The last meeting of the F1 Commission brought several important decisions towards future development and testing. The new rules for 2026 are still not known officially, but the International Automobile Federation, in cooperation with the teams, is already taking steps towards preparing for the new era of Formula 1.
Similar to before 2022, before the start of the 2026 season, teams will only be allowed one year of wind tunnel and CFD development. By changing the rules of the sport, the International Automobile Federation officially banned the development of new single-seaters before January 1, 2025.
The portal Motorsport.com aptly reminds that even though the new technical rules for 2026 and the following are not yet finalized and no one knows their official form, the teams already have a pretty good idea of the new single-seaters. In an effort to even out everyone’s chances and prevent the 2024 and 2025 seasons from being completely “written off”, the decision was made that the single-seaters for 2026 may only be developed in the wind tunnel and on CFD from January 1, 2025.
“From 01/12/2023 to 01/01/2025 inclusive, wind tunnel testing may only be carried out using a scale model that substantially complies with the 2023, 2024 or 2025 F1 technical regulations.” they state the new technical rules. A similar formulation appeared in the case of CFD testing.
To be complete, teams have to do preliminary research and development of new single-seaters. Something like this is not against the rules, and the ban applies “only” to development in the wind tunnel and on CFD, which are, however, key tools for verifying the functionality of the chosen solutions.
Fans will probably be pleased with other changes. The FIA has officially canceled the alternative tire allocation in the new technical rules. You probably remember well how Pirelli brought only eleven sets of fresh tires to Hungary for each pilot instead of the usual thirteen. This decision meant that there was almost no driving in free practice sessions. The governing body thus probably concluded that it was a failure.
In addition, the number of days set aside for tire testing has been increased from 35 to 40, and the requirement that this testing only take place between the first race and December 15 has been removed. Four days of tests were specifically allocated to the FIA project, the aim of which is to reduce water splash behind the single-seater. The testing of the first prototype “fenders” in July at Silverstone ended in a major failure and the federation is currently looking for new solutions.
2023-12-09 01:18:46
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