Mercedes is in talks with Williams to supply its V6 from 2014

With McLaren’s announced departure to Honda by 2015, Mercedes acknowledged, through their competition director Toto Wolff, that it was not ideal to lose a partner team. The Austrian, shareholder and executive director of the Mercedes AMG F1 team, however, expressed his determination to find new partners, assuring that the star-branded firm had the capacity to supply somewhere between three and four teams.

In Monte Carlo, alongside the Monaco Grand Prix, rumors have been growing regarding the interest shown by the Williams team in the German V6 Turbo. While some media outlets, especially in Germany, mentioned the imminence of an official supply agreement from 2014 between the German manufacturer and the Grove team, Toto Wolff has so far only confirmed that discussions are underway between the two parties: “It is clear that we will lose one of our clients in 2015, and for Mercedes, it is important to have certain business stability and to have at least three customer teams starting in 2015. That is why we are having some discussions, particularly with Williams.” And added: “It will be for 2014 because nobody will sign a one-year contract with anyone.”

The agreement was reportedly sealed just a few hours after Mercedes locked the front row for the Monaco Grand Prix. Indeed, on Saturday evening, Toto Wolff along with Niki Lauda – the Non-Executive Chairman of the Mercedes team -, Andy Cowell – Executive Director of Mercedes High Performance Powertrains – and Dr. Thomas Weber, a member of the board responsible for Research and Development at Daimler AG and Mercedes, were spotted in the Williams motorhome. During this thirty-minute meeting, Mercedes and Williams are said to have laid the groundwork for an agreement that, according to some media, could be announced at the British Grand Prix at the end of June.

Williams would thus give up its ties with Renault, its current engine supplier. Indeed, while the British team had renewed its historic partnership with the brand with the diamond in 2011, it must be acknowledged that today, the Williams-Renault partnership is not as evident as it was in the 1990s. Of the four teams currently partnered with the French manufacturer, Williams seems to be the one with the fewest synergies beyond Formula 1. Moreover, the estimated price of the future French V6 Turbo, the most expensive on the grid, would have encouraged Williams to find an alternative. Toto Wolff, still a shareholder of the British team, likely did the rest, facilitating the opening of negotiations for the establishment of a new partnership.