Mercedes: “Renault maps behind the supremacy of Red Bull and Lotus”

Mercedes suspects that Renault mapping is behind Red Bull's dominance and Lotus' return to the top. Sebastian Vettel has achieved five consecutive victories and the Renault-powered teams have monopolized the podium in the last two races.

“Red Bull seems to have made a big step forward from Singapore onwards and in Korea Lotus improved by 2 or 4 tenths” observed Toto Wolff, head of motorsport at Mercedes. “The question is what they did in terms of engine mapping. There's something? Maybe exhaust blowing? In terms of development we seemed behind in the last few races, maybe we don't understand something in terms of mechanical set-up? Or did Red Bull first and then Lotus implement something in terms of engine strategy?”

“There are three points to evaluate: first, did we miss something, and why? Second, we have to balance the resources between 2014 and 2013. Third, we have to finish the championship in second place. This is our goal and we cannot let it slip away."

Renault has been at the forefront in recent years in using intelligent mapping to improve driveability and gain aerodynamic benefits from exhaust blowing. With the latter banned, it is assumed that the French company is exploiting the legal cutting of the cylinders and blowing in the bottom area to improve the performance of its customer teams.