Wolff: Don't ruffle Ferrari

Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has given a warning to Jean Todt not too ruffle Ferrari’s feathers after his earlier comments saying that the Italian team are free to leave F1.

Wolff said: “Don’t provoke Sergio Marchionne.

“I think that F1 needs Ferrari more than Ferrari needs F1 and he has an understanding and a vision of what the DNA in F1 needs to represent for Ferrari and he is a no-nonsense guy.

“If he doesn’t see the value for his brand he is going to call it a day. Very easy. With no regret. So you better not mess with him."

This story reverts back to Marchionne comments towards Liberty Media last year: “Formula one has something noble, it’s not a sport like any other, we want to help preserve that and it should not just be about business here.

"If the sport is going in the right direction, then we are open to talk about everything.

“But if the sport is to become a kind of supermarket, then I’m not interested.”