Marko and Tost on rumoured Mercedes engines: 'Nonsense, it doesn't make sense'

Last week, a very wild rumour reared its head. Mercedes' poor season start and Fernando Alonso's strong season start would have triggered thoughts at Mercedes to bet fully on its customer team's championship. Aston Martin would then get stronger engines (which Lewis Hamilton and George Russell now have), but those stories are dismissed as nonsense by the rest of the Formula 1 paddock.

Mercedes would be given two more Grands Prix by its headquarters in Stuttgart to get things up and running, otherwise the 'more powerful' engines would be shipped to Aston Martin from then on. At Red Bull Racing and AlphaTauri, however, they do not believe in that. Franz Tost and Helmut Marko see no reason why Toto Wolff's team would do so.

Speaking to F1-Insider, Tost states, "The rumours are nonsense. The regulations clearly dictate to engine manufacturers that all customers must get the same material. And as far as I know, everyone sticks to that very meticulously. So a preference for a team is forbidden and unrealistic," said Nyck de Vries' team boss.

Marko does not believe rumours

Marko complements his compatriot by stating that Mercedes and Aston Martin are rivals not only in Formula 1, but also in passenger car production.

"Why should Mercedes make a competitor stronger?", the 79-year-old Austrian wonders aloud. "That makes no sense. Despite working together, Aston Martin is ultimately a competitor to Mercedes in terms of passenger cars. Mercedes will now do everything it can to forget the disappointing season opener for them as soon as possible. With this ambitious task, there is certainly no room to help Aston Martin."

As yet, Mercedes and/or Aston Martin themselves have not responded to the rumours.