(Motorsports news) Andrea Stella, whose team has actively modified its sidepod shape this year and helped it make a big step forward in performance, completely disagrees. Instead, Stella believes that the way the sidepod aids airflow over and around the car and floor area is critical to lap time.

In F1’s latest ground effect era, the shape of teams’ sidepod designs has been thrown into the forefront, since there was originally a fascinating diversity of different concepts at play. However, the advantage that Red Bull appears to have gained from its downwash approach appears to have won out, as many of its competitors have copied it.

At the Spanish Grand Prix, Ferrari abandoned its in-wash solution to move closer to Red Bull’s concept, while Mercedes abandoned its zero-pod concept a race earlier in Monaco. While there has been a clear shift in strategy for teams, several have downplayed the impact of their actions, claiming that sidepod shape does not make a significant difference in overall car performance.

“If there’s any team that says the bodywork and sidepods don’t have an effect in the current regulations, there’s this long nose, Pinocchio-style,” Stella added, referring to the famous wooden puppet whose nose grew every time he lied. “Every aerodynamicist knows that the two things actually work together, from simulation to wind tunnel and measured data at the track.”

“It’s another dimension that makes this business interesting because we can see how much variety we have achieved in terms of sidepod shape and how this interacts with the floor.” “Now it appears that all teams are converging in the same direction, and I believe that this process will continue in the future.”

Andrea  Stella has long stated that, while the floor of modern F1 vehicles is vital for performance, the efficacy of the underbelly may be greatly boosted by the proper sidepod design. Stella claims that having a broad sidepod helps to activate the airflow to better seal the floor, much like skirts did in the previous ground effect era to help improve downforce. 

Andrea Stella said of the benefits of the Red Bull-style sidepods, “I wouldn’t say simply downwash.” Wide sidepods, in my opinion. “I think it’s the primary concept that seems to interact very well with the floor, because the sidepods, in a nutshell, act like mini skirts.”

“Aerodynamically, these wide sidepods aid in floor suction.” So it’s the principle that appears to be essential if you want to maximize suction in the floor and weight on the car. And it’s evident that everyone is moving in the same direction.”

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