© Daimler AG
Former Mercedes executive director, technical, Paddy Lowe says the team’s “engine was never on full power for qualifying” in 2014, to avoid added scrutiny.
From the beginning of the ‘turbo hybrid era’, which saw Formula 1 introduce completely new power units, Mercedes was obviously the fastest car on the grid. The team dominated the season with 16 wins out of 19 races.
However, Paddy Lowe reveals the team tried to hide the full power of its engine, to avoid possible measures aimed at stopping their dominance.
“You’ve got Bernie [Ecclestone, former F1 boss] running around saying ‘this is all a nightmare, these engines are terrible’,” Lowe said.
“Well, the thinking was if Mercedes had looked ridiculously good, then something would be done about it.
“In qualifying, we would never turn the engine up for Q1 and Q2. It was run in a sort of idle mode. The debate would then be how much to turn the engine up for Q3.
If you like SilverArrows.Net, consider supporting us by buying us a coffee!
“I’d be getting it in the ear from Toto [Wolff, Mercedes team boss]: ‘That’s too much, that’s too much’. And I’m thinking, ‘But if we don’t get pole, we’ll look like a right bunch of mugs’.
“So what number to pick that would do the job and knowing you didn’t want to err on the wrong way. So that was a big part of the discussion on Saturday afternoon. Nice chat to have.
“Actually, that went on quite a long time. Through most of 2014, that engine was never on full power for qualifying.”
However, Lowe admits the success of that season was not only down to a superior engine, but also due to a fantastically designed car.
“It was a good car as well. It wasn’t just the engine, we had terrific aerodynamics as well, better than anyone actually, which we used to track because we would engine-correct all of our data.
“And that car was better than any car, quite apart from the engine,” concluded the Briton.
