Mercedes Not Interested in Own Team

"There is no need for us to change our thinking," Haug said at the French Grand Prix. "We have been working together with McLaren since 1995, we were the second most successful team since 1998. Nobody won more. We were at least runner-up three times and it was not good enough for us.

"Good enough will only be wins and World Championship wins. We will come back and we are going to make it," he added.

BMW, engine partners to Williams since 2000 and rivals to Mercedes in the prestige car market, announced last month that they would take over the Swiss-based Sauber team from next January.

The Munich-based carmaker has won just 10 races with former Champions Williams, who finished fourth last season, and now sees owning its own team as the best way to win the title.

Mercedes' DaimlerChrysler parent already owns 40 percent of McLaren, who are challenging for the Championship again this year after finishing fifth in 2004 with just one win.

Haug recognised that having a good engine was not enough in modern Formula One. "I know what the engine means. I know that it is much more difficult to build a chassis than to build an engine, with all due respect to the engine guys," he said.

"It does not mean this is an easy task but we need to be balanced and realistic. You will find four or five engines in the pit lane right now that are very comparable but you obviously do not find five top chassis at the moment."

Haug said however that he welcomed the position taken by Mercedes' German rivals.

"It's a great commitment for Formula One and I am happy that we do not have to pay for it," he said.