Mercedes is trying to understand why its major W17 aerodynamic upgrade has not yet translated into consistent performance, just as Red Bull has returned to winning form with Max Verstappen. The package introduced in Malaysia changed not only the sidepods but also the floor and the way airflow is managed towards the rear of the car.
The objective was to improve aerodynamic efficiency and strengthen the advantage Mercedes had built during the first part of the season. Instead, the team has struggled to extract the expected performance consistently, while Red Bull has become increasingly competitive. Max Verstappen won in Malaysia before following that result with another Grand Prix victory and a Sprint win in Singapore.
The contrast raises an obvious technical question: why has an aerodynamic package designed to improve the Mercedes W17 coincided with a more difficult period for the car?
Mercedes W17 sidepods are designed to improve airflow to the rear
The revised sidepods are one of the most interesting elements of Mercedes’ latest package. The rear section of the bodywork features a different geometry, with greater tapering and a revised downward profile intended to guide airflow towards the floor and diffuser.
This is not simply a question of making the bodywork narrower. The external surfaces of a Formula 1 car determine how air travels along the chassis and reaches the aerodynamic elements further downstream. Changing the shape of the sidepods therefore also changes the conditions in which the floor and rear of the car operate.
The principle is to control the airflow and obtain a more favourable pressure distribution while allowing the rear aerodynamic surfaces to operate more effectively.
The diffuser does not work independently. Its performance also depends on the quality and stability of the airflow arriving through the floor. A change around the sidepods can therefore influence the behaviour of the entire aerodynamic system.
That interaction explains why Mercedes’ situation is complex. A particular geometry may appear promising in design and simulation, but it must then work across the different speeds, loads and set-up conditions encountered on track.
Mercedes also changed the W17 floor in Malaysia
Blaming the W17’s recent difficulties exclusively on its new sidepods would be an oversimplification. The Malaysia package also included changes to the floor, including several areas responsible for controlling airflow beneath the car.
The sidepods and floor have to work together. Changing the bodywork modifies how air reaches the floor, while revising the floor changes how that flow is accelerated and managed underneath the car.
As a result, a change that appears beneficial in one isolated area can produce different effects once integrated into the complete aerodynamic package.
Mercedes may have introduced a solution capable of generating more downforce under certain conditions without yet being able to turn that potential into a consistent lap-time improvement. Alternatively, the package may require a different set-up to operate correctly.
Those remain technical possibilities to investigate rather than definitive conclusions. The available information does not demonstrate that either the sidepods or floor, considered individually, caused the decline in performance.
The more important point is that the new package has not yet consistently delivered the performance advantage Mercedes expected. The wider challenge of translating theoretical aerodynamic gains into usable performance has also been visible in the Mercedes aerodynamic balance seen in Singapore.
Why Mercedes split its W17 specifications in Singapore
The Singapore Grand Prix offered an important opportunity to investigate the problem. Mercedes divided its programme between the two drivers, leaving the updated package on Kimi Antonelli’s car while returning George Russell to the previous specification.
The team used the split configuration to gather comparative data and better understand which elements were contributing to the W17’s behaviour. The exercise was particularly relevant after George Russell and Kimi Antonelli had experienced contrasting performance trends during the season.
However, this was not a perfectly isolated experiment. Set-up choices, track conditions, tyres, traffic and circuit characteristics can all affect the results, meaning that comparing two lap times alone cannot establish which configuration is universally superior.
The decision nevertheless illustrates how important it is for Mercedes to determine its next technical direction. When a major package fails to produce the anticipated benefits immediately, engineers have to separate genuine improvements from areas that still require correction.
Antonelli showed greater confidence in the work carried out with the updated specification, while the overall picture remained unclear. The two-car comparison should therefore be regarded as a development tool rather than definitive proof that Mercedes should abandon the new package.
That approach was also visible in the broader Mercedes split-specification test in Singapore, where gathering representative data was more important than drawing conclusions from a single session.
Red Bull development has returned Max Verstappen to the front
The comparison with Red Bull makes Mercedes’ situation even more interesting. The Milton Keynes team has made a significant competitive step over recent races, with Verstappen winning first in Malaysia and then again in Singapore.
Red Bull has developed its car through several changes intended to improve aerodynamic behaviour and overall balance. Its bodywork revisions, including work around the sidepod area, have to be considered as part of that wider development process rather than as isolated components.
The difference between Red Bull and Mercedes is therefore not simply that one team changed its sidepods while the other did not. Both continuously develop the interaction between the bodywork, floor and other aerodynamic surfaces.
The real question is how effectively each update integrates with the existing car and how easily the resulting performance can be exploited on track.
Red Bull currently appears to have found a more effective combination. Its performance improvement shows that the car has become competitive again, but that does not mean the turnaround can be attributed to one component alone. The significance of the team’s wider development direction was already apparent after Red Bull’s Baku upgrade helped unlock more performance for Max Verstappen.
Mercedes, by contrast, is facing a correlation and set-up problem. The team needs to understand why a package designed to improve the W17 has not produced the expected gains as quickly or consistently as anticipated.
That is the more meaningful technical comparison: not which team has the narrowest or most visually aggressive sidepods, but which can make its entire aerodynamic system work most effectively.
Did Mercedes get the upgrade wrong or does the W17 need more time?
That is the question Mercedes must answer over the coming races.
A substantial aerodynamic update can require time to understand and optimise. Changes to airflow can alter the operating conditions of the entire car, requiring adjustments to mechanical set-up, ride height and aerodynamic load distribution.
If a new package narrows the car’s operating window, finding an effective configuration at different circuits becomes more difficult. A Formula 1 car may perform strongly under certain conditions but lose competitiveness when speeds, temperatures, asphalt characteristics or corner profiles change.
On the other hand, if further data shows that the new specification does not provide the expected advantages, Mercedes may have to reconsider certain decisions or make additional changes to the design.
For now, there is not enough evidence to conclude that Mercedes has chosen the wrong development route. The decline in competitiveness following the introduction of the package deserves analysis, but the timing alone does not demonstrate a direct causal relationship.
The pressure is increased by Red Bull’s resurgence. While Verstappen has found a car capable of winning two consecutive Grands Prix, Mercedes is still trying to establish how to extract the full performance of its updated W17. Red Bull’s recent progress has also prompted questions about how long that advantage can continue as development evolves, with Laurent Mekies discussing the limits of Red Bull’s current development advantage.
Mercedes’ real challenge is making the W17 consistently fast
The new Mercedes sidepods are only one element of a much broader upgrade that also includes the floor and the management of airflow towards the rear of the car. The objective is improved aerodynamic efficiency, but the final result depends on how all of those components interact.
The W17’s difficult period does not prove that its new sidepods are fundamentally wrong. Rather, it shows that the updated package has not yet produced sufficiently clear and consistent answers, leaving Mercedes with more work to do to understand its behaviour.
Red Bull, meanwhile, has shown that its recent development can be translated into tangible results, returning to victory and increasing the pressure on its rival.
The question facing Mercedes is therefore broader than whether an individual component works: has the team introduced an update that simply needs more time to understand, or has it moved towards an aerodynamic direction that is less effective than expected?
The coming races, together with the data collected from the comparison between the two Mercedes configurations, should provide more evidence. In Formula 1, changing a car is not enough to make it faster. Every component has to work effectively as part of the complete aerodynamic system.
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