Alas the blade is banned, to be replaced with a traditional roll hoop, though this is not to say that the airbox inlets still can't be moved away from the conventional position like they did for 2010, freeing up the flow through the hoop to the rear wing.
I hope the fact that Merc showed some innovation in this area means that other teams will think outside of the box for their packaging.
It is hardly as if this kind of approach is anything new : who else remembers the B189?