Mercedes ready to 'move forward' with new Concorde deal
Mercedes F1 boss Toto Wolff says his most recent talks with F1 CEO Chase Carey have convinced the German manufacturer to "move forward" and sign a new Concorde Agreement.
Ahead of last weekend's 70th Anniversary Grand Prix at Silverstone, Wolff claimed to still be at odds with several provisions in the all-important covenant that will bind teams to the sport from 2021.
But after meeting with Carey at Silverstone, Wolff changed his stance and insists Mercedes is ready to put pen to paper while F1 has also extended its early deadline for teams to commit to the document by six days to August 18.
"I've been pretty vocal after the meetings that we had within the team, to say this is what we need and these are the clarifications we need in order to move forward," Wolff told the media in Barcelona on Friday.
"But I've changed my opinion in Silverstone. I don't think that the teams will ever be united. Everybody tries to achieve some little deals outside everybody. There's a blame culture in the media.
"So we have decided to move forward with Liberty. I've had some very constructive discussions with Chase over the last weekend, and most of the clarifications that we wanted to achieve have been discussed.
"I feel we're are at a good point to sign the Concorde agreement and move on."
Several teams, including Ferrari and Red Bull Racing, stated at Silverstone their promptness to sign the new deal, but an irritated Wolff claimed that teams were "up the arse" of commercial rights holder Liberty Media in public but demanding tweaks to the Concorde's fine print in private.
Wolff underscored the lack of unity among teams that prevailed during discussions.
"What frustrated me was that we as the teams are not capable of really joining up in order to have a common standpoint," Wolff said.
"Not in a way that goes against Liberty or FOM, not at all, but we're having these meetings and everybody seems to be interested in the same clarifications, and in the same kind of mark-up for contracts that are necessary.
"Then we leave the meetings, and on air, I hear opinions that differ very much from what was said within the meeting. That is a certain frustration, I don't know why that happens.
"I have clarified my position very clearly with the ones that I think pick up the phone immediately once the meeting is finished," added the Austrian.
"I have come to a point that if we are not capable of us as the teams to have a joint standpoint for the benefits of the teams, then we'll have to go back and have our own."
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