Lowe: Best team spirit we’ve ever had

Editor

Ahead of what promises to be an intense title-deciding finale in Abu Dhabi, Paddy Lowe says Mercedes have the “best relationships, and the best team spirit” they have ever had.

Nico Rosberg and Lewis Hamilton head to the Yas Marina circuit with Rosberg holding a 12-point advantage at the top of the standings.

As such the German only requires a third-placed finish on the day to wrap up his maiden title while Hamilton, who has fought back to win the last three races on the trot, knows that even a victory next Sunday may not be enough.

“The best seasons are the ones where it goes down to the wire at the final race, and we’ve created that again,” Lowe told Motorsport.com. 

“They are both deserving champions, so we’ll see what comes.

“Credit to Lewis, he’s been working well in the last few races. Fantastic focus, discipline, and great driving. As we’ve seen, he’s put a win in every time.

“Lewis is one of the best drivers in F1 history, so when he hooks it up, he’s difficult to beat. But we’ll see in Abu Dhabi. It’s all to play for there.

“But I have to say both of them, despite what should be a very tense situation, they’re both in great shape, a very good mood, very professional, very good-humoured.

“We are the strongest we’ve ever been right now, with the best relationships, and the best team spirit we’ve ever had. You couldn’t wish for anything better at this point as we head into the championship finale.”

The Mercedes technical chief also weighed in on the Brackley team’s reliability woes.

Hamilton has borne the brunt of those throughout this season with Lowe hoping that their recently improved reliability will not let them down and decide the championship in Abu Dhabi.

“I don’t actually lose sleep over it, because I have the confidence of understanding that the team does a fantastic job to improve the underlying reliability.

“So while we will have failures from time to time, and we have had failures, actually we are at the most reliable we’ve ever been in this team.

“There may be an issue in Abu Dhabi, but if there is, it will be very uncharacteristic. I think we just go in there and we do our job as normal.

“I’m as confident as I can be that that’ll give each driver a fair chance at the championship.”