Mercedes boss Toto Wolff has hit back at suggestions the German manufacturer is ready🍒ing to leave Formula 1 and des🎉cribed a recent report as “a nonsense story”.

Speculation has mounted in recent months that Mercedes and its parent company Daimler is considering whether to pull out of F1 at the end of the 2020 season, with a new Concorde Agreement yet to be agreed up🌺on by any of the 10 F1 teams as discussions continue between FOM, the FIA and the participating entrants.

Speaking at a press conference announc🐟ing Mercedes’ extended partnership with INEOS at the Royal Automobile Club in London on Monday, Wolff dismissed any exit stories as false.

“F1 has always been a great provide🌸r of headlines over the winter break,”🌺 Wolff said.

“And by the sheer lack of racing results and the controversy on track, dropping a bombshell of a headlin✱e always sells.

“And in that respect, I'm always surprised that there's just some lunatic out there that writes something on an internet page and it's being picked up - which was a complete nonsenꦫse story - which was put straight by the CEO of Daimler the following day.

“That is one part of the story. The other part is that with everything we do, we have to question is it the right activity that we deploy? It's whether it's in the petrochemical business, whꦇet🥂her it's as an OEM in the car industry, or whether it's F1.

"We, as Daimler today, we see the advantages and the benefits that Formula 1 as a marketing platform provides to us and we see the data. And that is the underlying condition why w💧e're doing it.”

And✨ Wolff stressed that Mercedes is in F1 for the “long term”, which he believes is highlighted in the new five-year collaboration with INEOS.

"Like I always said, we🐎 are in this for the long term," Wolff explained. "F1 provides a great marketing platform for our brand. This is what we do.

"We build race cars and we build road cars. F1 is the halo platform for hybrid engineering. That is something that is not communicated enough, because it was talked down 𒆙at the beginning of the V6 hybrid era. And it's something we should really put more ಌemphasis on.

"And in that respect with, with all the things that are out in the media, we like the platform, but at the same time, we're in a negotiation with the rights holders, and things need to be sorted out. But the partnership is clearly something that indicates our ♕wish to continue our successful journeꦦy in F1.”

Wolff said Mercedes’ aim is to be making a profit from F1 and wants its continued involvement in the championship to ultimately become a “no bra🐈iner decision”.

"This is exactly what we have as our target," he added. "We want to make it a no brainer from the sheer numbers. The marketing is huge and the return on in𓃲vestment should be the icing on the cake.

"We see that in the American sports leagues, thꦯat most of them, be in the NFL or the NBA, are profitable franchises.

“And this is my personal aim ꧃and my personal contribution with our partners to turn this into such a corporaꦗte company, so that from a service standpoint it becomes a no brainer to participate.”