'Extreme' new Mercedes F1 design sparks 'a lot of debate'

Mercedes have insisted that the radical 'no sidepod' design of their 2022 car is perfectly legal but F1 chiefs admit "the extreme interpretation" of the new rules will create "a lot of debate".

Seven-time world champion Lewis Hamilton and teammate George Russell debuted the new-look Mercedes in testing in Bahrain on Thursday.

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Pierre Gasly in an AlphaTauri topped the time charts followed by the two Ferraris of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc.

However, it was championship heavyweights Mercedes and Red Bull who grabbed the headlines - with the latter's 'revolutionary' new design aimed at improving the aerodynamics of its cars dominating discussions.

Within two hours of the Mercedes car leaving the garage, Red Bull team boss Christian Horner was quoted by German publication Auto Motor Und Sport, saying: "Mercedes have gone a step too far. That does not correspond to the spirit of the regulations."

Red Bull's team boss also admitted a short time later that he was shocked to read the quotes attributed to him.

"I was slightly surprised to be reading comments I'm supposed to have been making, but there we go," Horner told Sky Sports F1.

A Red Bull spokesperson later said the quotes were "incorrect", before clarifying that "no official comment" had been made by the team.

"Christian Horner has not given any interviews regarding Mercedes car," said a team spokesman.

"Any quotes being attributed to him this morning are incorrect."

Journalist Andreas Haupt, however, took to Twitter to defend the German outlet's story.

"We spoke with Horner in the paddock today. You can trust us."

F1 motorsport boss Ross Brawn admitted his team had not considered Mercedes' approach to the sidepods when engineers came up with the sport's new technical regulations for 2022 aimed at improving overtaking.

"There's no doubt that the Mercedes concept, we didn't anticipate, I don't think," Brawn told Sky Sports.

"It's a very extreme interpretation of the regulation and I think there's going to be, inevitably, a lot of debate about their interpretation and that's what happens with new regs."

He added: "I think our initial impressions are there's nothing here we would be overly concerned about in terms of those objectives of the regulations."

Mercedes team boss Toto Wolff defended his 'no sidepod' design despite the controversy sparking a new round of paddock politics.

"It's clear that sometimes when you come with an innovation it creates the kind of debate that we're having here. That's why that was expected," he told reporters.

Russell, in his first season with Mercedes, put the debate into perspective.

"It looks interesting I guess but it's not about how it looks, it's about how fast it goes," said the Briton.

Four-time world champion Sebastian Vettel used the first of three days of testing to protest against Russia's invasion of Ukraine.

The Aston Martin driver had a Ukraine flag emblazoned on his helmet and a dove — the symbol of peace — with the words "Peace and Love", "No war" and the words to John Lennon's song "Imagine".

F1 has already terminated Russia's Grand Prix contract and it went a step further on Thursday by turning the lights out on its live coverage in the country.

Testing continues Friday and Saturday with the season opening in Bahrain on March 20.

with agencies

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