Mercedes is unlikely to ally with any other team on the F1 grid, unlike rivals Red Bull

Mercedes technical director has revealed that the team is unlikely to ally with any other team on the F1 grid because it does not bring in any major benefits.

Red Bull Racing is the only team on the current Formula 1 grid that has another team, AlphaTauri, who usually race in the midfield. The relationship between the two teams is rather complicated, but it can be said that there is a technical alliance between the two, as per the rules.

Some of the teams have been concerned about the relationship that these two teams share because it is thought that AlphaTauri (soon to be renamed) takes advantage of Red Bull, who are currently dominating the grid. However, James Allison of Mercedes is not concerned about the situation.

"I’m not entirely sure what the nature of the relationships between those two teams is, but I am clear on what the rules are," Motorsport quoted him as saying.

"And it is that other than the very limited part of the car where you are permitted to supply parts, and therefore a certain amount of technical data alongside those parts, in every other respect the rules are very tight about not passing on anything that could be regarded as intellectual property from one team to another."

James Allison has enough trust in the F1 regulations which would not allow the exchange of any crucial information between two teams who share a technical relationship. Hence, it also does not make sense for the team to form such an alliance with any other team as well.

"The way that rule is written is very broad and very powerful, and it pretty much makes any communication not permitted," he added.

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Mercedes' Allison feels the rules were more lenient in the past between two F1 teams' technical relationship

Mercedes has been in a technical relationship with a team on the F1 grid in the past. Racing Point, which now runs under the Aston Martin label, had an alliance with the Brackley-based team. However, this was because the rules were more lenient back then, as James Allison believes.

He stated that the only way two teams could have a legal alliance under the current regulations is by having a commercial partnership.

"If two teams have a strong relationship with each other, it can only really be a strong commercial relationship. It cannot be a strong technical or a strong sporting relationship because the rules forbid that," Allison said via Motorsport.com.

He then spoke about the relationship that his team shared with Racing Point earlier. Allison said:

"In the past it was more open, and the relationship that Mercedes enjoyed with the team that is now Aston Martin, at the time that was a relationship that permitted much greater freedom than it does today."

The F1 regulations were modified after the 2020 Racing Point challenger was dubbed the "Pink Mercedes" because of the striking resemblance between them and the championship-winning Mercedes of the earlier season.

"In response to that relationship, the rules were tightened up substantially to mean that you cannot really have a technical or a sporting relationship," Allison stated.

In the current scenario, Mercedes continues to be the engine supplier for Aston Martin, McLaren and Williams.