Former Mercedes engineer Paddy Lowe claims that Max Verstappen’s victory at the Abu Dhabi Grand Prix in 2021 overshadowed a major celebration for the Woking-based team. He believes that Mercedes winning their consecutive 8th constructor’s championship should have been major news, but given the circumstances of Verstappen’s controversial win and the team’s disappointment surrounding the finale, it was hard to take note of. He told PlanetF1,
“That’s one of the bits I felt a bit upset about from Abu Dhabi last year, what how it was all about the driver and the controversial Drivers’ Championship.”
On Mercedes’ historic win, he added:
“And the fantastic success of Mercedes in the Constructors’ – it’s just unbelievable to win eight Constructors’ Championships in a row.”
Lewis Hamilton lost out to Max Verstappen and his chance to win his 8th World Drivers’ Championship at Abu Dhabi in 2021 on the final lap after a last-moment safety car changed the game for the Dutchman. It has been labeled as one of the most controversial races by many because of the events that took place in the final stages and the decisions that were made by the racing officials.
On this day, in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen won his first World Championship title after a long season battle against Lewis Hamilton.
On this day, in the 2021 Abu Dhabi Grand Prix, Max Verstappen won his first World Championship title after a long season battle against Lewis Hamilton. https://t.co/XkH7qU1smn
However, it wasn’t all bad for Mercedes. Even though their driver lost the title, the team still managed to outperform Red Bull and win their 8th constructor’s title. Given that it was a maiden victory for Verstappen and a very surprising finish to the race, their victory got “buried” in Lowe’s words, as he said,
“That far eclipses any single Drivers’ Championship by whether it was Lewis or Max in the one year, an eighth consecutive Constructors’, that should have been massive news and it really got buried, which I thought was really terrible.”
Lowe reveals he did not have hopes for Mercedes to recover from their poor start in 2022
2022 was one of the lowest-rated years for Mercedes, a year when major regulation changes were announced in the sport. Although the team has some of the finest engineers, they failed to adapt to the changes and started the season with poorly. While many believed that the team would bounce back, Lowe revealed that he knew it wasn’t going to happen. He said:
“It’s just such a difficult process. With the complexity of the cars these days, the rate at which you can develop, especially fundamental aspects of them, within the season, it’s very, very difficult.”
Mercedes were still able to recover to an extent by the time the season came to an end, snagging a single race victory. With the resources they have, they are expected to make a comeback in the upcoming season. They also signed Mick Schumacher as their reserve driver, injecting some young blood into the team.
Like Father. Like Son.
The Schumacher’s are back at Mercedes #F1
Like Father. Like Son. 
The Schumacher’s are back at Mercedes #F1 https://t.co/GIJbkxgnzd
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Edited by Siddharth Dhananjay
