Mercedes set to change unique sidepod concept in future upgrades
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Mercedes have retained the unique slim sidepod solution they first pioneered in 2022 on the launch version of their new W14, while most of their rivals have favoured a design similar to Red Bull’s philosophy. While team principal Wolff stressed the ‘zeropod’ approach was not the fundamental reason for Mercedes’ lack of performance last season, he indicated the concept will undergo changes. Weight-saving behind Mercedes’ black F1 livery as ‘zeropods’ remain2023 Mercedes W14: Can they challenge for the title?Video of 2023 Mercedes W14: Can they challenge for the title?“It is important to be bold in this sport and I am proud of the solutions we put on the car last year,” Wolff said. “The narrow sidepod design is not something we believe was fundamentally the reason why we didn’t perform.“There are no holy cows in our concept. It’s not that we don’t want to follow anybody’s ideas. “We stayed with the narrow sidepod as it, but you could see some developments from now on which could be coming with upgrades and the sidepods will change – not very soon – but we are looking at solutions.“But it is not a core, fundamental part of performance as we judge.” But Wolff said Mercedes have no plans to introduce a different package at the upcoming pre-season test in Bahrain, insisting the launch-spec W14 is “the car we will test and race”. “Last year we learned a tough lesson because we knew that we would bring an upgrade package for test number two, that was worth 1.5s,” he explained. Related Weight-saving behind Mercedes’ black F1 livery as ‘zeropods’ remain FIRST LOOK: W14 unveiled as Mercedes return to black for F1 2023“You then look at the first test and think it’s not really relevant because it’s not going to be the real car.“But we put it on the track and it wasn’t performing at all as we expected.“So this year, we went the other way around. What you have seen is, for a large part, the car we will test and race.“It is fundamentally important to understand the platform and how the car behaves, rather than keeping some bits in the background that may a tenth or two on pure aero performance.”
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