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“Ugly, isn’t it?”– Max Verstappen reacts to new W13 design revealed in Bahrain

Tanish Chachra
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"Ugly, isn't it?"– Max Verstappen reacts to new W13 design revealed in Bahrain

Max Verstappen calls Mercedes’ new car ugly when asked about their new radical design, which has caused a massive stir since its appearance.

Mercedes aroused eyeballs when they appeared in Bahrain with their “sidepodless” design. Though the media caused the maximum hype, hardly any team has objected to the innovation so far.

But it was projected like Red Bull had a problem with their rivals’ work. The Milton-Keynes-based team clarified that they had not expressed anything similar to the reports suggested.

But on the first day in Bahrain testing, Verstappen was asked about the designs. While speaking to the media, the Dutchman said” “Ugly, isn’t it?”

Apart from that, Verstappen claims that he is not affected by the hype around the designs submitted by Mercedes. Instead, he is more focused on his team and wants to work on the areas they feel requires attention to have a successful season ahead.

Also read: Former F1 driver warns Max Verstappen that Lewis Hamilton will destroy him in the 2022 season

What advantage does Mercedes hold with their new design?

The sidepods in an F1 car are intended to guide air inside cars to provide cooling for the engine. The new sidepod design by Mercedes aims to maximize the effect and increase the downforce effect.

“It’s to accelerate the air as much as you can around the area on top of the diffuser, in order to make that ground effect absolutely as powerful as possible to push the car to the ground,” explained Ted Kravitz.

“I’m sure Red Bull are thinking, what is the benefit of that compared to ours?” said Ted. “Do we have to worry about this?”

Max Verstappen believes there is more to F1 this season

Verstappen was asked if Lewis Hamilton is the competitor to beat this year on the first day of Bahrain testing. In response, the Dutchman said that this year it is more than just hamilton.

He argues that Ferrari is also having a solid pre-season and could turn out to be a threat to his objective for 2022. Though, Ferrari is avoiding the idea of competing against Mercedes and Red Bull this year.

For them, their involvement in the title race wouldn’t be as extensive as assumed. However, they see regular podium appearances this year as a realistic target for them. It only remains to be seen how for the Prancing horses go this year.

Also read: Max Verstappen reveals the messages he exchanged with Michael Masi following his sacking

About the author

Tanish Chachra

Tanish Chachra

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Tanish Chachra is the Motorsport editor at The SportsRush. He saw his first race when F1 visited India in 2011, and since then, his romance with the sport has been seasonal until he took up this role in 2020. Reigniting F1's coverage on this site, Tanish has fallen in love with the sport all over again. He loves Kimi Raikkonen and sees a future world champion in Oscar Piastri. Away from us, he loves to snuggle inside his books.

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