Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott has claimed that he is keen to take a closer look at Red Bull’s new radical-looking sidepods
The new F1 season is just a few weeks away from commencing. But Mercedes and Red Bull are already eyeing up each other’s cars to look at any minor modification.
At the pre-season running in Barcelona last week, each team flaunted their new cars on track together for the first time this year. The three days in testing were busy for engineers and designers who were peeking over what their rivals produced for 2022.
Mercedes, who clinched the Constructors’ title eight times in a row will be looking for another shot at glory this season. However, the British manufacturer appeared to be intrigued by rivals Red Bull and their ‘visually different’ sidepods.
Mercedes intrigued by Red Bull’s sidepods
Mercedes Technical Director Mike Elliott spoke to F1 TV Tech Talk and revealed that the Red Bull sidepods caught his eye. He said, “The most visually different I think are the sidepods that Red Bull Racing have come up with. Looks interesting, so we’ll go and have a think about that.“
Elliott then went on to explain why teams have different sidepod designs, with Mercedes’ profile appearing far slimmer than the rest of the teams. He claimed that the decision is driven by the sweeping new technical regulations which will be put into place this year.
“I guess there are different concepts. In terms of what is happening with these regulations, we completely change the way of managing the wheel wake. That was done to make it better for overtaking, that we couldn’t over-optimise and control the tyre flows, and then for that to break down behind another car.” he concluded.
The radical undercuts and symmetrical design of the rear of the Red Bull fascinated many in the paddock. Even Lewis Hamilton went over to have a peek at the RB18 challenger, one that will be driven by his arch-rival Max Verstappen.
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