Mercedes boss Toto Wolff says Formula One risks playing with fire if it does not take Ferrari's threat to quit the sport seriously.
Last year Ferrari was so unimpressed with the blueprint for the post-2021 engine regulations put forward by F1 it said it would leave the sport if the propsoal remained unchanged. In the time since, Ferrari president Sergio Marchionne has insisted he is serious, although FIA president Jean Todt last week said F1 should not stand in the way if his former team was serious about leaving.
Despite being rivals on the race track, Wolff says Mercedes and F1 would be worse off if Ferrari was not on the grid.
"My message is don't mess with Sergio Marchionne," Wolff is quoted as saying by The Daily Mail. "F1 needs Ferrari much more than Ferrari needs F1.
"He's a business man, the bottom line matters and if he believes that F1 doesn't give Ferrari any benefit any more he will walk. He needs to be taken seriously and, if I were others, I wouldn't try to pose against him. That could be a bad outcome for F1 and all involved."
The future of Mercedes in F1 is also far from certain. The German manufacturer is entering Formula E for the 2019/20 season and has also voiced concerns over the regulations F1 bosses want to introduce for the next cycle.
Wolff says the next 12 months of negotiations will be crucial in determining whether his team, which is going for a fifth consecutive world title in 2018, will still be a competitor in the next decade.
"We will be racing in whatever is the most successful race series. "F1 is absolutely the pinnacle of motor-racing and it's a very resilient race series.
"The new owners have been in the sport for a year, we have to give them support and we have to promote F1. It's our joint platform so we need to keep it great.
"For the next years we are part of the F1 show and we shall give it all to make it a good show, that's my first priority. What happens thereafter we will judge in 12 months whether we like what we get."
Coverage of Formula One in the U.S.A. will return to ESPN this year and begins at Melbourne's Albert Park with the Australian Grand Prix. Full programing details below (all times Eastern Time):
Rolex Australian Grand Prix
Practice 1 - Thursday, March 22, 9:00 PM - ESPN3
Practice 2 - Friday, March 23, 1:00 AM - ESPN3
Practice 3 - Friday, March 23, 10:00 PM - ESPNEWS
Qualifying - Saturday, March 24, 2:00 AM - ESPN2
Race - Sunday, March 25, 1:00 AM - ESPN2