F1MATHS: How have ground-effect cars evolve over the years?

The current technical regulations were introduced at the start of the 2022 F1 season, but they are slowly give way to another technical era. Before the curtain falls on the current technical era, F1Technical's senior writer Balazs Szabo analyses how cars have evolved over the recent four-year period.

The 2022 F1 season saw an overhaul of the technical regulations. These changes had been planned for introduction in 2021, with teams developing their cars throughout 2020. The introduction of the regulations was delayed until the 2022 championship in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

In fact, the new formula carried the power units over, but the aerodynamics of the cars went through a complete overhaul.

The new regulations reintroduced the use of ground effects for the first time since venturi tunnels under cars were banned in 1983. In addition to the more sophisticated floor, the regulations also aimed at the simplification of the bodywork, making the underside of the car the primary source of aerodynamic grip.

With the changes, F1 had intended to reduce the turbulent air in the wake of the cars to allow drivers to follow each other more closely whilst still maintaining a similar level of downforce compared to previous years.

An important aim was to limit the teams' ability to control airflow around the front wheels and further reduce the cars' aerodynamic wake. As part of it, the bargeboards - the complex aerodynamic devices that manipulate airflow around the body of the car – were eliminated.

In addition, the front wing and endplates have been simplified, reducing the number and complexity of aerodynamic elements. The front wing must also directly connect to the nosecone, unlike pre-2022 designs where the wing could be connected to the nose via supports to create a space under the monocoque, thereby encouraging airflow under the car by way of the wing's larger surface area and the nose's increased height.

Furthermore, the rear wings became wider and mounted higher than in previous years, with additional restrictions in place to limit the teams' ability to use a car's exhaust gases to generate downforce.

But how much have cars evolved and improved over the years? When analysing the performance gains, we take Ferrari’s qualifying results in the last four years into consideration.

The Scuderia have found a 2.195-second improvement when comparing their best lap time from the 2022 and 2025 Hungaroring qualifying. Although the performance gain between 2022 and 2023 was significant, the improvement was even more impressive in the following year.

Understandably, with the technical regulations having arrived in their final season, the gain was less significant over the past twelve months, but it was still remarkable considering that a total revolution set to kick in for 2026, which means that teams have focused on targeted updates for 2025 rather than making big overhauls on their current machines.

As far as Ferrari are considered, the Scuderia have found huge gains in overall downforce over the stretch of the past four year. It led to an increase in top speed, with the SF-25 having produced 3kph more on the main straight of the Hungaroring than the SF-22.

In addition, Ferrari’s current car gained a whopping 13kph in Turn 11 which is the fastest corner of the Mogyoród track. It led to an increase of 12 per cent in lateral acceleration.

It is also worth noting that Ferrari’s 2023 F1 car suffered a loss of around 6kph in Turn 11 compared to what it predecessor achieved. It was partly down to a change in design philosophy as Ferrari had intended to cut drag with its SF-23 after their 2022 F1 car produced incredibly high-speed performance, but suffered down the straights compared to Red Bull’s 2022 F1 machine.