Simulator findings prompt a rethink on the proposed active aero regulations for 2026.

The findings put the sport under extreme pressure as the deadline for finalising the regulations is in June.

With agreement on the power unit regulations, which will see a further move towards electrification, with a 50/50 split between the ICE and battery, due to the anticipated drop in energy recovery the sport has been looking to move beyond the current DRS and into active aerodynamics

Early simulator tests with an active rear wing - noticeably more effective than DRS - which could alternate between high downforce through corners and low downforce on straights, have revealed worrying issues in terms of the shift of aerodynamic performance.

Indeed, switching between high and low downforce cars were found to spin whilst accelerating in a straight line and extremely unstable in even the slightest of curves.

"The thing is that they (the FIA) didn't think through the full concept at the same time," Red Bull technical director, Pierre Wache told Autosport. "First they defined the engine regulations and now we have to cope with that on the chassis side to compensate for the issue we have."

As a result the FIA is now focussing its research on movable rear wings at the front and rear of the car which would work in conjunction, thereby (hopefully) distributing the overall balance more evenly.

Teams are prevented from working on the 2026 chassis until the start of 2025, however this means that all CFD and wind tunnel work on the 2026 cars will be factored into the 2025 budget cap regulations.

"I think there's been some good progression," said Christian Horner. "I think that the FIA have taken on board some of the feedback and some alterations have been made.

"We're waiting for the chassis regulations, which will be a fundamental part of the 2026 package now and how that interacts with these power units. The various working groups are working hard on that and it's important that we conclude something in the near future."

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READERS COMMENTS

1. Posted by Spindoctor, 12/04/2024 9:37

"@ffracer I take your point, but we can't "uninvent" technologies, much as we might like to.
Active suspension is hardly the work of the devil & doesn't require the genius of Newey, £multi-million wind tunnels, nor the computer-power of AWS to do the CFD calculations.
If we are to continue with ground effect, then Active Suspension will handle issues surrounding "bouncing" & ride-height with aplomb. Active Suspension will not 'de-skill' the driving to anything like the extent that brilliant aero design has done for the last few years....."

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2. Posted by kenji, 12/04/2024 1:30

"@Superbird...At the very least they'd look far nicer but lack real estate for sponsors!! Smaller text I suppose Lol."

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3. Posted by Superbird70, 11/04/2024 13:58

"What would happen if the front and rear wings were just removed? Other than the sponsors whining. Would the air behind be 'cleaner' ? Speeds slower? More passing? Less debris from damaged endplates?"

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4. Posted by kenji, 10/04/2024 23:42

"Despite all the specialists giving us their opinions there are still some areas that are confusing, for me at least. Like, at what distance between two cars does a 'tow' morph into a patch of unstable air thus hindering any passing moves without assistance [DRS ]. No matter how hard the governing bodies try there will always be a large degree of randomness in performance. By all means push the development window but when a team 'sets a car up' in one session and the following session, with absolutely no changes at all to the car, find it performs in a totally different manner...after only minor ambiant temperature variances, one has to question all the effort being put into yet even more changes! Further compounding the issues are the driver variables......I do believe that the FIA are on the right track with engine simplification but the aero needs to be freed up even more from the overly prescriptive regimen currently enforced. Adaptive aero seems to have a certain allure...."

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5. Posted by ffracer, 10/04/2024 18:40

"@stoney: Amen lol

@spindoctor: Please lets not revisit automatic suspension. It was killed in 1993 with good reason. Look at Ayrton Senna driving a violent Lotus 97T to pole and you had fans giggling and strangers hugging. Watch Senna in the Lotus 99T drive to pole in Monaco and it will put you to bed. Now, imagine 20 cars all with the same thing. On top of DRS, do we really this?

We are at a crossroads. I don't want to sound like a fossil but people rave about shrieking V10s or V12s, not the latest aero gimmick. Further, I would rather watch the genius of race driving (currently Verstappen, Hamilton and Alonso) grab a racecar by the scruff of the neck and violently grab pole than watch fully auto aero and automated cars driving around looking only too expensive. The fully automated robotic formula race series is dead. The Lotus 88B twin chassis, Brabham BT46 fancar and auto suspension were banned with good reason (and it should have included shifter paddles). Lets focus on development of biofuels, and follow Sebastian Vettel's great initiative so the V10s and V12s can scream once again with hybrid technology and biofuels to make them earth friendly and efficient, make the floors simple, sturdy with simple twin tunnels, make perimeters of the racecar more simple so the racing isn't compromised anymore by floors missing a complicated trailing edge or front wings making the car undrivable because of a missing, highly sculpted, detailed end plate. Think of 1989 with Ayrton Senna driving possessed around Suzuka setting incredible times despite a front wing askew or Gilles Villeneuve driving countless laps in the Montreal monsoon to third place, almost blind with a bent then no front wing... and I wake up in a cold sweat. "

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6. Posted by stoney, 10/04/2024 13:45

""As a result the FIA is now focussing its research on moveable rear wings at the front ... of the car".

Bring back CAN AM."

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7. Posted by Chester, 10/04/2024 11:04

"Impressive synopsis and analysis, Spindoctor. "

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8. Posted by Spindoctor, 10/04/2024 9:53

"This puts me in mind of how, as we all know: "Your knee bone's connected to your leg bone, your leg bone's connected..."&c. Fiddle with one part of a system & the law of unintended consequences kicks -in big time. Mercedes will tell you about this where every aspect of the aerodynamics & mechanical systems seems to interact, often unpredictable & unexpected ways.

These new (presumably still ground-effect) cars sound like they'll be horribly complex.
Horner, safe in the expectation that Newey will stay on-board, may well be pretty confident of "progress". Others (hello Mercedes) are probably not that keen on a new set of chassis rules based primarily on aerodynamics.

These "moveable surfaces"! will necessarily involve lots of processing power and have zero relevance to real-world cars (not necessarily "bad"). Surely it would be simpler & probably cheaper to revisit Active Suspension, banned when God was a lad, mainly to thwart Williams. "

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Rethink required on 2026 active aero rules

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