Another angle:
It may not look like it exactly but I think there is a bargeboard there, it's just not big; the angle makes it look like it's not really extending beyond the floor leading edge, but I think it does a bit. But yes, you're right it's a much smaller bargeboard than most teams run now. Way smaller.
The only comparable bargeboard area I can remember is the Ferrari launch spec and Williams launch/British GP spec:
Williams have since developed that area and built it up again into more what other teams have.
Seems like it might be a particularly sensitive area. If making lots of other wholesale changes in the area, better to peel it back and develop a different part later