While having no sidepods at all is somewhat detached from reality, there’s good reason to suggest that Mercedes will introduce a new package that shrinks the car’s sidepods considerably more those the team benchmarked for performance in Barcelona.
In order to imagine the direction Mercedes might be travelling in, we only have to look as far as its powerunit customer Williams. The Grove team’s extreme sidepod and engine cover design on its new FW44 features one of the shortest sidepod solutions on the grid.
The Williams system has also been equipped with a pass-through duct. This collects airflow in the upper portion of the sidepod inlet and passes it out through the outer, upper corner of the bodywork, helping to frame the flow around that portion of the sidepod.
To achieve this narrow-body effect, Williams has jumped the saddle cooler bandwagon that’s been growing in appeal up and down the grid. Red Bull, Alpha Tauri and McLaren have all used more expansive solutions to…
Click Here to Read the Full Original Article at Autosport.com – Formula 1 – Stories…