Mercedes rarely gets it wrong: 'This is another huge innovation'

Jolyon Palmer thinks Mercedes' competitors can get their act together. The former Formula One driver argued that Mercedes rarely gets an innovation wrong, so he believes the W13 without sidepods also has a chance to succeed.

The first day of the winter test in Bahrain has begun and on Thursday morning the main focus was on Mercedes. The renewed W13 of the German team drew a lot of attention because the side pods were very narrow. The rumours about a major update of Lewis Hamilton's team proved to be true.

"My gut reaction is they [Mercedes] rarely get these big innovations wrong. a couple of years ago, DAS was spotted in pre-season testing and it was a clever little device on the front axel to warm the tyres. This is a complete innovation again, people call this the zeropod because there is no side pod, it's shaved down. Mercedes going with something so innovative, look at it, it's just so sculpted behind the front wheels. There is pretty much no sidepod," Palmer told Sky Sports.

"Everyone else down the pit lane, in the paddock and back at the factories will be looking at this and thinking have we missed something big here? Cooling for that must be a real mission, but they must feel comfortable with it. They'll found out here in the best way because it's very hot," Palmer concluded.

There has also already been a lot of fuss caused by the new W13, as Christian Horner stated on Thursday morning that some parts of the German car are illegal. According to the Red Bull Racing team boss, it's against the spirit of the new regulations and so the protesting against each other's cars can already almost begin.