FIA officially bans Ferrari-style exhaust wings ahead of 2027

Credit: Formula One

The FIA has moved to close the regulatory loophole that sparked one of the most intense technical development battles of the 2026 Formula One season, officially outlawing exhaust wing designs from next year.

The ban was ratified by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council in Macau on Friday, with the updated 2027 technical regulations published shortly after. At the heart of the clampdown is a new exclusion zone around the exhaust tailpipe.

Article C2.3.7 of the revised regulations reads: "Except for tailpipe, no part of the car may lie within a right circular cylinder which intersects the planes XR = 385 and XDIF = 800, and whose axis is identical to, and diameter 20mm greater than, that of the right circular cylinder defined in C3.9.2(g)."

In plain terms: nothing aerodynamic can live within 20mm of the tailpipe in the relevant zone. Regulations that previously permitted tailpipe supports have also been removed from the 2027 rules entirely.

How it started

Ferrari arrived at the final pre-season test in Bahrain with an innovative wing solution mounted behind its rear tailpipe — a concept internally dubbed the Flick Tail Mode, or FTM. While aerodynamic devices in that region are broadly discouraged by the regulations, Ferrari had found a way through.

By moving the differential as far back as possible and taking advantage of space under the deformable structure, the team created room for a tiny winglet perched atop the tailpipe, fed by exhaust gas to generate additional rear downforce. Since the entire rear end of the SF-26 was designed with the FTM in mind from the outset, the solution was far more potent than anything rivals could bolt on retrospectively.

The FTM is estimated to be worth at least half a second per lap, even accounting for the seven to 13 horsepower lost by partially blocking the exhaust exit. The trade-off, Ferrari concluded, was well worth it: the device accelerates airflow from the diffuser and improves efficiency through the lower part of the rear wing, with both Charles Leclerc and Lewis Hamilton reporting improved rear-end feel as a result.

The copycat wave

Ferrari's customer team Haas followed suit for China, benefiting from buying its rear end from Maranello. But it was Miami that truly blew the situation open.

McLaren, Mercedes, Red Bull, Williams, Alpine and Cadillac all arrived in Florida with their own exhaust wing interpretations, exploiting Article C3.9.2 of the technical regulations, which permits a single exhaust tailpipe "support" without explicitly defining how aerodynamically elaborate that support can be.

Mercedes has been running a small bracket atop the tailpipe since Miami — a simpler solution than Ferrari's baked-in concept, but a solution nonetheless. The grid had, within a matter of races, engineered its way around a loophole that Ferrari had spent an entire winter designing around.

Why the FIA acted

Although the FIA was satisfied that every exhaust wing design on the grid complied with the existing regulations, it was concerned that leaving the rules untouched risked an escalating arms race in one of the most sensitive aerodynamic regions of the car.

Following discussions with technical directors across the teams, the decision to legislate the area out of existence for 2027 was reached by consensus.

Ferrari's test driver Dino Beganovic ran without the exhaust wing during his appearance in opening practice at the Austrian Grand Prix — an early signal of how life without the FTM might look for the Scuderia, at least at lower-downforce venues.

The exhaust wing ban is not the only regulatory tightening ratified on Friday. The 2027 rules also introduce further restrictions on floor body stays and their interaction with sidepod bodywork, alongside new limits on suspension design and damper behaviour.

For Ferrari, the ban arrives at a cost. The FTM has been a cornerstone of the SF-26's aerodynamic identity all season.

Ferrari has already begun working on compensatory solutions for its 2027 challenger, though the institutional knowledge gained from pioneering the concept — and spending a season refining it — remains a competitive asset the regulations cannot take away.