Paddy Lowe's personality

Lowe is closer to Newey in terms of skillset than to Ross. I am not sure what his personality has to do with anything, McLaren managed to pass the f-duct through the FIA so no he's not averse to exploiting the rules, but how forceful he is ... well he doesn't hug the limelight as much as Ross does, that is for sure.

It's said  Lowe won't be Classical TP as Brawn or Horner, or Domenicali is

Wolff will run the team on the economical side while Lowe will be responsible on the technical side, so no real TP

Lowe is closer to Newey in terms of skillset than to Ross. I am not sure what his personality has to do with anything, McLaren managed to pass the f-duct through the FIA so no he's not averse to exploiting the rules, but how forceful he is ... well he doesn't hug the limelight as much as Ross does, that is for sure.

Wasn't he responsible for the active suspension on the 1992 Williams and also the J Damper (inerter) on the 2005 McLaren?

Well, I reckon it takes certain personality traits to be a good team principle and others to be a good engineer. No one disputes that paddy has the right traits to be an excellent engineer. But he's going to be team principle, so my question is, does he have the right traits to be a good one.

true, never heared Horner is/was a great engineer, but he is a very good TP

ATM_Andy must have a say about him 

true, never heared Horner is/was a great engineer, but he is a very good TP

Talking about Horner, I wonder about his job description. There isn't much to do on the commercial side - RedBull takes care of that. Driver decisions are handled by Marko. Newey has the technical side. Race strategy – Newey again I guess. Which leaves the political side, whatever that is – and perhaps Health and Safety.    Since he is on very good terms with Bernie, he is handling the politics very well. He’s got to have the best and one of the easiest jobs in F1.    

Back to Lowe, nice guy or not, doesn’t really matter as long as he gets the job done. What’s interesting is the managerial structure at Merc – and from the outside it’s hard to understand who makes which calls.

Talking about Horner, I wonder about his job description. There isn't much to do on the commercial side - RedBull takes care of that. Driver decisions are handled by Marko. Newey has the technical side. Race strategy – Newey again I guess. Which leaves the political side, whatever that is – and perhaps Health and Safety.    Since he is on very good terms with Bernie, he is handling the politics very well. He’s got to have the best and one of the easiest jobs in F1.    

 

Back to Lowe, nice guy or not, doesn’t really matter as long as he gets the job done. What’s interesting is the managerial structure at Merc – and from the outside it’s hard to understand who makes which calls.

modern day team principals are managers. Their responsibility is gelling all the various departments that go into creating and racing a F1 car. What do you think? Stefano designs front wings in his spare time, Martin grabs the spanners and does engine changes while Moneesha works on the Sauber KERS?

I have thought the same since it was first suggested, no real evidence he just doesn't come across as that kind of guy, could be wrong though.

Edited by maverick69, 29 October 2013 - 14:26.

Part of the management team that managed to throw McLarens best chance of a WDC in many years due to a catalogue of epic operational and technical fails.

So. I'm sure he's a nice bloke..... But his recent record is hardly something to start whacking off over. Is that a function of personality? Could be. After all - he would have had as near as damn it the final say on diverting most resources, mid championship fight, on the "radical" MP4-28......

I'm inclined to agree. What happened in 2012 was a complete mess and it doesn't fill me with confidence that Paddy is about to assume a critical role at Mercedes.

If Lowe lacks people skills or charisma or whatever, they still have Wolff (and Lauda) on board to take care of that.

I'm inclined to agree. What happened in 2012 was a complete mess and it doesn't fill me with confidence that Paddy is about to assume a critical role at Mercedes.

Maybe that's why he, like Lewis, wanted out of McLaren? He saw the failures of Whitmarsh and realised it was best to leave. The TP has to take responsible for the team's failures.

Edited by SanDiegoGo, 29 October 2013 - 22:30.

