It's a tough choice for them. On one hand, they spent the entire season trying to get to the bottom of their problems and never fully solved them. Whether they wanted to or maybe not is not clear. So loads of time and resources were used around zeropods.organic wrote: ↑14 Feb 2023, 11:37Swapping from their concept to a full RB/Ferrari-style a whole year into a 4 year aerodynamic regulation set was imo never really on the cards. If they swapped then they'd be a year behind working on the same problems and just be playing catch-up, like other engine manufacturers were for most of the hybrid era. That's not a way to win titles which is what merc is in the sport to do.. instead they're banking on their concept to work and for their development paths to be as fruitful as they initially expected, and that things will come good
On the other hand, if they wanted to give up on their direction for 2023, they needed to do that quite early in 2022 to catch up with RB and Ferrari. I don't think they did...
I'm fully expecting a lot wider "zeropod" design with mid wing kept and outward sloping sides like W13. Whether this can be still called zeropods or not... that's another discussion