SAKHIR, Bahrain - Mercedes has brought a significant upgrade to its 2022 Formula One car in time for the second pre-season test in Bahrain.
Driven by seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton on Thursday morning, the car featured tiny sidepod inlets and a completely redesigned engine cover.
Sidepods have become a big differentiator in car design this year, with Ferrari running a wide boxy design with a concave upper surface and Red Bull featuring raised inlets above a dramatic undercut.
However, Mercedes' concept is arguably the most extreme solution of the lot, with very small air inlets either side of the cockpit and a sloping sidepod that appears to exist separately from the upper side-impact crash structure on which the wing mirrors are mounted.