Red Bull chief Adrian Newey found one new Mercedes part very ‘interesting’

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Red Bull chief technical officer Adrian Newey has called the new Mercedes car ‘interesting’ and now we may know what he was specifically referring to.

Of all the teams on the grid, it appears as though Red Bull have moved the furthest away from their previous design despite its unrivalled success in 2023.

Writing on the BBC Sport website, journalist Andrew Benson has provided more details on the 65-year-old’s intrigue about one of Red Bull’s closest rivals.

Newey found one specific Mercedes part interesting

While Formula 1 launch season is always an exciting time, it sometimes raises more questions than it answers.

Until the cars hit the track on Wednesday for pre-season testing in Bahrain – and even that might not be a final representation of what will be on the grid for the season opener – it’s impossible to know just how much each car has changed.

Every team takes inspiration from their rivals when developing their cars, and it’s no surprise that the grid will look a lot more similar to last year’s RB19 than ever before.

However, Red Bull themselves have moved slightly away from their previous design, and it appears as though Adrian Newey has found one aspect of the Mercedes particularly interesting.

They’ve already moved towards the Silver Arrows’s sidepod design which has confused some experts.

Damon Hill has even reacted to the news that they could put their own take on the ‘zeropod’ design this season.

However, it’s another part of the Mercedes car that may end up attracting plenty of attention.

Teams still experimenting with designs despite lack of regulation change

Writing in his BBC Sport column, Benson said: “The Red Bull is not the only new car drawing attention. [Adrian] Newey said at his car’s launch that there was an innovation on the Mercedes that he found “interesting” although he would not reveal what it was.

“The suspicion is that he was referring to the front wing design.”

There has been talk that teams are unhappy with Mercedes’s new front wing heading into this season.

It’s likely the reason why Newey found it so interesting, however, journalist Victor Abad believes that the FIA have cleared the Mercedes part.

He said: “Reports from Italy report that the FIA has given the go-ahead for Mercedes’ risky wing.

“By means of this thin carbon “cable”, the Germans have managed to avoid the FIA considering that the wing is not attached to the nose. It complies with the rule, but not with its “spirit”.”

Formula 1 is all about pushing the boundaries of the rules and finding loopholes, something Newey is no stranger to doing.

It will be interesting to see how Mercedes fare in testing and whether their new wing is replicated across the grid.