Williams Formula 1 team principal James Vowles has insisted that the sport’s current ground effect regulations are not a failure despite drivers facing increasing difficulty circulating in traffic.
The current regulations, introduced in 2022, sought to make it easier for drivers to follow each other in dirty air, thereby making overtaking opportunities easier to come by.
While that had initially been the case, three years of developments and upgrades have contributed to growing driver complaints of difficulty following in the wake of those ahead.
F1’s next regulation reset is due to commence in 2026. While the specifics are yet to be confirmed, dirty air and current overtaking struggles are to be addressed.
Recently, Mercedes Technical Director James Allison said that he believed F1’s most recent attempt to control dirty air through regulation changes had been ‘tested to destruction’.
However, asked for his opinion on the matter, Williams team principal James Vowles disagreed with his former colleague, saying: “I don’t think the regulations have failed.
“I think that would be wholeheartedly unfair. I think the competition is pretty tight in the midfield. There is overtaking that takes place.
“I think even on the data that we can see now, it’s still better than the ‘21, ‘20 generations of cars. But especially the leading pack have developed the car in an extraordinary way that as you develop downforce, it is making it harder to follow,” he explained.
“But I still think on all the metrics and all the data we can see, you’re now getting closer than you were before as a result of things, which was an intention behind it.
“Whether they will improve in ‘25, no, I don’t think so. There’s no reason to think it will improve next year. And in ‘26, again, the rules are still being ratified as we speak, so it’s hard to evaluate that.”
Aston Martin team principal Mike Krack agreed with his Williams counterpart, adding: “I think the regulations are not a fail at all.
“I think it has allowed various designs from the beginning, then obviously a dominance that none of us want, but that’s a fact.”
The return to ground effect machinery has seen Red Bull and Max Verstappen emerge as a dominant force in F1, breaking record after record en route to a third title for the Dutchman in 2023.
“All in all, I think we have one more year to go,” Krack continued. “And then we welcome the new [regulations]. As James said, they’re not 100% fixed yet, and we look forward to them.
“But honestly, I think the current regulations are well done and well made, and we have had great racing behind one team.
“I think the target is to have the first set of regulations by the end of June and then we will move from there.
“Probably they will not be complete or fully complete, but I think it’s important to have regulations early because it’s really a big change for everybody.
“And so we need to see how is the weight target, how is the architecture of the car? What is the tyre size? A lot is still being discussed. So we should not delay too much.”
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