Mercedes boss Toto Wolff is convinced his team's new 2022 car is legal despite doubts surrounding its sidepods, or lack thereof.
The Austrian quickly moved to cool any fears the upgraded W13 didn't meet the regulations set by F1 after Mercedes came under scrutiny in Bahrain.
On the first day of the second round of pre-season testing in Bahrain, the Silver Arrows' car did not feature any sidepods.
This is a very different approach to the cars put forward by other rivals, especially arch rivals Red Bull whose car does feature sidepods.
Mercedes' shape of car was very different to the W13 model which fans witnessed in Barcelona during the first round of testing - with the bodywork in Bahrain very narrow.
Red Bull team principal Christian Horner appeared to spark the mind games with his arch rivals already ahead of the new season, and was left frustrated by Mercedes' changes.
Horner was supposedly quoted by German publication Auto Motor und Sport as saying that Mercedes' upgraded car is ‘against the spirit’ of the rules. He even questioned the legitimacy of their car, a suggestion which was shut down by the reigning constructors' champions.
Red Bull later, however, released a statement denying that Horner made those claims.
And Wolff also addressed the situation, dismissing suggestions that the car contradicts the 2022 rules.
"The process is very clear," Wolff said.
"When you go in a specific development direction, having the FIA a part of scrutinising it - you are exchanging data and you’re making them part of the process.
"It’s clear that sometimes when you come with an innovation it creates the kind of debate that we’re having here. That’s why that was expected."
"We have the new governance with the super majority that’s needed," he added.
"My opinion is that I would have preferred to stay with the old system, that if a team comes up with an innovation, you possibly can’t take it off the car if it’s compliant with the regulations.
"The FIA and F1 will for sure handle it with diligence and in the spirit of the sport.
"We were keen on not running alone with it, but being in touch with the FIA also, and that’s why I think it will be ok."
While Red Bull denied Horner made the Mercedes comments, the Red Bull boss also refuted the initial report while speaking to Sky Sports F1 too.
"I was slightly surprised to be reading comments I’m supposed to have been making, but there we go," the 48-year-old said.
"I haven’t paid a great deal of attention to [the Mercedes]. It’s obviously a fairly different concept, but that’s for the designer guys and aerodynamicists to get into."
On an eventful first day of testing in Bahrain, Alpha Tauri’s Pierre Gasly topped the leaderboard, while the Ferrari contingent of Carlos Sainz and Charles Leclerc finished second and third respectively, building on their impressive outing in Barcelona last month.
Lewis Hamilton was down in 11th, while defending champion Max Verstappen did not post a time.
In reference to the speculation surrounding Mercedes’ car, the Dutchman said he is not concerned and is only focusing on what he can control.
"I’m not concerned," Verstappen said. "We can only focus on ourselves, I said this so many times last year and that’s what we’ve got to do again this year.
"Even if the car looks different, there are so many unknown things still that we need to learn about. So I’m not worried at all."
