Mercedes tech chief Allison says ‘wake’ focus was wrong
Formula 1’s rulemakers made a mistake by getting bogged down in trying to control dirty-air levels for the reintroduction of ground effect in
2022, according to Mercedes technical director James Allison. He reckons that the obsession with framing regulations that would allow cars to follow each other more closely meant that other critical aspects of racing, such as tyre behaviour, were neglected.
Asked whether the rules had failed in delivering better racing because
Red Bull was still so dominant, Allison (right) replied: “I don’t necessarily think that they’ve failed in those terms, because our job is to try and make sure that we can make a good fight of it. But there are things in the regulations that don’t serve any of us well.
“I don’t think it’s sensible to have cars that hug the ground in the way that these cars hug it. The idea that you get good racing by controlling wakes, while ignoring tyres… the whole idea of controlling wakes, being something of a tilting-at-windmills type of challenge, I think that side of things has been tested to destruction fairly evidently. But Red Bull are doing a good job and the rest of us have a duty to do a better job. I don’t think that’s the fault of the regulator.”
With the FIA working on new rules for 2026, Allison believes that the power of the floor and the diffuser to produce downforce – which makes rear ride height management so critical to performance – should be diminished for the next generation of machinery.
“I don’t think there’s anything wrong in particular with ground-effect floors,” continued Allison. “But the particular layout of these ones, that have a response to rear ride height that is not particularly good for the cars, that isn’t something that we should carry into 2026… I think the FIA is still very much of a mind to place wake management at the top of the tree of everything, sacrificing this stuff. It would be helpful if there was more of a balanced approach there.”