Carlos Sainz raised concerns at Monza that the 2023 Formula 1 cars are struggling more to stay close to the leading car due to increased front-end loss compared to the first year of ground-effect F1 cars. Nikolas Tombazis, director of the FIA’s single-seater department, explained to Motorsport Italy that the International Federation is studying changes for 2025. The topic is open to discussion…
Team engineers are working on defining the 2024 cars. Next year, the regulations will remain stable, and we will witness cars that are an evolution of those from this year. After a year of rediscovering ground effects, teams have understood where they need to make performance gains, resulting in significant improvements in Formula 1.
We have observed that the FIA has left certain loopholes in aerodynamic development work, leading to increased performance but affecting a driver’s ability to stay in the slipstream of another car.
Nikolas Tombazis at Monza agreed to discuss these delicate issues: the director of the FIA’s single-seater department outlined a scenario that will bring changes…
“We have the right to act on flexibility when we see something that doesn’t convince us because the regulations state that the cars should be infinitely rigid. In reality, we know it’s not like that, and then there’s the right to apply common sense. The regulations do not allow us to act on anything we don’t like about the cars.”
“There are various aspects of the interpretation of the aerodynamic regulations that don’t satisfy us at the moment, but to change something, you would need to activate the procedures that require broad consensus (eight out of ten teams). Sometimes we have tried to change things, but we have not always achieved the desired result. I believe that 90% of the regulations respond to what we wanted, and there’s a 10% that, in hindsight, we could have done better.”
Carlos Sainz said that in 2022 there were extraordinary cars that allowed those behind to stay in the slipstream, but this year it’s becoming more challenging, and it’s possible that with car developments in the coming years, this aspect will worsen, reducing overtaking opportunities…
“Compared to last year, following the car ahead has become more challenging. In 2022, with the FIA and F1, we did a great job that resulted in exciting and spectacular races, but now things are getting worse, and it will continue to worsen in 2024 and 2025.”
Tombazis is an analytical and rational person. The Greek is aware of what is happening…
“If we look at the 2021 F1 cars, they lost more than 50% of downforce when two lengths behind the car in front. With the 2022 cars, there was only a 20% reduction in downforce, whereas now, we are at about 35%. There has definitely been deterioration, and in this regard, Carlos is right, but we have identified what we need to act on…”
Will you propose any changes for 2024?
“No, we’re running out of time, but we’re studying solutions for 2025. We have identified some parts of the cars to work on, like the side winglets of the front wing or the sides of the floor, rather than some fins inside the wheels. In these areas, we could define somewhat stricter regulations. We no longer have the advantage of 2022, so we know there’s work to be done.”
In the final year before the introduction of the new F1 cars, the FIA will introduce technical regulation changes to facilitate overtaking once again. Designers are trying to move away from turbulence generated by the front wheel movement from the car body, ensuring it doesn’t disrupt the efficiency of the floor. To achieve this, they are looking for vortices that push the airflow outside the rear wheels but may disrupt the slipstream as originally intended in the regulations, making it more challenging to stay close to the car in front. What interventions can we expect for 2025? The discussion is ongoing…
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