Mercedes would have likely quit Formula One racing if the sport had not introduced its new turbo hybrid engine this season, a senior official says. Thomas Weber, a board member responsible for research and development at Daimler, told the BBC Wednesday that the old V8 engines were hard to justify while the new 1.6-litre V6 turbos are important for the development of road cars as well. Weber said that Mercedes was close to quitting at around the same time as BMW and Toyota ended their F1 engagement in 2009. Honda quit in 2008 but is set to return next year as partners of the McLaren team. "We had the discussion. We had at different times the challenge to discuss F1 with the (Daimler)...
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