Mercedes chief strategist James Vowles has explained the Q3 tactic that helped secure the front row in Baku this past weekend.
Knowing that rivals Ferrari would likely have a top speed advantage on the main straight, the Brackley-based team needed a way to counteract that to remain in front.
Cue the decision to take a gamble and try to dupe the Scuderia into running Sebastian Vettel at the front of the queue for the final top 10 shoot-out run.
“In qualifying the effect of the tow is very significant,” Vowles said in Mercedes’ ‘Pure Pitwall’ YouTube video.
“In Baku, this effect is very extreme, it’s around about four-tenths of a second, so a significant amount that you can or cannot be on pole as a result of it.
“Over the last few races, however, you’ve seen almost a Mexican standoff in the pit lane, everyone has their engine fired up and everyone’s looking at each other but who’s going to go out first?
“In Shanghai, you saw that we left very late and other cars weren’t able to do their lap because they were so keen on getting the tow that the flag came before they started their lap.
“In Baku, we were very conscious of this effect could well dictate whether you were on pole or not.”
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As a result, Mercedes decided to head out hoping to be the trigger for the rest, which they were, and would then take advantage of the practice start area exiting the pit-lane to fall to the back of the train.
“This is taking enormous risks and indeed we only crossed the line several seconds before the flag as a result of this,” Vowles continued.
“But in this situation, it worked. We pulled over to the left-hand side, other cars came past.
“Vettel led the pack and didn’t have a tow on this particular occasion, allowing our cars to get in a nice position behind competitors and benefit from both the tow and good track position.”
Unsurprisingly, the Mercedes chief admitted it was a decision that required some serious planning.
“For the drivers, it’s very difficult. You’re asking them to break up what is the normal routine of going out for Qualifying 3 – a very high-pressure situation – and doing something different,” he noted.
“They understood exactly what was required of them and they did a fantastic job.”
