P1racenews AI automatic summary:
FIA will wait until 2026 to act on F1’s outwash ‘loopholes’
The move to the current ground-effect rules in F1 in 2022 aimed to allow cars to follow closely to each other, reducing the loss of downforce for pursuing cars caused by wake disturbance. However, teams have found ways to maximize outwash characteristics, particularly through clever design of the front wings, resulting in the 2023 cars being harder to follow than their 2022 counterparts. Initially, there were considerations for rule changes in 2025, but it is now likely that measures to address the issue will wait until the next rules era in 2026. The wake has worsened this year due to certain areas of the car, such as the front wing endplates, wheel furniture, and brake ducts, where loopholes were not closed soon enough. However, the overall wake is still better than in 2021. It is expected that the downforce loss when following closely will stabilize and not worsen for the next year.
