The FIA actually decided to cancel ground effect. The 2026 F1 regulations go against the trend compared to the single-seaters that are competing in the 2024 world championship with the rules launched in 2022. In the draft regulation that the International Federation published on the eve of the Canadian GP, reference is made to the desire to reduce the aerodynamic load by approximately 30%, reducing resistance to forward motion by as much as 55%.
FIA 2026 F1 car rendering
Photo by: FIA
Important numbers that are destined to change the technicians’ approach to the new “agile” single-seaters: much has been said and written about the dimensions (200 mm shorter wheelbase and 100 mm less width) and weight with the aim of a saving of 30 kg, but from the rendering released in Montreal by the technical staff directed by Nikolas Tombazis it was not clear the actual extent of the measures.
2024 F1 with Venturi ground effect channels
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
The 2026 F1 with a flat bottom
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
There was generally talk of a return of the flat bottom and a significant reduction of the rear extractor to reduce downforce. The drawings of Giorgio Piolahowever, have the power to make the concept that the FIA intends to carry forward much clearer: on the F1 cars which will enter into gestation from 1 January 2025 (until that date any study in the wind tunnel is prohibited by the regulation, but nothing prevents carry out in-depth preliminary analyzes on the CFD) the Venturi channels will disappear as will the flow diverters and the vortex generators which have the task of pushing the air outside the rear wheels, energizing the low pressure area that goes from the center of the car towards the rear axle.
In yellow are the parts of the bottom of the 2024 F1 models that will disappear with the 2026 rules
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
In fact, this is a total disavowal of the current regulation, given that the rear diffuser will also have a decidedly smaller range, going further back than the regulations of the 20217 cars.
We are not at all surprised by the complaints of those who, like Andrea Stella, McLaren team principal, have emphasized that F1 cars will be too slow in corners and too fast on straights. The attention of the FIA staff was focused on reducing drag to compensate with low forward resistance for the inability of the new power unit to guarantee the necessary energy of the hybrid over the entire lap.
The legislator has passed rules that proportionally reduce the electrical power as the speed increases, in the hope of dividing up the supply of the 350 kW that will be available, but there is a well-founded doubt that the resulting performances will be closer to the current ones. F2 than F1.
Tombazis, aware of the problem, hopes that with the collaboration of the ten teams, the engine manufacturers and the promoter, useful solutions can be launched to overcome the problems even after 28 June, when the FIA World Council should ratify the proposals.
The first logical measure would be to break an element that seemed too ideological and dogmatic: having 50% of the power from the internal combustion engine and the remaining 50% from the hybrid. The idea is to return to a limited prevalence of ICE by increasing the availability of e-fuel.
Comparison between the front wings for 2026 and 2024
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
But it is increasingly clear that aerodynamic corrections will be necessary to facilitate good cornering speed at the expense of some top speed. To allow the 2026 single-seaters to follow each other, shapes have been designed that must not generate vortices: the front wing, for example, will be 1,900 mm (100 less than now).
The beneficial effect will be that small contacts will not cause significant damage because the side flaps will not reach the width of the tyres, the negative effect is that the wing will have a limited capacity to generate load: today there is the main profile plus three flaps, while in 2026 the total elements will be only three, defined in a much smaller volume. Not only that, but thanks to X Mode the two upper profiles, which will be mobile, can be further unloaded whenever the front wheels are straight.
Note the side bulkhead which on the external part was designed with a spoon design: the aim is to eliminate the out wash effect which was limited on the ground effect single-seaters at the beginning of 2022 and which, with the passage of time, it has increasingly been taken to the extreme to the point of the exasperations we see on today’s front wings.
The front wing of the 2006 McLaren MP4-21
Picture of: Giorgio Piola
Wanting to find an analogy between the solutions proposed for 2026 and the shapes of the past, one cannot forget the front wing of the 2006 McLaren MP4-21 with similar concepts. It is a car that, although it was driven by Kimi Raikkonen and Pablo Montoya, did not have great success at the time.
It’s easy to think that the actual single-seaters that will race in two years will be the result of important changes that still have to be discussed…
#Venturi #canals #banned #flat #bottoms
