Mercedes have made around 50 employees redundant at their Formula One engine plant in Britain and could shed more depending on the future direction of the sport, motorsport vice-president Norbert Haug said.

"We have redundancies in Brixworth, I think 12 per cent of the staff, roughly 50 people in step one," he said at the Turkish Grand Prix.

However, new contracts this season to supply Force India and championship leaders Brawn GP, as well as partially-owned McLaren, had helped save jobs at the high-performance engine maker, he said.

"If we did not have this engine supply in place, it would be even more people," added Haug.

Brawn's current deal is for one year only, with Mercedes given special dispensation to supply them to secure the team's future after Japanese manufacturer Honda pulled out in December.

However, Haug told Reuters he hoped it could be extended by several more years.

"It was allowed for one year by the FIA and I certainly hope that we get the allowance (to continue) from both the FIA and McLaren," Haug said.

Mercedes have an exclusive partnership with McLaren, with that team having to give their permission if the carmaker wants to supply anyone else.

Force India have a five-year contract, and could also have vetoed the Brawn deal last year but decided not to in the interests of the sport.