Ferrari unveils radical exhaust flap ahead of F1 2026 aero fight
Ferrari has unveiled a provocative exhaust-mounted flap that could redefine the F1 2026 aerodynamic battleground before the season has even begun.
The new flap, mounted within close proximity of the exhaust and undoubtedly influencing both the exhaust plume and the diffuser extensions they’ve already taken advantage of, will clearly raise questions from rivals.
Scuderia’s new rear-end solution could reshape the 2026 aerodynamic battleground
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The design seemingly takes advantage of the allowable volumes in the 2026 regulations, which had previously prevented this type of design. This now appears to be permissible as a side effect of the box regions designed to contain the new twin rear wing pillar arrangement and tail section.
In their former guise, the regulations had been crafted to prevent any bodywork from being placed behind the exhaust, as it’s a known source of aerodynamic potential, if it can be leveraged correctly.
In this instance it could further unlock more performance from the centreline chute that Ferrari had created by extruding their diffuser further up the side of the crash structure, which had previously been paired to another set of winglets above (inset) but has been replaced by the full width flap that sits directly behind the exhaust.
It falls a little short of calling it a blown diffuser, albeit the interaction of the exhaust plume with these sub-structures is clearly going to be beneficial in terms of generating downforce. The resulting aerodynamic upwash will also be advantageous in terms of improving the rear wing’s output.
Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this blown exhaust flap arrangement is, if it’s deemed to carry a significant performance advantage, it could take the other teams a little while to incorporate their own functional version.
Adding the flap itself might not be an insurmountable task, providing they have the room and clearance within the volume available, but if Ferrari has also leveraged the other design features in its vicinity then it may have somewhat of a baked-in advantage.
For example, the centreline chute arrangement is likely optimised to suit the new blown exhaust flap, as is the design of the rear wing.
However, it’s also notable how different the size of the Ferrari exhaust tailpipe is. The Scuderia has opted for a smaller solution than most. Originally, that looked like a design decision taken to create the right dimensional criteria for their rear wing pillar arrangement.
But, it would appear that this was now another factor in the design layout that allows for the incorporation of this flap. You’ll note it features a metal upper section to deal with the heat demands it will face and a shapely rear end, to help manage the flow off the rear side of the flap.
Ferrari is closely monitoring temperatures here via a temperature strip fixed to the right-hand side of the new flap, perhaps in order that they can further optimise the design around real world experiences, as simulations can only take them so far.
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