Toto Wolff has vehemently denied claims that Mercedes secretly manipulated and hid the true performance of its first ‘hybrid’ engine in 2014. “The thinking was ‘if Mercedes had looked ridiculously good, then something would be done about it’,” he said. Lowe said Mercedes therefore controlled the full extent of its dominance by turning down and constantly tweaking engine power throughout the 2014 season. “I think Paddy must have been in a different place than I was,” he said at Portimao. “We were very competitive in 2014 and I think everybody could see that. So, yeah, maybe Paddy had that impression,” Wolff added.

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