Photo: LAT Images for Mercedes-Benz Grand Prix Ltd
When Mercedes came out with their radical slim sidepod design earlier this year, everyone stood up and took notice. It also begs the question of what they have planned for next season, with George Russell himself stating that his team is exploring numerous future design possibilities.
After securing yet another podium two weeks ago at Monza, George Russell was asked whether his team will change their radical sidepod design for 2023, to which the British driver replied:
“I think nothing’s off the table. For sure we’ve got a pretty unique design with the sidepods. It’s not off the cards that we will continue with that design, but it is equally not off the cards that we will completely change philosophy.”
“But ultimately whether we have the wide sidepods or the narrow sidepods that isn’t the performance differentiator, there is more to it.”
In fact, the German outfit didn’t even expect to perform well at low downforce/high-speed tracks such as Spa or Monza, with Russell claiming that his team understands the underlying reasons.
“I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like this [Monza] and Spa we were uncompetitive. That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight.”
“But we’ve got to keep on developing this car and next year will sort of be an evolution of this and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.”
To hear that the reigning Constructors champions now have a clear direction in terms of development must be very reassuring for fans. They clearly have the talent required to win titles (both on and off the track), which means that next year we could finally see three teams competing for wins regularly.
Today, Mercedes sits 35 points behind Ferrari in the standings, with Red Bull already out of reach.
“I think nothing’s off the table. For sure we’ve got a pretty unique design with the sidepods. It’s not off the cards that we will continue with that design, but it is equally not off the cards that we will completely change philosophy.”
“But ultimately whether we have the wide sidepods or the narrow sidepods that isn’t the performance differentiator, there is more to it.”
In fact, the German outfit didn’t even expect to perform well at low downforce/high-speed tracks such as Spa or Monza, with Russell claiming that his team understands the underlying reasons.
“I think we understand exactly why at circuits like Zandvoort and Budapest why we were competitive, and we understand why at circuits like this [Monza] and Spa we were uncompetitive. That doesn’t mean that we can solve the issues overnight.”
“But we’ve got to keep on developing this car and next year will sort of be an evolution of this and I think now we do have a totally clear direction of how to develop the car.”
To hear that the reigning Constructors champions now have a clear direction in terms of development must be very reassuring for fans. They clearly have the talent required to win titles (both on and off the track), which means that next year we could finally see three teams competing for wins regularly.
Today, Mercedes sits 35 points behind Ferrari in the standings, with Red Bull already out of reach.
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