‘You question everything’ - Mercedes explain late switch of sidepod concept

The German manufacturer created one of the biggest talking points of the season when they brought a major upgrade to the W14 at the Monaco Grand Prix. 

A striking revamp was headlined by a new-look sidepod design that saw Mercedes finally abandon their controversial ‘zeropod’ concept for a more conventional downwash approach.

It marked the first step in a new direction that Mercedes hopes will set them on a bath back towards title contention, even if the change did not bring about radical gains.

“I think when we brought the first version, it was pretty much a level change. It wasn’t something that brought lots of extra performance but there were opportunities to look at something different. We’ve sort of moved forward,” Elliott explained at the Belgian Grand Prix. 

“We’re always evolving, constantly trying to bring more performance. So, this is a little bit more. The next version will bring us a little bit more and hopefully we’ll keep developing over the winter.”

Mercedes initially continued to throw their weight behind their existing design due to not being convinced that other directions would deliver a substantial step forward. 

“Over the winter we looked at various different concepts of bodywork and didn’t find a solution that was better than the one we had,” Elliott said. 

“I think with what we've done now, we've clearly not jumped completely to where they are or to where anybody else is. What we've tried to do is to take what we've got and adapt it.  

“Therefore, you don't sort of take the same hit. And hopefully with time it evolves and we'll end up in a better place.” 

Elliott admitted the sidepod dilemma led to Mercedes questioning their processes, but is confident the decision to switch concepts will ultimately prove more fruitful in their ongoing bid to catch Red Bull. 

“You question everything,” he added. “You question whether you have got the right fundamental philosophies, you question whether you’ve got the right processes in the way you’re looking at the data.

“You’d like to think there’s some silver bullet you could find or something that’s wrong that you can fix. But I think, generally speaking, it’s all about hard work.

“If you look at where we were last year, with a car and the issues that we faced, we took quite a few big steps backwards to get ourselves out of some of the positions we were in. Then, once you’re there, it is just catch up.

“I think if you look at where we are performance-wise, I think Aston made a good step over the winter but we’ve got ourselves into a decent position. Unfortunately, we’ve seen McLaren also make a big step.

“I think you have to sort of look at that and say, on the one hand, it’s disappointing for us, but on the other hand, it shows us there are opportunities to make good steps.”

Mercedes’ focus for the rest of the year is now set on gathering as much learning as possible about the W14 as they look to create a W15 that can win races in 2025.