F1 champion "surprised" Mercedes didn’t change sidepods over winter

Mercedes delivered one of the surprises of last season when they turned up to the second pre-season test with an upgrade package featuring a unique sidepod solution that was vastly different from their rivals. 

The German manufacturer went on to endure a miserable season with their troubled W13, though the team repeatedly stressed they did not believe the sidepod design was behind their struggles. 

While many teams have converged towards a solution similar to that of Red Bull with their 2023 F1 challengers, Mercedes’ brand-new W14 was launched with the same narrow concept, though Toto Wolff hinted the design will be revised during the season. 

“The Red Bull is the only one we haven’t seen, realistically, it was last year’s car. But Red Bull always come up with a good car,” Button told Sky. 

“The Ferrari looks nice. It looks like they’ve worked on areas where they were weak. They’ve taken some risks in other areas. 

“The strange one is Mercedes because the car looks beautiful. It’s the most beautiful car, I would say, the Mercedes.

“They might possibly be changing the sidepods. Surprised they didn’t do that over the winter, rather than into the season. But they obviously believe in the style they have right now for the first few races.”

Nevertheless, Button expects Mercedes duo Lewis Hamilton and George Russell to battle it out with Red Bull and Ferrari for the drivers’ and constructors’ world titles in 2023. 

“I look forward to the fight at the front,” he added. “We all hope for that three-way fight at the front, and I think we’ll get that, at some point this season.”