Mercedes pays the price

Mercedes is reportedly losing money on merchandise sales at grands prix in 2010. Cologne tabloid Express reported that Red Bull is selling the most merchandise at grands prix this year, followed by Ferrari. The report said Allsport charges teams more than €20,000 for merchandise booth rental at races, which in addition to hiring staff and buying the goods adds up to about a €50,000 spend per race for the top teams. Mercedes is reportedly selling between €90,000 and €100,000 each race weekend, but Norbert Haug said: “The media value is a hundred times the numbers you are talking about.”