Problematic engine management modes at Mercedes

Certainly, satisfaction was present in the clan Mercedes at the end of the first European Grand Prix contested on the urban track of Baku with the victory of Nico Rosberg, the fifth of the year for the vice-world champion and the first since Spain, but the part n It wasn't easy for the German team.

The winner of the day to a lesser extent, and his teammate Lewis Hamilton were upset by a poor setting in the hybrid energy management. If the German was able to quickly resolve the problem by finding the right management mode, the world champion lost a lot of time trying to find the right combination of settings.

“I had no power, confesses the Briton. I was in a motor mode with which I evolved without ERS for a long period. We have hundreds of different combinations for the switch position on the steering wheel and there is no way to remember them all.

The technology we have now is so complicated and I don't really see the benefit in stopping us from being able to solve these things on track. » The old pilot McLaren thus refers to the radio messages and indications reduced by the FIA ​​between the drivers and the pits.

“After having permission from the FIA, we were able to to give the pilots an indication, but nothing more, specifies Paddy Lowe, executive director of Mercedes, in charge of technology. It was a bit like asking them to solve a crossword with minimal clues while driving at high speed.

Unfortunately for Lewis, it took him around 15 laps to correct the problem. This made him lose a lot of time before being behind the wheel of a car fully exploitable and it was too late to attack for the podium, which was really possible today. »

By returning to the top step of the podium, Nico Rosberg re-emphasizes his lead over his teammate, after seeing the Briton almost completely reduce the gap since the Monaco Grand Prix. 24 points now separate the two star drivers.

Find the report and the complete analysis of the European Grand Prix, produced by our special correspondents in Baku, in issue 2068 of AUTOhebdo, available from 22 p.m. this evening in digital version, and from this Wednesday on newsstands.