Mercedes technical director Mike Elliot admits that the German team could give up on its zero-sidepod philosophy, but not yet.

The team opted to stick with the concept despite widespread speculation that it played a significant part in the team's struggles last year, something denied by Toto Wolff who has constantly argued that the philosophy was not the main factor in the porpoising issues that plagued Mercedes for much of the season.

However, technical director, Mike Elliot has admitted that a new approach is in the pipeline but that the team will not be following Red Bull's example.

"That's not in our current plans," said Elliot. "In competition terms, hopefully we're back but I think we have to be humble, we have to remember we've got good competition.

"If we made a step forward and got closer to the front, then we're back in it," he added. "And if we can develop over the course of the season, then hopefully we can fight for the championship."

"There's bodywork coming and it will look different. It won't look like someone else's car, it will look like an evolution of ours. That's on its way."

"The sidepods will change," said Wolff, "not soon, but we are looking at solutions."

Previously, Wolff has said he was "proud" of the solutions put into the W13, insisting that the zero-sidepods concept was not "fundamentally the reason it didn't perform".

"It's not that we don't want to follow anybody's idea.," he said of the Red Bull concept. "We stayed with the narrow sidepod, but you could see developments which could come with upgrades. It is not a core, fundamental part of performance.

"Like Mike said at the launch, if you want to change a concept completely, then you're making not one step back, but probably two or three, and that's why we stayed where we are."