F1 Racing - UK (2020-01)

“WE LOOK AT THE END-OF-STRAIGHT SPEED OF THE CARS AND WE HATE IT

IF WE’RE NOT THE QUICKEST. YOU WANT TO BE THE PROVIDER WHO GIVES

THE DRIVER THE EASIEST TIME ON THE STRAIGHT. THAT’S WHAT WE LOVE

DOING AND WE GET SUCH A KICK FROM THE COMMENTATOR SAYING

‘LOOK AT THE POWER OF THE MERCEDES’”

F1 RACING JANUARY 2020 45

Despitethetechnical

challengesfacedat

Brixworth,Cowellhopes

thatthe‘campus’isa

goodplacetowork

“Was itthree yearsago in Abu Dhabithere
was the statement that ‘We[F1] want naturally
aspiratedV8s again’ and standardengines?
I remembergoing to a meeting and being told
that was the way forwards. Itwasa big gath ering.
Bernie [Ecclestone]was there.The dinosaurs
were all aboardthe Skylark at that point...”
As Cowellpermits himself an eye roll,
F1 Raci ngracks themental archives in searchof
that delightfully recherché culturalreference.
Noah andNelly in SkylArkwas a1970s BBC
cartoon riffing onthe Noah’s Ark story, narrated
by RichardBrie rs.
“The teamprincipals werecomplainingthat th e

power units were contributing toomuch to the

performance differentiation of the grid,” Cowell

continues.“The manufacturers gottogether and

said ‘Leave thetechnical regulationsas t hey are

and it will close up’. And ithas closed up.

“We look at the end-of-straight speed of the

cars andwe ha te it if we’re notthe qui ckest.

You want to be the pro vider who givesthe driver

the easiest time on thestraig ht. That’s what

we love doingand we get such akick from the

commentatorsaying ‘Lookat the power of the

Mercedes’.Weget quite a lot of pain when it’s

the otherway around.

“We get a lot of pain when Lewis comes on the

radio and says ‘I need more power’. You’ve got

it all, mate!”

In t he foyerofthe F1 enginefacility– the

mirror-imagebuilding opposite focuses on hybrid

tech, with hal f an eye on forthcomingroad cars –

two turb ocharged hybrid Mercedespower unitsin

glass cases flank the entrance.Wha t’s instructive

is that while it’s easyto assume that successive

generations ofthe Mercedes PUs flow and evolve

from oneanother, these two differ greatly in size

and detail. One is from 2014, theother 2018.

The later oneisa ctually taller as acomp lete un it

including the airbox, thanks to 2015 rulechanges

permittingvariableair intakes. It’s also packaged