Mercedes abandonded its 'zeropod' in favour of a downwash solution, but it didn't deliver an immediate improvement in pace. Here's why the change was never going to deliver an instant boost in laptime - and why Mercedes went ahead with it anyway: F1
When Mercedes brought a major upgrade to its W14 Formula 1 car at the Monaco Grand Prix, the biggest talking point was its change of sidepods. going it alone in pursuit of its zeropod concept, it finally abandoned the idea as it pursued the growing trend for what has become known as the downwash solution.
This had the double benefit of reducing drag and also, through the shaping of bodywork to make it effectively work like wings, help deliver extra downforce. That meant uncertainty about whether sacrificing the isolated benefit of the zeropods could open up potential to find bigger gains elsewhere as car development moved on.
As Mercedes’ chief technical officer Mike Elliott explained about the performance coming from the downwash sidepods now: “I think when we brought the first version, it was pretty much a level change. He explained that the reasoning for not going downwash last winter was quite simple; that the design did not deliver any step forward in performance.
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