Mercedes insists zero-sidepod concept could have worked

Mercedes’ head of trackside engineering Andrew Shovlin insists that the Brackley-based outfit could have developed its original zero-pod concept into a successful car.

When the sport made the switch to the current ground-effect cars, Mercedes started the shakedown test at Barcelona back in February 2022 with a conventional sidepod design. However, the Brackley-based outfit turned up with a surprising assembly for the Bahrain pre-season testing which was referred to as zero-pod configuration.

Although the team displayed flashes of speed in the first season of the new era, it lacked consistency and struggled for pace where bouncing was an issue. Mercedes had been expected to ditch the concept for 2023, but, surprisingly, they hang on to the zero-pod configuration for the start of the second year of ground-effect era.

However, the opening races prompted the team to change the concept, and they slowly started to design a more conventional assembly. With the complete change requiring tweaks to the chassis and side-impact structures, the team was unanble to completely switch to the downwash design as the financial ceiling made it impossible for Mercedes to perform all the necessary changes.

But the eight-time world champion team has finally reverted to the traditional concept, mastered by Red Bull, for the current season.

Mercedes' head of trackside engineering, Andrew Shovlin, recently reflected on the journey, suggesting that with the benefit of hindsight, the 'zero-pod' concept might have been successful.

“Yes, in the sense that if any team knew what they knew now and were able to jump back to 2021 and have another go at it. They would have the fastest car because every team has had to go through a significant learning phase.

“In that sense, we could have got those side pods to work.”

However, Shovlin revealed that the zero-pod design might have never brought the same performance level as the current conventional approach that succeeded it.

“Would they have had the same performance as the current design of the car? Maybe not.

“But [the sidepods] weren’t actually the biggest thing that was wrong with that car, there were other things that, if we were allowed to fix two things, probably the side pods wouldn’t have been on that list. However, where we are now is clearly a more performant solution.”

Shovlin denied that Mercedes have done anything wrong with the aggressive zero-pod design, stating that with Formula One being the pinnacle of motorsport, teams always search for innovative solutions.

“Well, there will always be an element of trial and error because Formula 1 cars are the product of research, and not all research proves correct.

“You’re basing it on theories around how you think the aerodynamics work, the tyres work, and what’s important in terms of vehicle dynamics – you’re constantly trying to get your models to better reflect the car on the track.

“So I think there’ll always be an element of trial and error, our issue was more that we were being caught out with problems that we hadn’t anticipated well enough.

“That has been one of the big challenges. But, if you just look at the way that the performance of teams is moving around at the moment, it’s evident that no one understands everything that there is to know about the current generation of cars," Shovlin is quoted by PlanetF1.