Lauda is at Mercedes for his contacts and being best mates with Bernie.  As a businessman and race team manager, he's pretty ****.  If there's going to be any skullduggery at Mercedes, he'll be involved.  Norbert Haug didn't last long after Lauda's arrival - and Norbert's involvement has been wiped from the Mercedes F1 Wiki entry.

Lowe needs to prove himself pretty quickly.  I bet he's fudged CV about his time as McLaren - not exactly covered in glory was it !

Edited by Tonka, 29 October 2013 - 23:20.

If Lowe lacks people skills or charisma or whatever, they still have Wolff (and Lauda) on board to take care of that.

This is what a fear, too

Lauda (propaganda minister)   & Wolff (corporate raider)

  =  the devil &  the deep blue see

Part of the management team that managed to throw McLarens best chance of a WDC in many years due to a catalogue of epic operational and technical fails.

So. I'm sure he's a nice bloke..... But his recent record is hardly something to start whacking off over. Is that a function of personality? Could be. After all - he would have had as near as damn it the final say on diverting most resources, mid championship fight, on the "radical" MP4-28......

Is Lowe someone a whole team will follow? I doubt it, that  the top engineers will be impressed

We saw recently what happens when strong personality TPs leave the team at Ferrari & Mclaren and got replaced from the "nicer guys".

Low might be a great engineer and a nice guy, but you need other qualities to lead in this buisness. I really don't like Briatore, but he had them , too

I thought Paddy was pretty hopeless in the WMSC in 2007.  Though bothering to say that is a measure of how little we really know,

Not sure if this video's gonna answer questions from OP,but it's worth watching.

Maybe that's why he, like Lewis, wanted out of McLaren? He saw the failures of Whitmarsh and realised it was best to leave. The TP has to take responsible for the team's failures.

This has been the general assumption that McLaren has been haemorrhaging talent, Pat Fry, Lewis, Paddy etc.

But it strikes me that McLaren put up very little resistance to these departures, gardening leave was almost non existent. 

Maybe the team has been aware of it's failings and has been in the process of cutting out the dead wood in order to restructure the team and make space for new talent.

Maybe the signings of Podromou etc are the public part of an end game to a process that has been going on for some time now.

He could be a great team leader, maybe greates of all time, but that depends on him fully.

Lauda is at Mercedes for his contacts and being best mates with Bernie.  As a businessman and race team manager, he's pretty ****.  If there's going to be any skullduggery at Mercedes, he'll be involved.  Norbert Haug didn't last long after Lauda's arrival - and Norbert's involvement has been wiped from the Mercedes F1 Wiki entry.

 

Lowe needs to prove himself pretty quickly.  I bet he's fudged CV about his time as McLaren - not exactly covered in glory was it !

 You don't seem to have any knowledge about Laudas business success after ending his F1 career. Together with Wolff they are the two only business experts in real life in the F1 top teams.

Lauda is at Mercedes for his contacts and being best mates with Bernie.  As a businessman and race team manager, he's pretty ****.  If there's going to be any skullduggery at Mercedes, he'll be involved.  Norbert Haug didn't last long after Lauda's arrival - and Norbert's involvement has been wiped from the Mercedes F1 Wiki entry.
 
Lowe needs to prove himself pretty quickly.  I bet he's fudged CV about his time as McLaren - not exactly covered in glory was it !

Niki Lauda is hardly a "pretty **** businessman"
Following his retirement from F1 he formed his own airline from nothing. He was backed by international banks to the tune of billions of dollars to finance a fleet of approx. 40 short/ long haul aircraft. He had the support and backing of the Austrian/ Australian Governments to open new air routes between the 2 countries. He was a qualified Boeing 767 pilot and regularly flew sectors and mingled with the passengers. Great PR. One of his planes was named after Ayrton Senna and Aussies were more than happy to see another named after The Don.
We all know that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones so please feel free to enlighten us to your own business achievements.

Are you a F1 driver or team owner?  Thought not.

