The German automaker went its own way for 2022, adopting a “zero pontoon” solution on the W13, which was very different from the Red Bull downwash idea and the Ferrari inwash concept.
But while Mercedes has endured difficulties with its 2022 challenger, the team remained adamant that its problems had nothing to do with its very different sidepod solution.
With the main focus being on addressing the porpoising issues that marred the start of her campaign rather than considering sidepod modifications, improvements to most other aspects of her car ultimately helped her become a winner. .
Mercedes head of ground engineering Andrew Shovlin said the team never felt they needed to focus too much effort on the sidepod solution because it didn’t trigger a big performance deficit.
He stressed that the team believed the best path to success in F1 was to explore its own ideas rather than simply copying others.
“Most of the engineering, certainly aerodynamically, a lot of it is stuff that you can’t see under the floor,” Shovlin said. “That’s where a lot of that work is.
“The sidepod concept was something we had to realistically commit to for the year anyway. But if we had focused more on finding a quick fix, we might have copied it and deployed and seen what it does.
“The goal for us has always been to try to figure it out ourselves and learn and find our own way, because if you want to win, and you want to win races and world championships, you don’t don’t get there by copying everyone else’s design. .
“All of our other cars have had pioneering features, they have had clever ideas. We have tried to be at the cutting edge of technology, so we will continue to do so.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Although it’s sticking with its sidepod solution for 2022, Mercedes could still make a change for next year as it considers revamping its concept car.
Red Bull’s sidepod design wasn’t the only thing that caught the eye this year, as it was the team’s low-drag concept – which helped deliver impressive top speed – which gave him a big advantage during the campaign.
Shovlin said Mercedes, which suffered from high drag, was aware of the feature but was not obsessed with simply increasing straight-line speed potential in 2023.
“When you have a completely new set of rules, it’s hard to know where everyone is going to design,” he explained.
“Their car looks like it has less drag if we put the same fenders on it. At the beginning of the year, we had to run really high [downforce levels]which certainly didn’t help from that point of view.
“But if you look at Brazil, we didn’t have the fastest car, but we could pass them and we managed to get it 1-2. So making it fast on the straights is not our top priority. And one of the fastest in a straight line is the Williams, so it doesn’t define your performance level.
“But when you’re very similar, obviously that’s a nice advantage to have. So that’s something we’d like to sort out. It’s just that the priority will always be the baseline performance of the car and placing it at a good place.”
Mercedes managed to resolve most of their porpoising issues over the course of the campaign, but still ran into some issues later in the season.
Shovlin says he’s aware of the problem that keeps coming back as the team adds more downforce to the car during the winter, but he feels new rules around the floor edges will also help him overcome some of his most obvious problems.
“The more you load the ground, the more you can trigger these problems,” he said. “Where we have made very good progress is on the straight. So in Imola, Jeddah, Bahrain, all those early races, the car was bouncing really badly at high speed. And we managed to master that very well.
“There were still issues when the car was rolling through a fast corner and the ground was coming to a point where it was touching. And that can cause a bit of instability. But the rule changes for next year will help that. .
“Basically, however, they won’t make the problem go away. They will make the task of the teams a little easier. But hopefully the work we put into learning and understanding early in the year will at least help us get to a good baseline next year.
The German automaker went its own way for 2022, adopting a “zero pontoon” solution on the W13, which was very different from the Red Bull downwash idea and the Ferrari inwash concept.
But while Mercedes has endured difficulties with its 2022 challenger, the team remained adamant that its problems had nothing to do with its very different sidepod solution.
With the main focus being on addressing the porpoising issues that marred the start of her campaign rather than considering sidepod modifications, improvements to most other aspects of her car ultimately helped her become a winner. .
Mercedes head of ground engineering Andrew Shovlin said the team never felt they needed to focus too much effort on the sidepod solution because it didn’t trigger a big performance deficit.
He stressed that the team believed the best path to success in F1 was to explore its own ideas rather than simply copying others.
“Most of the engineering, certainly aerodynamically, a lot of it is stuff that you can’t see under the floor,” Shovlin said. “That’s where a lot of that work is.
“The sidepod concept was something we had to realistically commit to for the year anyway. But if we had focused more on finding a quick fix, we might have copied it and deployed and seen what it does.
“The goal for us has always been to try to figure it out ourselves and learn and find our own way, because if you want to win, and you want to win races and world championships, you don’t don’t get there by copying everyone else’s design. .
“All of our other cars have had pioneering features, they have had clever ideas. We have tried to be at the cutting edge of technology, so we will continue to do so.
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Photo by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Images
Although it’s sticking with its sidepod solution for 2022, Mercedes could still make a change for next year as it considers revamping its concept car.
Red Bull’s sidepod design wasn’t the only thing that caught the eye this year, as it was the team’s low-drag concept – which helped deliver impressive top speed – which gave him a big advantage during the campaign.
Shovlin said Mercedes, which suffered from high drag, was aware of the feature but was not obsessed with simply increasing straight-line speed potential in 2023.
“When you have a completely new set of rules, it’s hard to know where everyone is going to design,” he explained.
“Their car looks like it has less drag if we put the same fenders on it. At the beginning of the year, we had to run really high [downforce levels]which certainly didn’t help from that point of view.
“But if you look at Brazil, we didn’t have the fastest car, but we could pass them and we managed to get it 1-2. So making it fast on the straights is not our top priority. And one of the fastest in a straight line is the Williams, so it doesn’t define your performance level.
“But when you’re very similar, obviously that’s a nice advantage to have. So that’s something we’d like to sort out. It’s just that the priority will always be the baseline performance of the car and placing it at a good place.”
Mercedes managed to resolve most of their porpoising issues over the course of the campaign, but still ran into some issues later in the season.
Shovlin says he’s aware of the problem that keeps coming back as the team adds more downforce to the car during the winter, but he feels new rules around the floor edges will also help him overcome some of his most obvious problems.
“The more you load the ground, the more you can trigger these problems,” he said. “Where we have made very good progress is on the straight. So in Imola, Jeddah, Bahrain, all those early races, the car was bouncing really badly at high speed. And we managed to master that very well.
“There were still issues when the car was rolling through a fast corner and the ground was coming to a point where it was touching. And that can cause a bit of instability. But the rule changes for next year will help that. .
“Basically, however, they won’t make the problem go away. They will make the task of the teams a little easier. But hopefully the work we put into learning and understanding early in the year will at least help us get to a good baseline next year.