© LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz says Mercedes is giving the ‘zero sidepods’ concept “one more go”, but they could switch to “the Red Bull or Ferrari style of doing things, in the middle of the season”.
When Mercedes revealed its 2023 car, some were surprised that the team again went with their 2022 ‘zero sidepods’ concept.
The innovative narrow sidepods solution was introduced during 2022 pre-season testing, but ultimately did not help the team achieve the level of performance they were hoping for.
However, since then Mercedes said on numerous occasions that the concept was not the reason for the W13’s performance issues.
Now, ahead of 2023 pre-season testing, Sky Sports reporter Ted Kravitz says he believes Mercedes has a “Plan B” car in the works, if it turns out that the original concept is still not working.
“They’re giving their big idea, that was a failure last year, one more go,” Kravitz said.
“But I believe they have a ‘Plan B’ in production, and if they need to, they can go to a ‘Plan B’, which is the Red Bull or Ferrari style of doing things, in the middle of the season.
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“At the moment they’re saying, look, we think we’ve got a proper handle on what went wrong last year.
“We still believe that our way – which is unique in the pit lane – of having very slim sideboards, is the way to go aerodynamically.
“And anyway, they say most of the downforce is generated by the floor, which you can’t see, but they’re saying don’t expect anything too soon.
“I think if they went away without three or four wins in a season, they’d be disappointed.”
When asked why Mercedes doesn’t change the concept immediately, Kravitz explained:
“My reading of that was: ‘We [Mercedes] have got more things coming online, we’ve got developments of the European season and we think they’re going to work, but maybe the figures are very wrong eventually’,” the Briton concluded.
