Lowe: “Encourage competitive races”

What will be the face of the F1 2017? The next season of the queen discipline must see the introduction of new technical rules, with an increase in the dimensions of single-seaters, as well as the arrival of wider tires, all for cars expected to be more aggressive and efficient.

A gain of four to five seconds per lap is therefore expected. However, discussions are continuing regarding the development of this new regulation, with a deadline extended to April 30. On the sidelines of these discussions, certain teams, such as Mercedes do not hide certain concerns, in particular concerning the possibilities of overtaking with increased aerodynamics.

“At a time when we are at historic highs in terms of downforce, it would be time to go more towards a reduction and which would benefit the cars following another and return to where we were in 2013, explains Paddy Lowe, Mercedes executive director, in charge of technology on ESPN.

But we seem to be going the other way. We disagree with this at Mercedes for several reasons, including overtaking. You need to have the right balance of mechanical grip, aerodynamic grip, power, weight, parameters that need to be within certain limits to encourage close racing. If you allow aero performance to be unbalanced, then you reduce the spectacle. »