Is outwash truly banned by the FIA for the 2026 F1 season? This was certainly the intention of the legislative body directed by Nikolas Tombazis. However, the teams have not abandoned the idea of reproducing this effect, at least in part, by working on the front wing to create advantages in managing wake turbulence. By closely reading the regulations, a method emerges that teams have undoubtedly been refining. Let’s look at where and how.
Recent deep dives into the FIA’s regulatory framework show how the federation has shaped the rules to curb the outwash phenomenon generated by the front wing. The intent of the 2026 legislative body was clearly to force Formula 1 teams to seek performance advantages by favoring “in-wash” flows.
In other words, the goal is to channel air internally relative to the front tire, at the expense of the external solution. However, it is highly likely that teams have poured immense effort into studying geometric shapes and methodologies to emulate the aerodynamic efficiency of the previous generation of cars. Through recent analysis, we can draw some fascinating conclusions.
We refer specifically to the words of Andrew Shovlin, Mercedes‘ Engineering Director, who offered significant insights in this regard. He asserted that with the introduction of the 2022 ground-effect rules, teams underestimated the challenge and did not work hard enough to transfer the strengths of the previous era’s cars—something that could have been very useful. It is a mistake they do not intend to repeat.
F1 2026: The catch with which the FIA hopes to thwart team engineers
It is precisely because of this that the desire of the teams to interpret the 2026 regulatory text to replicate the technical benefits of the recent past emerges crystal clear. This aspect represents a crucial junction. This situation leads us to believe it is plausible that, from the very first laps of the new Formula 1 cars, we will see solutions of notable interest on the front wings.
Replicating the outwash effect—an exercise Ferrari is also pursuing within the sidepods—is far from trivial. The design of the entire endplate complex, which includes dive-planes and footplates, is subject to multiple constraints. It is within these restrictions that design ingenuity must flourish. Without getting into excessive technicalities, the surface of the endplate must remain confined within a specific reference volume.
In practical terms, the regulations impose very large minimum curvature radii for the surfaces, preventing the creation of sharp edges or secondary “flick” wings that easily generated vortices. This element carries a clear implication: if team engineers wish to give a curvature to the endplate, it must necessarily assume a much “softer” profile compared to the recent past.
F1 2026: Where and how teams can work to reproduce outwash
In other words, designers are precluded from drastically twisting the surface outward. Because the reference volume of the element is placed in a very inboard position, the ideal move to generate outwash would be to sharply angle its surface; since this is impossible, they attempt to recreate a similar effect by skillfully modulating the pressure gradients of the fluid on the two faces.
The area that seems to offer the widest margins for favoring outwash is the footplate. This, too, is naturally defined geometrically within a certain reference volume and, viewed from below, must respect a curvature of no less than 50 mm. Although this radius is considerable, it is still possible to profile a channel that orients the flow outward or interacts with the “tire squish.”
This terminology identifies the vortex generated laterally to the tire: air, dragged downward by the rolling of the rubber, meets the asphalt and is forced to “spill out” at the sides. In principle, the objective is to mitigate this phenomenon by inducing an opposing rotation vortex, the management of which requires extremely sophisticated calculation methodologies. We will see what the teams are capable of…
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