The Mercedes W-13 debuted a very radical design in this season’s Bahrain testing. It has sparked a lot of discussions up and down the paddock. Some have been questioning its legality while others its looks. However, the more tech-savvy ones have been appreciating the innovation.

Mercedes reportedly took inspiration from rockets! By doing so, the team could have possibly made a breakthrough in the regulations with their current aero package.

Pat Symonds on the W-13

F1 Chief Technical Officer and the main-man behind the new regulations, Pat Symonds was also left stunned by the new Mercedes design. When in conversation with F1 TV’s Ted Kravitz he said “This is a very novel approach”.

He also went on to add that “I think it will have got their rivals sort of going back to the rulebook with their red pencil,” 

The other teams are definitely on the lookout, whether it is to take inspiration from the design or find legality issues in them.

Read More: Max Verstappen Takes a Dig at the Iconic Mercedes F1 Silver Arrows – “It Is Quite Ugly”

He also dove into how Mercedes has managed to get rid of the bulky side pods. Symonds mentioned that technology derived from the aerospace industry allowed the team to form an ultra-efficient cooling system. This gave them the freedom to trim down the sidepods on their car.

New era, same old Mercedes dominance?

The W-13 raised some eyebrows across the paddock with its design. It also got a lot of the teams to question if it was legal in the first place. However, Mercedes are fairly confident of their car being fully legal.

Watch This Story: From Mercedes sidepods to Ferrari’s pace watch the best moments from day 1 of Bahrain testing

After lifting their 8th consecutive constructor’s title last year, The Silver Arrows again seem to be the team to beat this season. However, their old nemesis, Ferrari, has been making somewhat of a comeback this season. Will Prancing Horse finally come back to the glory days or will Mercedes continue their domination into the new era?