Wolff ‘really proud’ of striking Mercedes sidepod concept

“I think we are really proud of what we have achieved in terms of concept,” said Wolff. Mercedes turned heads aplenty on the first day of 2022 Bahrain’s Official Pre-Season Test as they unveiled a radical design for their new W13 machine’s sidepods.

Mercedes team principal Toto Wolff has insisted there are areas of the W13 he can be proud of and take forward for the future in F1.

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff says the team’s “narrow sidepod concept” had “absolutely nothing to do with the car not performing”.

During the 2022 Bahrain pre-season test, Mercedes introduced the innovative ‘narrow sidepod’ car concept, which stunned observers and other teams.

However, it did not help Mercedes’ performance, as the team struggled in the first half of the season, before slowly improving with each race in the second part.

While many have blamed the team’s car trouble on their sidepod concept, Toto Wolff says it was not the reason for the problems.

Read also : FIA president surprised by adverse reaction to Andretti-Cadillac

“I am proud by the boldness we put into the car,” the Austrian said on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.

“When you look at the narrow sidepod concept, which had absolutely nothing to do with the car not performing, it was something that I am proud of, how it came about finding the design and putting it on the car.

“There are other areas that were really good – a power unit that has done us well throughout the season, reliability was great, too.

“Also on the chassis side, we had a high peak downforce, we just couldn’t run the car where we would be able to generate that,” Wolff.

Toto Wolff says for 2023 Mercedes is “changing some of the architecture and layout of the car, and it should point us in the right direction”.

Mercedes has struggled with its car for most of 2022. Considering how this was the first car made under the budget cap, which was put in place in 2021, Toto Wolff was asked if the team could have done more with extra resources.

“It wouldn’t have made any difference,” the Austrian said on F1’s Beyond the Grid podcast.

“We’re not lacking the capability or any tools. It was more that we needed to peel off layer by layer in order to get to the [root] of the problem. It wouldn’t have changed anything.”

Wolff then explained why Mercedes believes they are on the right track for 2023.

“We believe that we solved the underlying problem of the bouncing, but not all that could be done was done was on the 2022 car.

“It’s going to be easier this year, we are changing some of the architecture and layout of the car, and it should point us in the right direction.

“But with these new regulations, sometimes you uncover one problem, and then you realise there was another underneath.

Also make sure you follow us on social media Facebook, Twitter, Instagram  for all the latest updates between issues.