Creativity on display as Formula 1 teams push the limits on 2022 car design.
Formula 1’s preseason testing is meandering towards its conclusion ahead of the opening race of the season in Bahrain next weekend (March 18-20).
And so far it is reigning World Champion team Mercedes that has captured the attention. Not for the car’s lap times, or its mileage, but its sidepods.
Mercedes’ W13 appeared during the second test with radically revised minimalist sidepods, showing creativity even amid supposedly restrictive regulations. Ferrari, with its ‘scalloped’ sidepods, and Red Bull—with its heavily undercut sidepods—demonstrate how different groups of engineers have interpreted the regulations.
“We are really proud of what we have achieved in terms of concept, but now we need to make it go fast,” said Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff. “I think the development direction we like and it is about tuning the car, so we’re experimenting a lot, and approach it with curiosity. We haven’t really looked at performance yet.”
Lewis Hamilton’s Mercedes W13 sports a minimalist sidepod design during the testing at Bahrain.
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There are no questions of the legality of the revised W13, according to both Formula 1, and rival teams.
“I think there’s no doubt that the Mercedes concept, we didn’t anticipate it,” Formula 1’s director of motorsports Ross Brawn told F1TV. “It’s just fascinating to see a wide range of solutions. What’s become a step change for the teams is a lot of new cooler innovations, the heat exchanges and the radiators has become available, and it’s given them more scope to create the designs they’ve got.”
Red Bull certainly have no qualms with Mercedes’ design.
“I think it’s interesting, it’s very innovative of what Mercedes has come up with,” said Red Bull boss Christian Horner. “It’s quite a different concept to the concept that we pursued and some of the others have (pursued). It shows the creativity even within constrictive regulations in Formula 1, that very different solutions are coming out. Whether it’s the right route or whatever, only time will tell. What we see in F1, there tends to be convergence over a period of time on design philosophies. But what’s so good about this sport is you get a clean sheet of paper, you get 10 different interpretations. Mercedes has come up with an extreme one that’s a different interpretation. To answer your next question of whether we think it’s illegal or not, yes absolutely, it looks like it ticks all the boxes.”
Ferrari boss Mattia Binotto described it as “a great car, that should not be a surprise to us, it is a good concept, quite different. It is interesting in the cooling layout, sidepods, I think, again something which looking is quite interesting.” He also attested that Ferrari had no issues on legality.
But it’s all well and good creating something eye-catching—now Mercedes has to unlock its performance without compromising reliability.
“I’m proud to be part of a team pushing innovation, pretty spectacular being pulled off, but it doesn’t matter what it looks like, we need to see if it’s fast on track,” said George Russell.
While Russell’s current team captured the attention in Bahrain, so did his former team Williams—but not for the right reasons. Overheating brakes led to a dramatic fire on the FW44 and limited Williams’ Friday running to just 12 laps.
Charles Leclerc drives the new Ferrari with its “scalloped” sidepods.
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Sergio Perez pilots his Red Bull at Bahrain.
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Keyword: Mercedes F1 Team's Radical Sidepods Getting Second Looks at Bahrain Test