First, it showed that the Liberty Media era of F1 is not afraid to think outside the box and has left nothing out when it comes to ensuring that the Grand Prix cars are as race-worthy as possible.
The 1978 Brabham fan car that Niki Lauda took to victory in the Swedish Grand Prix that year remains an iconic machine and will forever be a talking point due to its uniqueness.
Second, the battle that rule-makers have always faced – crafting regulations that help create a great spectacle – has proven to be one that is unlikely to ever end.
Here we look at the fans’ choice of car and the problems F1 is trying to solve.
The thinking behind a fan car option
News of the fan car emerged at the Autosport International Show last month, when F1 chief technical officer Pat Symonds spoke about how open-minded the sport is about the cars’ future direction.
With the current rules almost set until 2025, plans are underway to do something different for 2026.
Reviewing the work done on potential changes, Symonds said, “When we were studying the ’26 project, we had another blank sheet of paper and we looked at all kinds of things.
“We actually went straight back to a ground effect car to get some idea of where it was best. We were looking at fan cars, all kinds of weird stuff. The ’26 car will be pretty conventional because that’s the way we want it to be. But the following performance may actually be even better than the ’22 cars.”
F1 designers really have a knack for looking to the past for inspiration, so it’s no real surprise that with modern development tools at their disposal, Symonds and the technical working group decided to look at how skirts and fans could be used in the latest era of the ground effect.
Comparison of Lotus 78 and Lotus 79
Photo by: George Piola
Lotus 78 and 79 comparison
Photo by: George Piola
Certainly when we think of ground effect machines we need look no further than the Lotus 79, or ‘the black beauty’ as it was more affectionately known at the time thanks to its stunning black and gold livery.
However, it’s worth remembering that the 79 owes much of its success to its predecessor, given the increasing difficulties that had to be overcome in order for the team to extract performance from the ground-effect venturi tunnels and uses sliding partitions.
Lotus 79 1978 ground effect comparison
Photo by: George Piola
The trials and tribulations of the 78 were actually a good thing for Lotus, as its competitors hadn’t counted on being able to find the level of performance they achieved with the 79. This meant that everyone else was a late adopter and had to catch up.
Thus came the other concept explored by FOM after Brabham rolled out its B-spec BT46, or fan car as it’s better known, at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix and immediately blew away the competition.
The fan sucked the car down to the ground, so the faster it went, the more downforce it had.
Brabham BT46B 1978 fan car detail view
Photo by: George Piola
The BT46B was not only fast, but an ingenious solution to a problem that Brabham had no quick answer to in terms of using ground-effect venturi tunnels.
His problem was that the car was powered by a flatbed Alfa Romeo 12 engine that encroached on the space needed for the tunnels to work.
The performance was so strong that opposing teams were upset. And with pressure mounting on Bernie Ecclestone, who not only owned Brabham but was also head of FOCA (Formula One Constructors’ Association) at the time, the car was withdrawn after just that one outing and win.
Eventually, motor racing’s governing body will go ahead and see fit to ban skid skirts and introduce a minimum ride height, due to safety concerns, as teams continue to look for more performance.
In the 40 years since these concepts were last used in the sport, F1’s technology and safety have improved significantly, so there could be grounds for a return.
But at the end of the day, FOM is only interested in delivering cars that can race – and there are better solutions to enable that to happen.
F1’s historic problem
The key drive is the answer to the age-old problem of dealing with the turbulence created by a leading car and the impact it has on the cars following it.
The sport’s last major attempt to address this was made in 2009, when the complexity of the cars was dramatically reduced compared to their predecessors.
However, while the intentions of this set of rules were great, they weren’t as comprehensive as the plan set for 2021, which was inevitably pushed back to 2022 due to the effects of the pandemic.
Ferrari F60 (660) 2009 front view compared to F2008
Photo by: George Piola
Ferrari F60 (660) 2009 top view compared to F2008 (bottom)
Photo by: George Piola
In 2009, an Outreach Working Group (OWG) was tasked with finding ways to reduce the problem, but did not have the time and resources that FOM had available this time.
This resulted in a steady but rather broad approach that the teams quickly decided to overcome, leading to an erosion of these efforts through both technical and political will.
Another reset of the car’s aerodynamics came with the introduction of the turbo-hybrid powertrains in 2014.
But given the loss of performance compared to the previous era of cars, a knee-jerk reaction ensued, leading to a more aerodynamically powerful setup to be shaped for 2017, with much larger structures on board. one of the key ingredients back in the recipe.
Comparison of Ferrari SF70H and SF16-H top view
Photo by: George Piola
The implications of this change require the governing body to make another course correction, using some of the information already obtained in the 2021/22 project study, to reduce the efficiency of the front and rear wings.
2018 vs 2019 Rules front wing comparison top view
Photo by: George Piola
2018 vs 2019 Rules front wing comparison, bottom view
Photo by: George Piola
This resulted in the removal of the cascades from the front wing, limiting the stripes on the underside of the wing and predominating the number of elements.
Meanwhile, the rear wing louvers, which teams had used for more than a decade to help modify the tip vortex, were also banned, and the wing dimensions were also significantly altered.
2018 vs 2019 rear wing adjustment
Photo by: George Piola
However, the 2022 plan was much more comprehensive, with not only a larger team tasked with redesigning the car’s platform, but also the rules being rewritten from the ground up.
This sought to address some of the inefficiencies created by years of overlapping regulatory changes that often opened the door to loopholes.
To bolster these efforts, changes were also made to the rules of the sport to alter the power dynamics between teams.
And while the current regulations are intended to limit the issues that arise, there is an inevitable point where teams always find ways to reduce these efforts and a new reset will be necessary.
Knowing this, 2026 has been set as the point at which to carry out the operation, which is poignant given that the curtain will also fall on the current crop of turbo-hybrid powertrains that have graced the sport since 2014.
Mercedes PU106 drive unit and Energy Store
Photo by: George Piola