Former Mercedes technical director Paddy Lowe has revealed that the championship winning team was forced to hide its significant engine advantage in 2014, the first year of the hybrid power unit in F1.
Out of the gate, at the outset of the hybrid era, Mercedes' power unit held an edge over its rivals, the team's engineers having perfectly mastered the new V6 1.6-litre turbo hybrid technology adopted by F1 in 2014.
And the manufacturer's advantage was so significant that it was forced to tune down its engine as it feared its dominance would draw scrutiny and lead to measures that would erode its gains.
Speaking on the latest episode of F1's 'Beyond the Grid' podcast, Lowe explained how the Brackley squad subtly disguised its advantage while maintaining its edge over its rivals.
"You’ve got Bernie [Ecclestone] running around ‘saying this is all a nightmare, these engines are terrible’," Lowe recounted. "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.
"I’d be getting it in the ear from Toto: ‘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."
It was a banner year for Mercedes and the beginning of hegemonic period of success for the Silver Arrows outfit and its star driver Lewis Hamilton.
Mercedes won 16 of the 19 races that took place in 2014, with Hamilton beating teammate Nico Rosberg to the world title.
Although the team benefitted significantly from its engine superiority throughout the season, Lowe insists the unit was paired with the very efficient aerodynamics of Mercedes W05.
"It was a good car as well," added the Briton. "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."
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