{"id":343353,"date":"2025-12-13T21:24:18","date_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:24:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/343353\/"},"modified":"2025-12-13T21:24:18","modified_gmt":"2025-12-13T21:24:18","slug":"f1-drivers-deliver-clear-verdict-on-departing-ground-effect-cars","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/343353\/","title":{"rendered":"F1 drivers deliver clear verdict on departing ground-effect cars"},"content":{"rendered":"

A number of Formula 1<\/a> drivers have differed in their views on the outgoing ground-effect cars, which will be replaced by brand new machines for 2026.<\/p>\n

The ground-effect era ended with the conclusion of this year\u2019s season in Abu Dhabi<\/a>, bringing an end to a four-year tenure of the cars and another phase of the V6 hybrid period.<\/p>\n

It\u2019s fair to say the cars have divided opinion across the F1 spectrum, whether it be fans, teams and drivers, with one of its initial shortcomings being the severe porpoising.<\/p>\n

The increasing size and weight of the cars have also triggered some debate, particularly as it has rendered some circuits difficult to overtake on.<\/p>\n

Fernando Alonso is one driver who, given his career\u2019s longevity, has raced a number of different cars, and said ahead of the Las Vegas Grand Prix that he would \u201cnot miss\u201d them, but did concede that the initial slowness of the 2026 cars [projected to be around four seconds a lap slower] will also be an adjustment.<\/p>\n

\u201cNext year probably we will go slower and we will miss them when we drive the next cars, because we always want to be as fast as possible,\u201d he told media including Motorsport Week.<\/p>\n

\u201cBut I think the [current] cars are definitely too heavy, they are too big and the ground effect and the ride heights we are racing are not really fun to drive.<\/p>\n

\u201cAnd probably even to follow cars, the expectations of this regulation that it was to follow closely and to have a better action on track was not really a success. <\/p>\n

\u201cMaybe the first year a little bit, but not after that. So, yeah, I don\u2019t think that we will miss too much of this.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"MaxMax Verstappen has revealed his discomfort while driving the ground-effect era cars<\/p>\n

Max Verstappen, despite cementing his status as one of the sport\u2019s greats within the ground-effect era, was similarly keen to take on a new challenge.<\/p>\n

\u201cI won\u2019t miss these cars,\u201d he said. \u201cIt was good for a while in the beginning [the dirty air aspect], but not anymore. I do think you can follow a bit better, a bit more controlled anyway.<\/p>\n

\u201cWith those old cars, you really had extreme oversteer or understeer in certain places, and you don\u2019t have that now. <\/p>\n

\u201cNow there\u2019s just less downforce and you have the problem that the slipstream with these cars isn\u2019t as efficient anymore. On some tracks, it\u2019s simply not enough for overtaking.\u201d<\/p>\n

Verstappen added: \u201cI didn\u2019t find them the most fun to drive, to be honest,\u201d the Red Bull driver added. \u201cIt hasn\u2019t been comfortable at all, all these years \u2013 my whole back is falling apart and my feet always hurt.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cPhysically, it hasn\u2019t been the best. When you do scans, they don\u2019t look good. On the other hand, if you look at motocross, we have nothing to complain about. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut if you know what it was or what it could be, I\u2019d rather go for what we had in 2015-2016.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"CarlosCarlos Sainz admitted the ground-effect cars didn\u2019t suit his driving style<\/p>\n

Sainz looking for a more \u2018natural driving style\u2019 in F1 2026<\/p>\n

2026 has also divided some opinion in terms of the continuation of V6 hybrids, which will now become more electrified with a 50-50 split with ICE.<\/p>\n

But one more universal positive among the chattering crowd has been the reduction in size and weight, which was acknowledged by Mercedes\u2019 George Russell.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s going in the right direction, making the cars smaller, lighter,\u201d he said, but also agreed with Alonso in terms of how the current cars\u2019 speed will likely be missed.<\/p>\n

\u201cYou always remember the good stuff from something in the past. You never really remember the bad stuff. So I\u2019m sure we\u2019re going to miss that high-speed performance and we\u2019ll probably forget about the negatives. But that\u2019s just how life goes.\u201d<\/p>\n

Carlos Sainz has been one driver who has adapted well to the ground-effect cars, taking his first win in its first year, and also completed an impressive year with Williams.<\/p>\n

But the Spaniard spoke of his initial struggles to get to grips with them, and hopes that 2026 will see him rediscover a \u201cnatrual\u201d way of driving.<\/p>\n

\u201cI had a struggle with them in 2022 adapting to this generation, and I\u2019ve had a bit more success later on adapting to it, but it\u2019s not in my nature to drive these cars the way I have to drive them,\u201d he revealed.<\/p>\n

\u201cI actually had to relearn a couple of different skills that I didn\u2019t know I would need to drive a Formula 1 car. And I\u2019m glad it\u2019s over, and hopefully next year I can go back to a more natural driving style.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nico Hulkenberg, who will be part of Sauber\u2019s transition to Audi in 2026, gave the most positive assessment of the cars.<\/p>\n

\u201cI think a bit more neutral for me,\u201d he said. \u201cI don\u2019t mind it. I think just the following, particularly this year, has really become very, very bad. <\/p>\n

\u201cBut otherwise \u2013 I mean, bit heavy, yes \u2013 but in quali, they\u2019re pretty quick. So, I don\u2019t mind it.\u201d<\/p>\n

READ MORE \u2013 Lewis Hamilton delivers blunt verdict on ground effect F1 cars<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"A number of Formula 1 drivers have differed in their views on the outgoing ground-effect cars, which will…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":343354,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[441],"tags":[49,48,578,3018,576,577,3024,1885,3019,38565,82],"class_list":{"0":"post-343353","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-formula-1","8":"tag-ca","9":"tag-canada","10":"tag-f1","11":"tag-fernando-alonso","12":"tag-formula-1","13":"tag-formula1","14":"tag-george-russell","15":"tag-max-verstappen","16":"tag-nico-hulkenberg","17":"tag-sainz","18":"tag-sports"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343353","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=343353"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/343353\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/343354"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=343353"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=343353"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=343353"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}