Although not having pontoons seems far from reality, there are good reasons to think that Mercedes will introduce a design without them in the W13 or, at least, quite reduced ones, following the model they presented in Barcelona.
To imagine the direction the German outfit could take, we need only look to Williams, where its radical sidepod and engine cover design is one of the most innovative solutions on the grid.
In the case of the Grove, an airflow duct has also been created at the top of the pontoon inlet, causing the air mass to flow through the body (blue arrows in the animation, down).
To achieve this narrower body effect, Williams has jumped on another bandwagon that has gained traction in Formula 1, that of saddle coolers , a solution used by Red Bull, AlphaTauri and McLaren, in an effort to downsize. pontoons by putting the coolers above and around the power unit (white arrows in the animation).
Obviously, this is done at the cost of raising the center of gravity , which is normally lower in the car, but as we all know, in Formula 1 you are looking for balance to find aerodynamic performance, without taking trade-off into account.
Mercedes will unveil its expected upgrades during the second week of testing, but it is possible that the car’s cooling system will remain unchanged, with the team focusing its efforts on producing a more aerodynamically efficient bodywork package, rather than spend to the configuration used by these aforementioned teams.
This set of updates will also benefit from the Silver Arrows approach to chassis design and the way the radiators are installed inside the side struts.
Using the Williams as an example once again, you can see that the dotted line in the animation shows the triangular shape of the chassis, which is designed to house the fuel cell, energy storage and power unit connection points. power.
In recent years, Mercedes has taken a very interesting approach to the design of this area of the car, sculpting the chassis so that the radiators dig in and reduce the overall width of the sidepod, and it seems the W13 shares that DNA too.
One aspect of pontoon design that everyone has had to face is the presence of Side Impact Spars (SIS or side impact pillars), with regulations that have modified their position compared to previous years. The intention from a regulation point of view is for teams to adopt a more conventional sidepod and air inlet design.
However, having improved on the idea first used by Ferrari in 2017, where the upper SIS were positioned low and forward, like an aerodynamic fairing around them, all the teams converged on this solution in 2021.
As a result, sets won’t easily forget the benefits this offers, and many have come up with interesting solutions to accommodate a design that relied heavily on the experience of those campaigns.
As part of this scheme, the total width of the pontoons is largely dictated by the SIS, something that cannot be ignored and must be supplied in some way. In the case of the pontoons of FW44 , it helps the design of the passage, since the upper SIS creates the horizontal division within the entrance.
For the Mercedes that showed up in Barcelona, it didn’t go to this extreme like other teams, so the body wraps tightly around the outside end of the SIS, creating a blister, so this could be the way in which its aerodynamic achievements get to the car.
