Haug wants cost savings

In the face of the mooted move to 2.4-litre V8s for 2006, Haug said at Hockenheim: "The most cost effective way, certainly, would be higher capacity and lower revs. If you think about a 4-litre with lower revs doing 3,000km [four races at current engine mileages - Ed], you would certainly save a lot of money. Maybe this is not an option but if you are asking me the best way to save money, it would be a good idea."

Haug is in agreement with a number of his rival manufacturers that the best way forward would be no change for 2005 (see separate story) with a more radical look at 2006, making sure that F1 engines don't just produce 700bhp in the most expensive way, rather than 900bhp most expensively, as is current.

"We need to reduce costs by 50 percent," Haug said, "and my proposal would be to take three, four or five million dollars from each manufacturer, put it in a box and probably help smaller teams. Not given anything away free, but maybe you could help them reduce their costs.

"You could also help produce television pictures, you can help marketing issues, whatever. Everything we do should be better for the sport, better for the spectators, rather than putting a hundred million into the engine. This is a serious issue. None of the proposals on the table is achieving a cost cut of 50 percent, so we've failed. That is the reality. That is my opinion and Mercedes-Benz's opinion."

Haug denied, however, that he would be under pressure to stop F1 from the Mercedes board if costs kept escalating.

"Quite the opposite, in fact" he claimed. "We are committed and if we are forced to spend more money to win races, we will certainly do so, but it's not the way forward. I'm sure we will have a 1,600km engine with 870bhp (next year) and go on from there, but this is not the way. It is fundamentally wrong to spend so much money on the engines."