Look at an F1 car from above and you’ll see two big sculpted shapes flanking the driver — those are the sidepods. They’re not just bodywork: they’re some of the most important pieces of the car’s design, and the area where teams love to flex their creativity.
What they are
- The large bodywork sections on either side of the cockpit.
- Contain radiators, cooling systems, and electronics that keep the hybrid power unit alive.
- Double up as aerodynamic structures, shaping how air flows to the rear wing and diffuser.
Why they matter
- Cooling: F1 engines and batteries run brutally hot. Sidepods house the cooling inlets that stop everything from melting.
- Aero performance: The external shape of the sidepods directs airflow around the car. Tiny changes here can mean tenths of a second.
- Safety: Sidepods provide crash protection, with energy-absorbing structures designed to shield the driver in side impacts.
Design wars
- In 2022, Mercedes shocked the grid with its “zero sidepod” concept — ultra-slim, radical, and controversial.
- Red Bull went the opposite way, creating deep undercuts and sculpted pods that became the blueprint for most teams by 2023–24.
- By 2025, almost everyone has converged on Red Bull’s style — proving that sidepods are one of the key battlegrounds of car design.
The drivertalk take
Sidepods are the perfect F1 symbol: part radiator box, part crash structure, part sculpted aero art. They’re ugly when they don’t work, gorgeous when they do, and they can make or break a season’s championship fight. Forget wings — the sidepods are where modern F1 cars really breathe.
