Red Bull surprised Mercedes stuck to F1 car concept that “clearly failed”

After the two squads that fought for the 2021 world titles ended up racing in very different parts of the F1 pecking order at the start of the new ground-effect era, there was much expectation that Mercedes – along with Ferrari – might be able to close the gap to Red Bull’s new position as the championship’s dominator.

Both teams eventually adopted Red Bull’s downwash sidepod concept as the end of the 2023 campaign’s first half…