FIA considered mid-cycle rule change, but lacked support from F1 teams

With the 2025 Formula 1 title decider in Abu Dhabi, the regulatory cycle of the ground-effect cars has come to an end. The regulations introduced in 2022 had three aims: improving racing by allowing drivers to follow each other more closely, closing up the field, and creating a sustainable championship – also financially.

As Nikolas Tombazis, FIA’s single-seaters director, looks back, his assessment is twofold: yes, overall things have gone in the right direction, but it hasn’t been good enough in all areas.

“I think we've made a significant step in the right direction on most of these aims, but I certainly wouldn't claim total success on everything, so I wouldn't give us an A star. I would give us a B or a C, or something like that,” Tombazis told select media, including Autosport.

The areas that have gone well relate mainly to the financial sustainability of F1. Tombazis acknowledges that the cost cap has made regulating the series much harder for the FIA - due to its complexity - but that it has made F1 much more stable and healthier than before. “I would certainly say that we cannot even imagine not having the financial regulations now. So I think that has been a success,” the Greekman added.

As for improving the racing itself, the picture is slightly different. “The technical side, I think yes, definitely cars did get to a point where they could race each other more closely,” said Tombazis, referring to 2022 and 2023.

“Where we don't give ourselves full marks, is that there were a few, I wouldn't quite call them loopholes, but there were certainly some areas of the regulations that were a bit too permissible let's say. And that enabled teams to adopt solutions which created outwash.”

Nikolas Tombazis, FIA Single Seater Director

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Asked which areas this relates to specifically, Tombazis clarified: “The main areas were first of all the front wing endplate. The front wing endplate was originally planned to be a very inwashing device. And gradually, all the ruling to do with how the profiles go around and join into the endplate, that was not tight enough. It led to profiles being quite outwashing in that area and creating a lot of outwash.

“The other area where they exploited a lot was the drum design of the front wheel, the furniture on the inside of the front wheel. And I would also say the edges of the floor were in that category. These were the main areas of performance deterioration from the intent of the rules.”

Not enough support to change the rules for 2024 or 2025

Together, these things created more dirty air and made following much more difficult than in early 2022, when the on-track action was still satisfactory for the FIA. When asked whether the governing body had considered changing the regulations during the past cycle, Tombazis acknowledged that the idea was indeed discussed.

“These areas I mentioned, it's not like that is something new today. It was also the case two years ago. Why we didn't [change the rules]? Well, we tried, but we didn't have enough support among the teams,” he said. 

“It needs governance to change regulations during a cycle - and therefore it means that a large number of teams need to support certain changes. It's not just us wanting to do something.”

For next year, however, Tombazis believes dirty air will be a less significant factor, as it has again been a key focus of the new regulations. “The outwash, we obviously believe that it will be better, but let's have this discussion in two years and hopefully we will tell you that it was all OK and we will be all smiling,” he concluded.