Having abandoned the zeropod concept at the Monaco Grand Prix, the team has pressed on with optimising its new development direction as it has brought a raft of upgrades for the Spa-Francorchamps weekend.
In the FIA technical submission documents Mercedes sent to the FIA, it outlined key changes it has made to its car.
The most visible difference is in the sidepods area, which has been a major focus for the team since its Monaco upgrade.
One of the eyebrow-style vortex generators sat atop the SIS fairing was removed as part of the previous overhaul, but it has been deleted entirely this time around as it was clearly not good for the overall airflow in this region of the car.
Meanwhile, the shape and size of the sidepod inlet has been revised, with the boxier design cast aside in favour of a more cylindrical shape. This also improves engine cooling and allows fewer louvres for a given cooling level.
The changes clearly have a bearing on the airflow’s passage around this portion of the car, with the undercut altered quite significantly as a consequence.
This has a knock-on effect on how the tyre wake generated by the front tyre is managed.
Source: Autosport