How the Azerbaijan GP exposes the failure of the F1 ground effect era. The Baku Grand Prix highlighted once again the problems of Formula 1’s ground effect era.

F1 Baku: yet another failure of the ground effect era

The Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku, a circuit known for its long straights, delivered very few overtakes and reignited the debate about the current technical regulations. What was meant to be a new golden era for Formula 1 is increasingly seen as a failure.

Uninspiring races over the last few seasons have often left fans wondering whether the ground effect regulation era has truly been a success. The most recent rounds at Monza and Baku, both tracks where long straights should have guaranteed plenty of action and overtaking, instead disappointed with processional races that lacked excitement.

The problems linked to the technical rules introduced in 2022 have been widely discussed and are by no means new. Initially, most criticism was about the difficulty cars had in following each other through corners without losing significant time. Now, however, the issue has extended to the straights as well, where even the DRS has lost much of its effectiveness.

The grey areas of the regulation encouraged engineers to push the limits, creating systems capable of reproducing exactly what the 2022 overhaul aimed to eliminate: aerodynamic vortices. With increasingly sophisticated appendages and impressive car evolution, teams have shifted their approach to setups. After four years of development, the cars now generate so much downforce from the floor that teams can afford to run with ever-smaller wings, nullifying much of the impact of DRS.

A regulation that failed, even if the FIA could not predict everything

Mercedes engineer Andrew Shovlin summed up the problem: “With these rules, since most of the performance comes from the floor, the rear wings have become smaller and smaller. What used to be considered a Monaco wing has practically disappeared everywhere. In the past you would use it in Budapest or Mexico. Today everyone is using smaller wings, which generate less turbulence and reduce the slipstream effect. And with smaller wings, DRS is also less effective. At Monza, for example, the DRS effect is almost negligible because the wing is already so efficient in high-downforce configuration that there’s very little drag left to shed.”

All of this has led to what can be described as the failure of a technical regulation that had set out to achieve the exact opposite. While it was impossible for the FIA to anticipate every development scenario, underestimating the ingenuity of Formula 1 designers has clearly been a mistake.

The issue of on-track spectacle is a complex one, and the FIA’s next attempt to address it will come with the 2026 regulations. These will introduce active aerodynamics and an extra engine power boost designed specifically for overtaking.

Fans have not warmly welcomed overtakes made artificially more dramatic, but it is still too early to pass final judgment. What remains undeniable is that Formula 1 has been struggling with a lack of excitement on track for far too many years, and at the very least the FIA’s willingness to intervene must be acknowledged.