Stuttgart - Mercedes has no intention to quit Formula One racing over big losses due to the global financial crisis, a board member of parent company Daimler said on Tuesday.

"We look into our Formula One engagement every year. But we wouldn't save a cent this year if we quit Formula One now because we have long-term contracts," said board member Bodo Uebber.

However, Uebber also said that he couldn't rule out that the company would change its view over F1 racing in the future.

Last week the Daimler board labour representative Helmut Lense said that Mercedes should end its expensive F1 engagement.

Daimler boss Dieter Zetsche was quoted as saying on the weekend that Mercedes could reconsider its engagement in the case of unfair sanctions by the ruling body FIA over an affair in which Lewis Hamilton and now sacked sports director Dave Ryan lied to race stewards at the Australian GP. A hearing is set for Wednesday.

Daimler unveiled a tough cost-cutting program on Tuesday as it posted a 1.3-billion-euro (1.7-billion-dollar) loss in the first quarter. This red ink comes atop the 1.5 billion euros which Daimler lost in the fourth quarter of 2008.

McLaren-Mercedes won several constructors world titles over the past years and three drivers crowns from Mika Hakkinen (1998, 1999) and Hamilton (2008).