Red Bull Racing’s Max Verstappen refused to participate in the debate over whether the Mercedes F1’s W13 side pods were legal, but felt the Zero pods were “quite ugly.”
Mercedes F1 debuted the upgraded W13 package on the first day of the Bahrain test. The W13 run by Lewis Hamilton surprised the paddock with its extreme shape, basically without side pods.
The Mercedes F1 adopts a shape that causes the side pods to sink instead of protruding. Team representative Toto Wolff categorically claims that the design is legal.
Red Bull Racing’s F1 team representative Christian Horner reportedly said in a conversation with Auto Motor und Sport that “some parts are not legal.” Toto Wolff dismissed the statement, “What do you know in just 30 minutes?” And emphasized that he had been scrutinizing with the FIA (International Automobile Federation).
Not surprisingly, the question was also directed to Max Verstappen.
“I don’t know if W13 is legal, but it’s pretty ugly,” Max Verstappen told NOS.
“Even the colors don’t look good!”
The extreme design of Mercedes F1 is not only for Red Bull Racing, but also for F1 managing director Ross Brawn, admitting that his team is an unexpected solution.
“There is no doubt that the Mercedes concept was something we didn’t expect,” Ross Brawn said.
“This is a very extreme interpretation of regulation, and inevitably there will be a lot of debate.”
When asked if he was worried about the Mercedes W13 Zero Pod, Max Verstappen commented, “I’m not worried.”
“We can only focus on ourselves. As I said many times last year, that’s what we have to do this year as well.”
“Even if the car looks different, there are many unknowns we need to learn, so I’m not worried at all.”
Category: Category: F1 / Max Verstappen