The German automobile producer went utterly its personal route for 2022, adopting a ‘zero sidepod’ resolution on the W13, which was very totally different to the downwash Purple Bull thought and the inwash Ferrari idea.
However whereas Mercedes endured difficulties with its 2022 challenger, the staff remained adamant that its points had been nothing to do with its very totally different sidepod resolution.
And, with its key focus being on curing the porpoising issues that blighted the begin to its marketing campaign reasonably than worrying concerning the sidepods, modifications it made to most different points of its automobile ultimately helped flip its automobile in to a winner.
Mercedes trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin stated that the staff by no means felt that it wanted to focus an excessive amount of effort on the sidepod resolution because it was not triggering a giant efficiency deficit.
Plus, he identified, the staff has all the time recognized that the very best path to success in F1 was to push on with its personal concepts than merely copy others.
“A lot of the engineering, actually from the aerodynamic viewpoint, loads of it are the bits you’ll be able to’t see underneath the ground,” stated Shovlin. “That’s the place loads of that work is.
“The sidepod idea was one thing that we needed to decide to anyway for the 12 months realistically. But when we would been extra targeted on simply looking for a fast repair, we could have been copying and rolling it out and seeing what it does.
“The aim for us although was all the time to attempt to perceive it ourselves and be taught and discover our personal path, as a result of if you wish to win, and also you wish to win races and world championships, you aren’t getting there by copying everybody else’s design.
“All our different vehicles have had pioneering options on them, they’d intelligent concepts. We now have tried to be main with the expertise, so we’ll stick with it doing that.”
Lewis Hamilton, Mercedes W13
Picture by: Steve Etherington / Motorsport Photos
Regardless of sticking steadfast to its sidepod resolution for 2022, Mercedes may but make a swap for subsequent 12 months because it ponders a rethink of its automobile idea.
Purple Bull’s sidepod design was not the one factor that grabbed consideration this 12 months, as a result of it was the staff’s low-drag idea – which helped ship spectacular high velocity – that gave it a giant benefit over the course of the marketing campaign.
Shovlin stated that Mercedes, which suffered from excessive drag, was conscious of the attribute, however was not obsessive about merely boosting straightline velocity potential in 2023.
“If you’ve bought a totally new algorithm, it is tough to know the place everybody goes to design to,” he defined.
“Their automobile seems prefer it has much less drag if we put the identical wings on it. Within the earlier a part of the 12 months, we had been having to run very excessive [downforce levels], which was actually not serving to from that viewpoint.
“However for those who take a look at Brazil, we did not have the quickest automobile, however we may overtake them and we had been in a position to get the 1-2. So making it fast in a straight line will not be our highest precedence. And one of many quickest in a straight line is the Williams. So it does not outline your efficiency degree.
“However if you end up very comparable, clearly, it is a good benefit to have. So it is one thing we would like to repair. It is simply that the precedence will all the time be the bottom efficiency of the automobile and getting that in the suitable place.”
Mercedes managed to deal with most of its porpoising issues over the course of the marketing campaign, however nonetheless encountered a number of points later within the season.
Shovlin says he’s aware of the issue returning because the staff provides extra downforce to the automobile over the winter, however he reckons new flooring edge guidelines can even assist it overcome a few of its most blatant issues.
“The extra you load up the ground, the extra you’ll be able to set off these issues,” he stated. “The place we now have made excellent progress is within the straightline. So again in Imola, Jeddah, Bahrain, all these early races, the automobile was bouncing actually badly at excessive velocity. And we managed to get a very good deal with on that.
“There have been nonetheless points we bought when the automobile rolled in a quick nook and the ground will get to some extent the place it is touching. And that may trigger a little bit of unsteadiness. However the rule modifications for subsequent 12 months will assist that.
“Basically, although, they don’t seem to be going to make the issue go away. They will make it a bit simpler for the groups. However we’re hopeful that the work we put into the training and the understanding within the early a part of the 12 months will assist us at the least develop to an excellent baseline subsequent 12 months.”