Ahead of Lewis Hamilton’s arrival, Mercedes is reportedly preparing to boost the budget of its formula one team by many millions.
Bild newspaper said that after slumping in 2012 in the wake of Nico Rosberg’s Shanghai breakthrough, and deciding to replace Michael Schumacher with McLaren’s Hamilton for 2013, the German squad is set to fatten its budget for next year to almost EUR 200 million.
The report said that would be 44 million euros more than Mercedes spent on its Brackley based team this year.
"Under new supervisory board boss Niki Lauda, the austerity measures are apparently ending," said the German daily newspaper.
Bild said Mercedes is funding the boosted F1 budget partly by making cuts to its DTM programme, including reducing its number of cars in the touring car series from 8 to 6.
"The (Daimler) group has recognised that, otherwise, it cannot compete," said the report’s authors.
Mercedes’ Norbert Haug, however, insisted: "There will be no 30 per cent budget increase."