Red Bull F1 sidepod test showed “substantial” loss of downforce

The huge leap forward that McLaren has made with its Austrian and British GP package, which was inspired by both Red Bull and Aston Martin sidepod ideas, has left rivals pondering if they too need to make a dramatic change of direction. 

And while Mercedes has long insisted that sidepod and bodywork tweaks are not a key performance differentiator, rivals are clearly seeing good gains coming from changes in this area. 

Mercedes did move towards a more Red Bull-style…