How the key F1 technical battlegrounds shape up for 2025

This year will be an unusual one for Formula 1 development. The introduction of a new power unit for 2026, as well as a significantly different set of chassis and aerodynamic regulations, makes the decision path for development programmes more difficult than ever.

In preparation for this, the FIA has kept the regulation changes for 2025 to a minimum, thereby enabling teams to minimise the work needed on 2025 development while concentrating on the 2026 project. In some ways this is similar to 2021 when, due to COVID restrictions, the FIA mandated a token system for chassis development while allowing free rein to aero development within the bounds of the existing Aerodynamic Testing Restrictions (ATR).

While the 2022 car was significantly different, it retained a power unit that was largely frozen in design and operation. In spite of the enormity of the changes required for 2022, in general, teams still made full use of their development tokens to introduce significant upgrades, with better-resourced squads taking on more ambitious projects. Ferrari, for example, introduced a new gearbox and rear suspension. At the other end of the scale, the only changes Haas made were aerodynamic.

I expect a similar pattern to be followed in 2025. Unless a team has identified a fundamental problem or a design feature that is limiting development in a particular direction, they will mainly leave the non-aerodynamic components alone. Development will be largely based on aerodynamics and this is likely to be concentrated on floor upgrades. Floor edge detail and strake refinement seem to be where most performance was found in 2024 and this will undoubtedly continue.

However, aerodynamics is a holistic subject, and it is rare that a component can be developed in isolation. Each change impacts the flow field of components around it and we will therefore see attention paid to front wing detail, suspension fairings and rear brake duct furniture. In addition, the spectre of aeroelasticity has not been put to bed with the 2026 regulations – something that could have easily been mitigated had a fully adjustable front wing been allowed. Therefore, we will continue to see the provocative concentration on pushing flexibility of components as far as the regulations allow to achieve acceptable balance between high- and low-speed handling characteristics.

Flexible wings have kept teams and the FIA on their toes in this rules era

Photo by: Dom Romney / Motorsport Images

That said, there is an elephant in the room when it comes to aerodynamic development. With the rules relatively stable since 2022, the rate of development has reduced significantly. In other words, the gain in performance per wind tunnel run or CFD simulation has started to flatten out. Conversely, the development expected from the 2026 regulations is very steep. Each technical director has this conundrum of how much time to devote to each project bearing in mind each team also has a variable amount of development resource permitted under the ATR regime. This is variable depending on past performance and, under the current rules, the more successful teams have less time allocated to development.

When I was last in this position, at Williams in 2016, I made a conscious decision that we would undertake three projects devoted to 2016 mid-season upgrades and the rest of our work would centre on the new regulations for 2017, which featured a wider car with larger tyres and significantly different wing and underbody regulations. That time the upgrades were not as successful as I would have wished and, as a result, we lost ground in the constructors’ championship. On the upside, the 2017 car launched in a relatively competitive state.

There is an elephant in the room when it comes to aerodynamic development. With the rules relatively stable since 2022, the rate of development has reduced significantly

While it is all very well to dictate such a regime early in the year, as the season develops the fight for positions in the constructors’ championship becomes clearer and this can lead to a change of emphasis. With each position in the final championship table worth millions of pounds, a close-fought contest can tempt a team to divert attention from the 2026 project towards a flurry of activity to bring new components to the car for the final races of the 2025 season. Of course, allowing for the full-scale design and production processes, this would dictate the aerodynamic work taking place by late September, just at the time when the 2026 project is at its most productive in the wind tunnel and the final positions in the championship are not only difficult to determine but can also be completely overshadowed by a single freak result.

So, while 2025 will perhaps not see revolutionary development, it doesn’t detract from the intrigue that surrounds those small evolutionary developments that are an intrinsic part of the technical race that F1 embodies so ably.

Can a team steal a technical march on the rest of the field in 2025 before the rules reset?

Photo by: Simon Galloway / Motorsport Images