Wondered why Lauda was sacked from Jaguar F1?

Are you a F1 driver or team owner?  Thought not.

 

Wondered why Lauda was sacked from Jaguar F1?

Got any evidence that he's a **** business man?

I'm surprised by the amount of criticism of Lowe in this thread for the MP4-28 given his apparent free pass in the MP4-28 thread where MW/SM/JB are blamed instead (I personally believe that as the Technical Director on the Mp4-28 he ultimately carries the can)

The main issue I've read about Lowe from a claimed insider at McLaren is nothing to do with his pure engineering skills but that his management style revolves around cliques. If he gets the right people in place maybe it'll work out well but if things don't I'd be worried that the structure wouldn't be in place to properly analyse what went wrong and turn things round.

 

Wondered why Lauda was sacked from Jaguar F1?

The same reason all other team principals got sacked at Jaguar?
 

Well, Paddy's got married...

http://www.bild.de/s...95702.bild.html

Top Guy, Yes he does.

As most of us know by this time, all the signs are pointing towards Paddy taking over Ross' role. I'm slightly hesitant about this.

Can anyone give me an idea about this guy? Does he have what it takes to carry on where Ross left off?

Niki Lauda is hardly a "pretty **** businessman"
Following his retirement from F1 he formed his own airline from nothing. He was backed by international banks to the tune of billions of dollars to finance a fleet of approx. 40 short/ long haul aircraft. He had the support and backing of the Austrian/ Australian Governments to open new air routes between the 2 countries. He was a qualified Boeing 767 pilot and regularly flew sectors and mingled with the passengers. Great PR. One of his planes was named after Ayrton Senna and Aussies were more than happy to see another named after The Don.
We all know that people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones so please feel free to enlighten us to your own business achievements.

Make that 2 airlines, and he succesfully merged both of them into bigger airlines making a ton of money out of the deals. Seems like a pretty bloody good businessman IMHO.

I heard him speak at a public event (large room full of people) and he came across as charismatic and knowledgeable, and also fairly straight-speaking (answering questions I thought he might skirt around). He's been in the business a good while. Personally, as a fan who doesn't have any inside information or knowledge on how the team works, I'd like to see both him and Ross Brawn stay at Merc, perhaps because Brawn is a known factor in terms of being respected and having a sense of authority. But if that can't be made to work and if Paddy Lowe ends up as TP, I'll be wishing him well. I doubt he'd have been taken on if they didn't think he could give it a good shot.   

This is what a fear, too

Lauda (propaganda minister)   & Wolff (corporate raider)

  =  the devil &  the deep blue see

Haha yes, didn't say they'd be any good. Would be quite a show though.

She's 31. Damn.

Holy ****!

 

She's 31. Damn.

Well, that should go some way to resolve the "Does he have what it takes?" question.

Well, that should go some way to resolve the "Does he have what it takes?" question.

I think SHe has

I'm surprised by the amount of criticism of Lowe in this thread for the MP4-28 given his apparent free pass in the MP4-28 thread where MW/SM/JB are blamed instead (I personally believe that as the Technical Director on the Mp4-28 he ultimately carries the can)

Why, the car was a rocket ship. Everything that happened that year was down to poor team management and team errors. The car was the very best thing about 2012

edit: Oh, I see, I was getting this years and last years cars confused.

Edited by SanDiegoGo, 31 October 2013 - 17:28.

Well, that should go some way to resolve the "Does he have what it takes?" question.

A lot of money, yes.

A lot of money, yes.

Oh yes , Mercedes pays very well (even some supposed McLaren engineers agreed on that)

Oh yes , Mercedes pays very well (even some supposed McLaren engineers agreed on that)

Hmm just watched Nico and Lewis being asked about Ross possibly leaving, they were talking about strength in depth in the team and talented new people coming through, but neither of them mentioned Paddy.

