Since the Barcelona tests, rumors about possible gray areas in the 2022 rules caused concerns that in Bahrain have become reality.
As has been discussed in recent hours, many teams have already expressed their doubts to the FIA regarding the new aerodynamic solutions of the W13, ensuring that they go against the “spirit” of the current rules.
In Formula 1 it is almost impossible to measure exactly where the “spirit of the rules” begins and ends, because you can only really quantify what is written in them.
Therefore, the key factor in the 2022 rules on Mercedes’ radical design and impossibly thin sidepods lies in the placement and fairing of the Side Impact Structures (known by the acronym SIS).
Cars must have two of these structures on each side of the car, which are a standardized design that the sport introduced in 2014. This was originally created as a cost-cutting measure.
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
Photo by: Giorgio Piola
At the top of that list are the ‘ U-pods ‘, which were already seen in the 2011 McLaren, with the team trying to find extreme measures to pass the stringent side impact tests at the time.
Currently there is no longer such a specific requirement regarding the side impact test, due to the fact that the masts now have a preset amount, something that means that the teams can only design the car around the positional structures imposed by the rules. .
In that sense, this year there have been changes. The upper SIS is now required to be positioned a minimum of 50mm higher than before, which has caused teams to rethink its placement and how it impacts airflow at the sidepod intake.
Last year, all the teams went with the solution that Ferrari first introduced in 2017, in which the upper SIS was positioned lower and forward of the sidepod entry, creating a more aerodynamically favorable layout.
What Mercedes has done is take this design principle and make a radical change, placing the upper SIS in an even higher position within the permitted parameters, thus creating an aerodynamic fairing that acts as an aerofoil for the sidepods.
Also noteworthy is the group of vortex generators that are installed on the upper edge of the SIS (blue arrow), which coincide with the redesign and repositioning of the mirrors and also with their auxiliary flow conditioning components.
On top of that is a new set of fins on the outer edge of the cockpit (green arrow), which we’ve already seen from other teams to help channel airflow in the most desirable direction.
Separating the upper SIS from the sidepods has allowed Mercedes to modify the size, shape and orientation of the internal components of the sidepods, as well as the rest of the chassis shrinking further inwards.
The pontoon itself has also been moved to the rear of the SIS, giving the team some room to install some fins in front of the intake (red arrows) for these. A new design that has made it possible to create a taller and slimmer opening that minimizes the width of the pontoons.
This design is reminiscent of the Ferrari 640 , which also featured a very tall and narrow air intake, especially compared to many of the other designs on the grid.
But, as the chassis in the sidepod area wraps back, there is also something similar to the triangulation seen on the Brabham BT42 . However, Mercedes has the advantage of being able to be more creative with the geometry of its surface, creating a kind of “jelly mold” in which the pontoons taper towards the flat bottom.
Like the Williams that surprised everyone in Barcelona, the top of the chassis tapers down and in, with an air intake that now appears to serve a similar purpose.
Mercedes could have moved some of its cooling to the center line of the car, with the chassis much wider from the halo to the rear, not only to accommodate the new position of the radiators and all other systems around the power unit, but also to create a more defined path for the airflow passing backwards over the car.
However, this shift towards centerline-centric cooling is not new, in fact teams have been pushing for this design for the last few years.
The Toro Rosso STR10 and McLaren MP4-30 were at the forefront of this in 2015 but more recently we’ve also seen similar setups at Alpine and Red Bull.
To help maintain the correct temperature under the cowl, especially in very hot climates, Mercedes also decided to open two cooling gill panels, one at the front of the sidepods and one above the armored section of the cowl.
This allows the star team to create minimal rear cooling output and decide on their gill panels based on track or weather conditions.
Other major updates to the 2022 F1 Mercedes W13
While the engine cover and sidepods have taken center stage, there are more interesting changes in with the W13 ‘s front wing and flat bottom.
The upper wing of the front wing has some subtle changes, with the trailing edge geometry modified to divert airflow across the front face of the tire (red arrow in image below).
Meanwhile, the team has also altered the wing loading in its center section, swapping Barcelona’s distinctly sunken profiles for steeper variants.
As for the background, there are many changes, not only with a visible alteration in the orientation and shape of the outermost edge, but also the wave-shaped section that we saw on the front several weeks ago has been discarded.
It looks like they are still trying some geometric tricks on the edge of the flat bottom to attract airflow. However, there are likely to be more modifications in the coming days, as they have yet to mount the “double wing” that is allowed on the floor of the car and that other teams have already used.
At the rear of the floor, the team also added a sturdier metal brace to prevent the ends of the bottom from tipping toward the track as the load increases.
