchionne is to be taken seriously.

"I'm relaxed, because Ferrari is formula one, and formula one is Ferrari," he added.

"But if I were Liberty Media's new formula one promoter, I would not continue provoking Marchionne with unacceptable suggestions or demands or nonsensical changes."

When questioned as to what these unacceptable changes were, he claimed ones that did not evolve the sport, whilst also insisting that the sport missed former F1 supremo, Bernie Ecclestone.

"Bringing rules or show elements into the game and turning F1 into a cheap shopping channel.

"Formula one must remain in its basic structures what it was and what it is. We have to improve them and face the new media environment. But we need evolution, not naive revolution," he said.

"I wish that, three or four years ago, he would have known better and taken another role without losing it altogether," said the Mercedes team boss with regards to Ecclestone.

"A role that helps to build a new era in formula one. That he did not do that - with his experience and his enthusiasm and as a racer and a businessman - is the only criticism I have of him.