The new Mercedes side pods have got the attention of the entire F1 paddock. The ‘no-side pods’ side pods design has brought in a new interpretation of the 2022 regulations that have caught out every single team. There were some teams in the paddock that had expressed their concerns and even stated that the new design was illegal.

But as per new reports, the new design by the German team has been given a go-ahead by FIA. The governing body has analyzed the new design extensively and run it through CFD. They stated that the new side pods do not worsen the wake from the car.

Ross Brawn did not anticipate the new concept from Mercedes

F1 Managing Director Ross Brawn, who has been a pioneer behind the 2022 regulations, admitted that he did not expect the German team’s new design. Many teams have interpreted the new regulations according to their understanding, which has meant that they design the 2022 cars with different philosophies.

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“There are some very extreme interpretations of the regulations which could lead to a lot of debate. We did not anticipate the Mercedes concept,” said Brawn.

It was reported that Red Bull and Christian Horner were the first ones to question the new Mercedes design. But the Red Bull team denied those reports and mentioned that he has not analyzed the new design yet.

“I was slightly surprised to be reading comments I’m supposed to have been making, but there we go. I haven’t paid a great deal of attention to [the Mercedes]. It’s obviously a fairly different concept, but that’s for the designer guys and aerodynamicists to get into. Let the guys digest it and understand it,” said Horner on Mercedes’ design.

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It is still not clear whether the German team will gain a huge performance boost by their new concept or not. But they have once again set a benchmark in terms of design and development in Formula 1. We will probably get the answers about the new design from Mercedes very soon at the press conference.