Hmm just watched Nico and Lewis being asked about Ross possibly leaving, they were talking about strength in depth in the team and talented new people coming through, but neither of them mentioned Paddy.

Bit difficult for them, what they should say IMO

Edited by Raven8, 01 November 2013 - 09:09.

Bit difficult for them, what they should say IMO

Yeah I know what you mean. I just wondered if it had been the other way round, whether they might have been saying "if Paddy leaves we'll miss him but we have got strength in depth including Ross," kinda thing.

Nothing conclusive of course, just a straw in the wind I felt.  

Yeah I know what you mean. I just wondered if it had been the other way round, whether they might have been saying "if Paddy leaves we'll miss him but we have got strength in depth including Ross," kinda thing.

 

Nothing conclusive of course, just a straw in the wind I felt.  

iMO they sit between 2 chairs there. Lewis wasn't exactly jumping with joy as Lowe was announced at Mercedes.

IMo pure PR what both Mercedes drivers say about this matter

Edited by Raven8, 01 November 2013 - 09:25.

iMO they sit between 2 chairs there. Lewis wasn't exactly jumping with joy as Lowe was announced at Mercedes.

IMo pure PR what both Mercedes drivers say about this matter

Yeah.  I don't want to make too much of it, just that normally it's 'the king is dead long live the king' isn't it?  But as you say thus far there's no sign of Lewis or Nico being thrilled about Paddy. 

I reckon it was 98% PR, and in the 2% they could have chosen to mention Paddy or not, and they chose not.  And Lewis knows him well of course.

In the Sky commentary generally it's more about the loss of Brawn than the gain of Lowe.

So it just adds to my apprehension about the change, for next year.  Not that Brawn has been perfect by any means of course.

 

She's 31. Damn.

I hate to say this but I have never seen anything positive coming from rich guys marrying Russian models...

Between him an Lewis it will be like heartache hotel.

Yeah.  I don't want to make too much of it, just that normally it's 'the king is dead long live the king' isn't it?  But as you say thus far there's no sign of Lewis or Nico being thrilled about Paddy. 

 

I reckon it was 98% PR, and in the 2% they could have chosen to mention Paddy or not, and they chose not.  And Lewis knows him well of course.

 

In the Sky commentary generally it's more about the loss of Brawn than the gain of Lowe.

 

So it just adds to my apprehension about the change, for next year.  Not that Brawn has been perfect by any means of course.

Brawn is a leader this is what any team needs. Whitmarsh might have been a good engineer but as TP...

Teams need someone to look up to & have respect, like Ron Dennis, Jean Todt, even Briatore

Can't see Lowe being such a alpha male, we saw how the softer , nicer gusy fare as TPs ( Domenicali, Whitmarsh)

But who knows maybe Lowe has those qualities

IMO every other team ( except RBR) will grab Brawn within a heartbeat if he becomes available, but Mercedes seems not to care too much about that

This has been the general assumption that McLaren has been haemorrhaging talent, Pat Fry, Lewis, Paddy etc.

 

But it strikes me that McLaren put up very little resistance to these departures, gardening leave was almost non existent. 

 

Maybe the team has been aware of it's failings and has been in the process of cutting out the dead wood in order to restructure the team and make space for new talent.

 

Maybe the signings of Podromou etc are the public part of an end game to a process that has been going on for some time now.

... Lewis ... dead wood ,,, really? I am guessing besides Podromou, Button Perez and Sam Michael are the new infusion of talent  especially the last two ...

I had the privilege of meeting Lowe, Whitmarsh and Brawn at the FOTA fan's forum at the MTC a couple of years ago. Was taken aback how approachable these guys were to a lowly fan like me. Paddy actually stayed behind after to answer some of the technical questions poised to him by us.

I think he's a good bloke, but then again I think that of Whitmarsh, but doubt his leadership skills.

It's one of those things where only time will tell.

Edited by pliskinrob, 01 November 2013 - 11:09.