Max Verstappen has won the Formula one drivers’ title in each the first three years of the current set of FIA regulated ‘ground effect’ cars. He may yet make a clean sweep of it on Sunday before the cars first conceived in 2022 are retired forever.
One of the key reasons for the FIA looking to a style of F1 car design first seen in the late 1970’s was to solve the interminable problem of the ‘dirty air’ which the aerodynamics of an F1creates, which disturbs the aerodynamics of a car following closely behind.
These vortices, which can be seen on the spray thrown up when the track is wet disturb the airflow across a following car, which in turn creates a loss of downforce and in turn damages the tyres of the car behind.
The FIA’s reasoning for the ground effect era
Ground effect cars create downforce underneath the car in the opposite way to how and aircraft creates lift. There the low pressure on top of the wing, creates an airflow underneath the wing which lifts the aeroplane from the ground.
The modern Formula One car creates a low pressure underneath the car by using what are known as Venturi channels, which in turn sucks the car onto the ground increasing cornering speeds in particular.
The goal of the FIA’s new 2022 regulations was to strip some 50% of the downforce from the upper body of the F1 cars and replace it with the ground effect downforce created underneath the floor of the cars.
Yet the project never fully failed to deliver its intended. Initial simulations suggested the loss of downforce for the following car would be reduced at 20 metres distance from 35% to 4% and at 10 metres from 47% to 18% which of course would make it easier to follow more closely without losing grip and damaging the tyres.
The nightmare of “porpoising”
In 2022, following was definitely easier as many of the F1 drivers revealed, but over the course of these regulations and the teams building ever more sophisticated designs, the downforce losses have returned to levels similar to 2021 and so an entire new concept of car is set to hit the circuits next season.
One of the unforeseen problems with the ground effect cars, was that they work more efficiently the closer they run to the ground. There’s an almost invisible air seal around the outer edges of the floor which retains the low pressure underneath the car, but when this is broken the car immediate rises up until the air reattaches itself and the car then squats down once again.
The problem with this effect is that it creates a rapid porpoising like feel to the car, where its bounces even several times a second which is uncomfortable and disorientating for the driver. Further to exploit the ground effect best, the cars must be run will ultra stiff suspension in an effort to keep the air seal in place which then enhances the porpoising effect when it kicks in.
Bumpy circuit are a nightmare for ground effect cars and with F1’s penchant to introduce more and more street races, the bouncing issues are impossible to eradicate. Back in 2022 Mercedes were particularly affected by extreme porpoising and the team pleaded with the FIA to change the regulations to solve this problem.
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One man knew what ground effect would mean
Minimum ride heights were raised during the year and the FIA was called upon to consider the impact of the porpoising on the health of the drivers. And over time the porpoising was predominantly eradicated, and the cars are now only occasionally seen running with the bouncing ground effect.
The team’s all claimed they were taken by surprise by the unforeseen proposing, but any student of motorcading history could have predicted it wold have been an issue. Yet there was one key individual who expected the dreaded porpoising as Adrian Newey recalls one of his earliest experiences of working in F1.
He recalled an incident in F1 testing in 1981 when his technical director, Harvey Postlethwaite attempted a weigh saving measure by replacing the dampers and springs with rubber rubber bumps. Newey retells the story: “I remember Keke Rosberg coming past on the old pit straight at Silverstone and the front wheels are in the air as he came past it’s bouncing so badly, and I think that was a very early lesson that this isn’t just about aero, it’s also the coupling of aero and suspension”.
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Max slams FIA ground effect era
Newey anticipated the bouncing problem on F1’s return to ground effect cars in 2022 and he revealed his input into the Red Bull car that year was primarily focused around the suspension and the front end of the car. When asked why the RB18 appeared not to suffer from the bouncing the rest of the field were experiencing, new replied: “Porpoising, everyone Formula 1 talks about it as if it’s a new thing… It’s a known phenomenon that hasn’t been with the flat-bottomed cars but it’s obviously back with us”.
