13/05/2017
NEWS STORY
Amidst talk that Mercedes might come to the aid of Honda and offer advice to its Japanese rival in terms of reliability and performance issues with its power units, when asked about the move yesterday, Toto Wolff offered a terse "no comment".
Sitting beside him, Force India deputy team principal Bob Fernley was quick to react, admitting his unease at the speculation.
"I'll comment!" he said. "As a team that's not only paid for its engines but contributed to the development of them I would certainly be very negative towards sharing that technology with another team that it a competitor of ours."
Pushed a little harder, Wolff subsequently claimed: "We are not doing anything for Honda. That is the current status quo. So, unless that situation changes, I don't want to contribute to rumours out there, that are false and I think are damaging for Honda and create hardened standpoints from teams or from other stakeholders. We'll see what happens.
"Honda is important for Formula One," he added. "It's a massive and very successful company and I have no doubt they will eventually be where they expect themselves to be."
Meanwhile, as issues with the Renault engine is allowing his team to slowly creep up on Red Bull, Fernley admitted that he hopes the French manufacturer doesn't resolve them any time soon.
Asked about the importance of its upgrades as it battle to dominate the midfield, the Briton replied: "Like all teams we're looking for direction more than physically upgrading at the moment. It's the direction that we need to be able to develop for the rest of the season.
"I think what we have seen so far is very promising," he continued, "and we'll take it through going forward for the next races. Hopefully Renault's problems will remain large ones and we can keep going!"