Paddy Lowe ridicules sabotage rumors

Rumors surrounding the mechanical breakdown of Lewis Hamilton at the Malaysian Grand Prix started following comments from the three-time world champion who reacted more out of frustration than dissatisfaction with his team. The Briton also sought to calm things down afterwards but the fuse was primed.

Questioned on the subject during a press conference held in the paddock of the Japanese Grand Prix at Suzuka, the technical director of Mercedes F1 Paddy Lowe responded to these rumors.

“The pilot did not mention sabotage. Lewis was very clear with us, this is completely off topic, explained Paddy Lowe. I think anyone with an ounce of intelligence analyzing the situation would realize that the prospect of designing a system that would cause a DNF at that particular point in the race... If we were good at that point, we would win and control everything. »

“We have had other mechanical failures this season which have been very unfortunate and we would not have these problems if we could carry out such sabotage, added Paddy Lowe… It's the same thing when we are accused of favoring a pilot, which suggests the idea that we could provide better equipment to a pilot. If we invent something that makes the car faster, we put it on both cars because we want to win the race. »

Paddy Lowe nevertheless recognized that the origin of Lewis Hamilton's mechanical problem at Sepang still raises questions within the Mercedes clan, even if the star manufacturer suspects a problem with the connecting rod bearing.

“He wasn’t particularly offensive. He was at a normal pace at this stage of the race and this mechanical failure was completely unpredictable. We are carrying out analyzes but we do not understand precisely what happened”, explained the technical director of Mercedes.

Lewis Hamilton is 23 points behind Nico Rosberg with five Grands Prix remaining in the season following his retirement in Malaysia.