Overview
- FIA single-seater director Nikolas Tombazis said attempts to tighten rules during the 2022–2025 cycle failed because not enough teams supported the changes.
- He identified front wing endplates, front-wheel drum furniture, and floor-edge designs as permissive areas that teams used to generate outwash.
- Those developments increased turbulent wake and made following harder than in early 2022, when close racing had initially improved.
- Tombazis rated the cycle a partial success, crediting financial regulations and the cost cap with stabilizing the championship despite enforcement complexity.
- Reducing outwash is a priority of the 2026 rules, with the FIA expressing confidence in improvements that will only be confirmed once the new cars race.