'Most teams' support Ferrari-Haas query

Nov.29 - Mercedes has support up and down the pitlane as it queries the collaboration between Ferrari and its de-facto 'B team' Haas for 2016.

After it emerged on Saturday that the reigning world champions have asked the stewards in Abu Dhabi to look into the matter, we reported that Force India filed a similar request.

In fact, "I think most of the teams support it", a source in the paddock told us.

Mercedes chief Toto Wolff suggested teams are concerned that if the new Ferrari-Haas union flourishes, other teams will have to forge similar alliances.

That is because teams suspect that Ferrari is effectively doubling the 25 hour per week per team limit on wind tunnel testing by helping Haas as well.

"It would eventually lead to a situation where it could become an arms race of how many cooperation partners you could sign up to develop at a greater speed," Wolff said.

McLaren-Honda supremo Ron Dennis agrees: "We need to ensure it doesn't happen otherwise we will have to follow suit."

Indeed, the FIA has invited teams other than Mercedes to make their opinions on the matter clear before the stewards rule on the matter on Sunday.

Romain Grosjean, switching from Lotus to Haas after Sunday's race, said he is not worried.

"As far as I know, everything is legal and the FIA knows about everything," he said.

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Leopold

Leopold Pleijsier founded F1-Fansite.com in 2001 and has followed Formula 1 since the early 1980s. He writes about daily F1 news, race weekends, drivers and the sport’s history.

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