F1’s governing body, the FIA, has confessed that there’s no turning back for the 2022 ‘ground effect’ regulations, potentially leaving fans disappointed about a return to the days when overtaking was a rarity. FIA’s technical guru, Nikolas Tombazis, spilled the beans on the issue, admitting that overtaking has become a challenging task due to increased turbulence caused by the cars.
“Overtaking has become more difficult because the cars are putting out more bad air to the rear,” Tombazis revealed to Auto Motor und Sport.
While the intention of the new rules was to encourage thrilling wheel-to-wheel action, it seems the teams have found ways to exploit the aerodynamic regulations.
“We didn’t close some loopholes quickly enough, especially in the area of the front wing endplate and the front brake scoops,” confessed Tombazis. “But the turbulence is still significantly less bad than was the case with the 2021 cars.”
However, don’t hold your breath for immediate changes. Tombazis dropped the bombshell that the FIA won’t attempt to close these loopholes now, with just two more seasons to go until the all-new rules debut in 2026.
“Closing the loopholes would mean going through the entire decision-making process again. It’s too late for that. We can only do better for 2026,” he firmly stated.
The disappointment doesn’t end there. The hopes of making the racing better by standardizing the floor of the cars have also been dashed.
“We didn’t get enough support from the teams for that,” Tombazis lamented. “But it will be simplified for 2026.”
