Exhaust flap: Ferrari’s intuition and its replicas
In the last week of testing, one of the innovations of the Ferrari SF-26 that had caught attention was the introduction of a flap in front of the exhaust outlet. The Maranello technicians were careful to be the first to explore an area that until 2025 banned aerodynamic appendages, indicating a potential development area that all other teams immediately scrutinized with a magnifying glass.
Rob Marshall, McLaren’s technical director, did not hide his intention to follow the Prancing Horse’s path: “They developed an interesting solution with the exhaust outlet, which everyone looked at closely. It looks promising.”
Read more Alonso and the Aston Martin disaster: “We will not have improvements until after the summer”
The solution devised by Ferrari, a sort of small winglet, a flap, which interacts with the hot gases exiting the outlet to direct them towards the rear wing, has been taken as inspiration for the updates already seen from the Miami race.
Read more F1 show in Miami, Domenicali celebrates: “Beautiful GP, in the USA they are understanding our sport”
The Ferrari flap that sets a trend
Mercedes’ solution: resembles a small rear wing
McLaren’s solution: an upward flow deflector
Red Bull’s McLaren-type solution: (wider) upward flow deflector
Williams’ solution: a piece that diverts exhaust gases towards the rear wing
But the FIA is not on board: aims to ban it in 2027
As reported by The Race, the FIA is determined to start a discussion table with the teams to ban aerodynamic appendages on the exhaust outlet.
For the Federation, the solutions seen in front of the exhaust comply with point 3.9.2 of the technical regulations, but it is considered necessary to curb development in this area. The fear is to trigger a real technological battle among teams, which the FIA wants to avoid. Since it is not a safety issue, the Federation will seek convergence with the teams, with the goal of banning flaps on exhausts by 2027.
Read more Briatore: “This is the level we expect from Colapinto every race weekend”
