Mercedes have no plan B, should the current concept of the W14 prove not to work. Rumours to that effect have been denied by technical director Mike Elliott. However, a significant update is on the way.
Mercedes have always denied that the zero sidepod concept was the cause of all the problems that occurred with the problematic W13. The successor to that car has therefore partly stuck to that concept, although there can no longer really be talk of the 'lack' of sidepods.
No plan B for Mercedes
Team boss Toto Wolff already hinted during the winter test in Bahrain about the sidepods, which would be subject to change. Sky Sports even suggested that a 'plan B' design would be ready, similar to the one Aston Martin introduced in Barcelona last year. According to Elliott, however, there is no such thing.
"So there is a bodywork [update] coming and it will look different. It won’t look like somebody else’s, it will look like an evolution of ours," explains Mercedes' technical director. Asked if the team then really does not have another concept like Red Bull Racing's ready to which it could switch at some point, Elliott also replied in the negative: "It’s not in our current plans."