A Daimler shareholder has called on the German car giant to pull its works Mercedes team out of formula one.
Fund manager Ingo Speich, of the Daimler shareholder Union Investment, said at Daimler’s annual general meeting that he is disappointed Mercedes has lost ground to road car rivals Audi and BMW.
"Mercedes is no longer the measure of all things in the premium sector," he is quoted as saying by Die Presse.
Speich referred to "a lost decade" for Daimler, and called on the company to follow BMW’s recent lead and pull out of formula one.
His speech reportedly received applause from other shareholders.
Mercedes is the biggest formula one team yet to follow the likes of Ferrari, McLaren and Red Bull in signing a new Concorde Agreement beyond 2012.