Lowe rejects Newey claim

Mercedes have played down Red Bull’s Adrian Newey’s claims that Formula One is becoming an engine dominated sport.

Even before his announcement that he was stepping away from Red Bull Racing and Formula One, the teams chief technical officer Adrian Newey had been critical of the direction that modern day Formula One has been taking.

Newey has become somewhat disillusioned with Formula One in recent years.

Seen by many as the greatest ever F1 designer, Newey has been critical of the new regulations in the sport.

He believes that there isn’t enough scope for designers to make an impact or a difference in Formula One any more and believes that Formula One is becoming more of an engine formula rather than one based on aerodynamics.

?I must say, my fellow F1 technical directors have been like turkeys voting for Christmas.? he told Motorsport Magazine in recent weeks.

He continued: ?There have been a whole host of factors playing their parts in my decision to leave F1, and a lot of mixed emotions, I felt it was time to challenge myself in something different and that?s certainly a factor. But at the same time I do think the regs have become too restrictive. We?re in danger, chassis-wise, of becoming GP1. Everybody?s converging on cars that look more and more similar. We?re back to ?paint the cars white and it?s difficult to spot the difference? ? especially next year when we even lose the different noses.?

However Mercedes GP technical chief Paddy Lowe does not agree with Newey’s view.

He told Autosport Magazine: ‘These cars are about system performance, not individual elements, It’s about how you put it all together. It’s the power unit, the efficiency of the power unit, the aerodynamics, and the manner in which they’re all put together.

‘It’s the collective efficiency of that package from a power, aero and suspension point of view, as well as a weight point of view.

‘Our car is very quick. There are other cars running that power unit [McLaren, Williams and Force India] that aren’t as quick, so it’s a whole system.’