Formula One legend and Mercedes non-executive chairman Niki Lauda has poured cold water all over reports that Mercedes will supply engines to a Red Bull team partnered with British car maker Aston Martin.
Reports of a tie-up and a Mercedes engine supply were rejected by Lauda in the build-up to the British Grand Prix at Silverstone where Mercedes drivers defending champion Briton Lewis Hamilton and German Nico Rosberg start from the front row of the grid.
"There's not even a discussion," Lauda said.
"No discussion at all. I haven't heard anything from them and we've never talked about it.
"I have breakfast every morning with (Red Bull boss) Helmut Marko so I should know... We never thought about it because we have four teams running our engines already - so we don't even have capacity."
Lauda's flat denial would come as a blow to Red Bull, who have struggled all season with their Renault-powered package.
As the season has progressed, Red Bull's relationship with Renault has grown fractious, with the team struggling to come to grips with the under-powered Renault package.
Last month, Red Bull owner Dietrich Mateschitz appeared to be trying to force a split with Renault when he claimed in an interview that Renault's inability to improve its pace was "destroying" his enjoyment of F1.
The comments are understood to have caused severe ructions between the two sides and have been widely interpreted as Mateschitz trying to find a way out of his contract with the firm.
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