Now this era of F1 car design is coming to an end, but the effect of the ground effect cars will be felt by the drivers for some time into the future. And despite his immense success in this era, Max Verstappen reveals he will be glad to see the back of the current car designs and that he has suffered medical complications from driving them.
“It hasn’t been comfortable at all, all these years – my whole back is falling apart and my feet always hurt,” claims the world champion. “Physically, it hasn’t been the best. When you do scans, they don’t look good.” he added.
Yet Max is aware there are other sports where the participants suffer far worse than he has. “On the other hand, if you look at motocross, we have nothing to complain about. But if you know what it was or what it could be, I’d rather go for what we had in 2015-2016.”
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FIA claims future cars have softer rides
The FIA’s head of day to day operations, Nikolas Tombazis has responded to Verstappen’s comments made in Las Vegas suggesting the problem will be eradicated in 2026 given the cars will not run as close to the ground. “I think the main issue you’re referring to is the fact that cars have been running very low and very stiff,” he explains.
“That was something that, overall, had not been anticipated in the generation of these current cars. The natural direction of the aerodynamics for next year still favours low-running cars more than high-running cars – but not by the same amount.”
The huge ride height impact on the aerodynamics will be much reduced in 2026 which means the cars will run somewhat further from the ground and with softer suspension which will improve overall the mechanical grip.
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Another aerodynamics solution to the ‘dirty air’
Of course until the cars first hit the track in Barcelona in late January, nobody really knows how the new racing beasts will perform. Further, the impact of the dirty air is as yet unknown, but the FIA have conjured up new ways to deal with those unwanted air vortices, by reducing the width of the from wings which will channel the air inside and underneath the car, rather than around it and onto the front of the car behind.
The rear wing will also be reduced in width and the removal of the ‘beam wing’ will further reduce overall the turbulent air. A much larger diffuser design will replace the downforce lost by the ground effect, meaning the cards can be run much higher.
The FIA have revealed their targeted downforce retention estimates as follows. Following at 20 metres the cars should retain some 90% of their downforce which would be a substantial improvement over the real loss on the 2022 cars reducing to to 80%. Currently the estimate for the 2025 cars is that they retain just 65-80%, so the racing spectacle should be much improved – and the drivers will no longer require the services weekly of a chiropractor.
The madness of Red Bull’s 2026 driver choice
Red Bull have finally announced their driver line up for both F1 teams and its bad news for Yuki Tsunoda who will drop to the role of test and reserve driver for the Racing Bulls and Red Bull.
As was widely expected, Isack Hadjar has been promoted alongside Max Verstappen in the Red Bull car, while Liams Lawson retains his place and alongside him will be Dr. Helmut Marko’s ‘next Max Verstappen’ – Arvid Lindblad of British-Swedish nationality.
Tsunoda can consider himself a victim of circumstances given he was initially slated to race for the Racing Bulls this season and his preseason preparation was in the VCARB-02 car.. READ MORE
A.J. Hunt is Senior Editor at TJ13, where Andrew oversees editorial standards and contributes to the site’s Formula 1 coverage. A career journalist with experience in both print and digital sports media, Andrew trained in investigative journalism and has written for a range of European sports outlets.
At TJ13, Andrew plays a central role in shaping the site’s output, working across breaking news, analysis, and long-form features. Andrew’s responsibilities include fact-checking, refining editorial structure, and ensuring consistency in reporting across a fast-moving news cycle.
Andrew’s work focuses particularly on the intersection of Formula 1 politics, regulation, and team strategy. Andrew closely follows developments involving the FIA, team leadership, and driver market dynamics, helping to provide context behind the sport’s biggest stories.
With experience covering multiple seasons of Formula 1’s modern hybrid era, Andrew has developed a detailed understanding of how regulatory changes and competitive shifts influence the grid. Andrew’s editorial approach prioritises clarity and context, aiming to help readers navigate complex developments within the sport.
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