© Sebastian Kawka for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix ltd.
Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was asked to provide the thoughts of Mercedes engineers on Red Bull’s version of the ‘zero sidepod’.
When Red Bull revealed its 2024 car, a lot of observers were very surprised, because the car featured some of the concepts that Mercedes had previously used and ultimately decided to abandon.
For example, Red Bull decided to included the full-length engine gulleys, similar to the ones that Mercedes had used in 2023.
Red Bull also decided to include slimmer sidepods, somewhat reminiscent of Mercedes’ controversial ‘zero sidepod’, which was introduced at the beginning of 2022, and then abandoned during the 2023 season.
So, while other teams have very much converged on Red Bull’s old designs, the Austrian team now seems to be ‘copying’ what are thought to be ‘failed’ designs of its opposition.
At a team principals’ press conference held on the first day of pre-season testing, Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff was asked to provide thoughts of Mercedes engineers on Red Bull’s ‘Mercedes-like’ solution.
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“You know the truth is – you don’t know,” the Austrian said.
“Every team follows their own development direction, trying to generate lap time in the virtual world in simulations and at a wind tunnel. And they are going to put that on the car, no matter what other teams do.
“We have gone back from our zeropod concept and some other features, because we felt it didn’t help the car’s performance.
“And that’s why we’ve gone, what looks at first slightly more conventional from the bodywork, but we believe it is a better platform,” Wolff concluded.
