Jul.29 (GMM) Both Toyota and Mercedes on Wednesday played down speculation they may follow in BMW's footsteps and withdraw from formula one.
"With the reductions of costs we are continuing our formula one engagement," a spokeswoman for Toyota is quoted as saying by the German news agency SID."That has been communicated to us from Japan," she added.However, the other carmaker mentioned as likely to emulate BMW and Honda's decisions to quit - Renault - has not made any comment so far.A Mercedes-Benz spokesman said: "We regret the formula one withdrawal of BMW. This decision does not have any influence on our formula one engagement."It was said at the end of last weekend's Hungarian grand prix that the ratification of a new Concorde Agreement was imminent. Once this occurs, all signatories will be bound to the sport minimally until 2012.
