2026 Aerodynamic & Chassis Regulations

[Fakepivot]

could bathtub pod of f-75 make a come back? since there no beamwing

How are the the two related?

im just casual observer and have no expertise in technical stuff. but from some tech talk I had seen or understood as much was the downslope the current side pod was to direct the air to beam wing. since they remove the beam wing i asked if they will go back to bathtub pod. or something similar to 2021 type which was narrow at the end..

[Vappy]

could bathtub pod of f-75 make a come back? since there no beamwing

How are the the two related?

im just casual observer and have no expertise in technical stuff. but from some tech talk I had seen or understood as much was the downslope the current side pod was to direct the air to beam wing. since they remove the beam wing i asked if they will go back to bathtub pod. or something similar to 2021 type which was narrow at the end..

Interesting. I recall it feeding the rear wing and helped with drag? Correct me if i'm wrong ofc

[vorticism]

Skimming through the 2026 regulations, it seems to have some easter eggs. The biggest one may be the changes to wording of the engine cover & louver aperture allowances. They might provide the main visual differentiator of 2026: large unusual louvers. I haven’t seen anyone pick up on this yet, so here's a guess at one possible permutation: sidepod cannons.



In combination with a more typical central cannon outlet, I'd call this a triple cannon arrangement (2 sidepod cannons + 1 central aft cannon). For what it's worth, engine cover symmetry is demanded in the 2026 regulations. A variety of other shapes will be feasible although I think the cannon form maximizes the loophole, hence the illustration. If I can, I’ll post more in the coming days. We’ll see if I’m right in 9 months time. I would image all the teams have caught this already. If not, easter eggs for everyone. Will be interesting to see how long it takes for this to get picked up by motorsport press and pundits.

Overall, the ’26 regs are very restrictive, even more so than the '22 regs, as team personnel have already commented on. I expect all the front & rear wings to have a similar appearance, same as the past 4 seasons, as well as the new ’26 concept specific features such as the inswept barge boards and the diffuser winglet, which have to fit within small bounding boxes and conform to section limits. The main freedom I see for the bargeboards is that the teams can choose the orientation of the slot gaps it's permitted to have. Above I've illustrated horizontal slots, as I think this will be the common choice as it turns the bargeboard into a more typical multi-element wing.

If more, or all, of a sidepod radiator's outflow is released through a louver area in the middle of the car, this will allow the cars to have narrower engine covers after that point, as the full-length internal ducting is reduced or no longer needed. Given the shorter wheelbases in 2026 and resulting shorter engine covers, I think the designers choose this path in order to improve the length:width ratio of the aft region of engine cover.

[clownfish]

Hello everyone, Emomilol_ posted to Reddit a rendering of "2026 regulation Issue 12 with some extreme changes compared to the issue 8 from June 2024 posted by FIA."

I think these are the user's own renderings/interpretation of the regs, so apply the usual caution.

[McLarenHonda]

Rear corner edge floor gaps are back! Basically what Mercedes used during 2014-2020 to seal the floor and make their unique low rake concept work and basically what evaporated their advantage in 2021 when these got cut off…

[mzso]

I still can't get my head around those breakaway side panels. Apparently it's only purpose is to ruin airflow to the rear, by preventing front wheel out-wash.
It gives me the strong feeling that it will be a viable strategy to try and make contact with an opponents wheels at the start to brake them off. And enjoy less drag for the race.

[vorticism]

Skimming through the 2026 regulations, it seems to have some easter eggs. The biggest one may be the changes to wording of the engine cover & louver aperture allowances. They might provide the main visual differentiator of 2026: large unusual louvers. I haven’t seen anyone pick up on this yet, so here's a guess at one possible permutation: sidepod cannons.

https://i.postimg.cc/59YKnhSf/2026louve ... ssmall.jpg
https://twitter.com/athalkunni/status/1 ... 6148342914

Illustrated how to: Establish a bulge in the engine cover which conforms to its regs. From that, form the louver panel per its rules. The changes to the wording of the louver regs should allow for a variety of outlet shapes, including a simple cannon.



https://x.com/athalkunni/status/1943706630698250726

[MIKEY_!]

Looks like an early 2000s "chimney" outlet - the Ferrari F2001/2002/2003 rearwards-facing style, not the mclaren style which faced reawards and upwards. That should go nicely with the 2005-shaped front wing!

Presumably the 2026 rules ban holes visible from above, hence your strictly rearward-facing design?

[Holm86]

[bananapeel23]

I still can't get my head around those breakaway side panels. Apparently it's only purpose is to ruin airflow to the rear, by preventing front wheel out-wash.
It gives me the strong feeling that it will be a viable strategy to try and make contact with an opponents wheels at the start to brake them off. And enjoy less drag for the race.

The teams will find a way to make them useful.

[vorticism]

Skimming through the 2026 regulations, it seems to have some easter eggs. The biggest one may be the changes to wording of the engine cover & louver aperture allowances. They might provide the main visual differentiator of 2026: large unusual louvers. I haven’t seen anyone pick up on this yet, so here's a guess at one possible permutation: sidepod cannons.
https://i.postimg.cc/59YKnhSf/2026louve ... ssmall.jpg
https://twitter.com/athalkunni/status/1 ... 6148342914

Illustrated how to: Establish a bulge in the engine cover which conforms to its regs. From that, form the louver panel per its rules. The changes to the wording of the louver regs should allow for a variety of outlet shapes, including a simple cannon.
https://i.postimg.cc/kGmqGzPM/2026-Louver-Allowance.jpg
https://x.com/athalkunni/status/1943706630698250726

Various options should be feasible, here are six.

Looks like an early 2000s "chimney" outlet - the Ferrari F2001/2002/2003 rearwards-facing style, not the mclaren style which faced reawards and upwards. That should go nicely with the 2005-shaped front wing!

Presumably the 2026 rules ban holes visible from above, hence your strictly rearward-facing design?

So long as no part of the louver is beyond 50mm from the original surface when viewed perpendicular to axis parallel to the longitudinal centerline, and so long as a certain plane (basically the floor plane, bottom of car) is not visible through any part of the louver when viewed from a strictly plan view, then it seems to be fair game. You're right about the rearward facing design of the cannon I proposed, although a true chimney similar to what was seen in the pre-2009 era should also be feasible as long as some legality vanes are present to meet the regs just mentioned.

[mzso]

I still can't get my head around those breakaway side panels. Apparently it's only purpose is to ruin airflow to the rear, by preventing front wheel out-wash.
It gives me the strong feeling that it will be a viable strategy to try and make contact with an opponents wheels at the start to brake them off. And enjoy less drag for the race.

The teams will find a way to make them useful.

In a way that is what I was supposing.

[vorticism]

Another detail that hasn't been picked up yet is the change to the wording of the "coolers" (radiators, heat exchangers) which seem to no longer demand planar or right angle cubical forms, so we might see cylindrically shaped radiator cores, or, less likely, conical cores. No, the main radiators ("primary" heat exchangers) cannot be 3D printed; only "secondary" heat exchangers (air-water intercoolers) are worded freely enough to permit that, which the teams may already be doing, as seems to be the case on the more recent Mercedes power units, for example.