These 10 outlawed tech innovations rocked F1

Formula 1 races are won on the track, but the groundwork to creating a winning machine kicks off months before lights go out on a grand prix weekend. In the buildup to every new season, designers and engineers pore over the rules in search of loopholes – ones they can exploit in the name of speed.

The advances sometimes go a step beyond finding a gap in the regulations, and become a break in the rules. When that happens, whether the innovation is winning races or proving to be a safety hazard, it can be outlawed by F1’s governing body, the FIA. 

This can mean that entire cars are outlawed from entering F1 races or, on other occasions, teams have to re-engineer their machines to comply.

But just what kind of technical wizardry has Formula 1 outlawed in its 75-year history? Well, these are 10 of the most high-profile innovations that have been banned from F1.  

Brabham BT46B – ‘The Fan Car’  

From the front, Brabham’s BT46B looks almost like any other 1970s Formula 1 car: it’s got a low profile, wide stance and a rudimentary wing at each end. One aspect of the car that was far from rudimentary, however, was the enormous fan that was engineered into the car to increase downforce.

‘The Fan Car’, as it was affectionately known, made its F1 debut at the 1978 Swedish Grand Prix in Anderstorp. To aid performance, Brabham engineers connected a fan directly to the car’s gearbox using a complex array of clutches. This diverted around 30hp from the engine to the fan, which then sucked air out from beneath the floor of the car.  

The idea proved successful, and the extra downforce that was created by the spinning fan helped Niki Lauda to a race win in Sweden. However, Brabham decided to withdraw it from competition for the remainder of the season. The car wasn’t actually banned from F1 following its first race, but a regulation change in 1979 meant that it would have been outlawed from the following year.  

Ground effect

Brabham’s fan car was created to rival the ground effect Lotus cars of the 1970s, which used skirts on either side of the car to seal the gap to the ground and maximise the downforce created by the underside of the car. It was a philosophy that helped Team Lotus to its seventh F1 constructors’ title in 1978 with the iconic Lotus 78. 

Once Lotus proved ground effect could win races, other manufacturers soon found ways to add it to their cars. Racers began creating more and more downforce as the theory was fine-tuned, and that meant cars could lap race tracks quicker and quicker.  

The side skirts on the racers brought with them a risk that the seal could be broken and the downforce could suddenly be lost, however. Because of this added safety concern, ground effect cars were banned from F1 for the 1983 season. They made a comeback in the series with the launch of the new regulations in 2022, but the new interpretation of ground effect cars did away with side skirts with the hope of reducing the chance of a sudden loss of downforce.

Six-wheeled cars  

Cars have four wheels and bikes have two, so what do you call something with six wheels? A Tyrrell P34, apparently.  

The 1982 Tyrrell P34 was a funny-looking creation, as it replaced the two front wheels that almost every other F1 car in history has had with four wheels split between two front axels.

The thinking was that having four wheels at the front instead of two would increase the contact patch with the track, aiding traction in the corners and helping with braking performance. Sure, pitstops would take longer with an extra pair of tyres to change, but that could be offset by the on-track gains.  

The theory worked, and Patrick Depailler qualified third on the P34’s first outing at the 1976 Spanish Grand Prix at Jarama. He went on to suffer a braking issue that meant he didn’t finish the race, but two weeks later the P34 helped Jody Scheckter to fourth in Belgium. The car even managed a single race win and got its drivers onto the podium on 14 occasions.  

The novel design was short-lived, however, as development of the mini tyres essential for the front wheels was cut by Goodyear and the special rubber became scarce by the end of the 1977 season. What’s more, a technical directive in the 1980s meant that Formula 1 cars could only use four wheels – no more, no less.  

Active suspension 

In the early 1990s, teams had moved on from analogue upgrades to focus on more high-tech improvements, like active suspension, which brought powered components to F1 cars to monitor and change the suspension while drivers traversed a track in order to maximise grip and performance. 

Lotus was, once again, an early pioneer in this space and the first victory for a car with active suspension was in 1987 when Ayrton Senna won the Monaco Grand Prix for Lotus. The tech reached its heyday in the 1990s, however, when cars were able to automatically adjust the ride height at all four corners in order to maintain a flat and stable position.  

The big advantage of the tech was that it provided a more stable aero platform, which gave engineers a better understanding of how they could maximise the performance from their cars. This, coupled with other innovations of the time, meant that speeds quickly rose and lap times plummeted.  

However, the added complexities and costs associated with active suspension led to its demise and it was outlawed in Formula 1 from the 1994 season.  

Mass dampers 

These days tuned mass dampers are used in super-tall skyscrapers, to help cope with strong winds, and top-tier mountain bikes, where they smooth out bumps on a gnarly downhill track. But, in the mid-2000s, these sprung masses were initially used to great effect in Formula 1.  

A tuned mass damper is a weight that’s held in position inside a tube and has a spring at either end. This simple creation moves against an interference to offset it, so in tall buildings it helps stop the sway in a strong breeze and in F1 it helps improve stability.  

The humble device was used by Renault in its 2005 R25 Formula 1 car, with the team initially installing a sprung 10kg mass in the car before realising that the amount of weight required could be tuned for each track it visited. The additional weight proved effective, as it was said to give drivers Fernando Alonso and Giancarlo Fisichella more confidence. It was also said to be worth as much as a second a lap in terms of performance on some tracks.  

The system faced a protest following the 2006 German GP, and Renault opted to run its cars without the device from then on to avoid disqualification. In a later hearing at the court of appeal, the mass damper was outlawed by the FIA, which deemed that it was a device that aimed to “markedly improve the car’s aerodynamic output.”  

Double diffuser 

With any overhaul in regulations in Formula 1, there’s always a chance that one team will find a loophole that lets them maximise performance. When new rules came into force in 2009 to try and cut the amount of downforce produced by F1 cars, the double diffuser exercised one such loophole.  

The double diffuser was a device deployed by teams including Brawn GP, Toyota and Honda – but the former managed to maximise the effectiveness of the aerodynamic device. It created channels in the rear diffuser to maximise its surface area without exceeding the dimensions stated in the regulations.

Brawn used the device to great success, winning six of the first eight races in the 2009 season, and that year’s titles. The success of the device opened it up to scrutiny, and rival teams protested the legality of it for 2009. The protest failed, and rivals had to quickly fast-track double diffuser designs of their own.  

By the end of 2009, almost every team on the grid ran a double diffuser, and the design largely carried over into 2010. However, new regulations brought in from 2011 effectively closed off the loophole that had allowed them to be installed in the first place. 

F-duct

Another innovation that came about in 2010 was the F-duct, which was first implemented by McLaren on its MP4-25. 

The device was another simple idea, as it comprised a vent in the nose of the car that drew air in and either directed it out through an inactive exhaust, or fed it over the rear wing to reduce drag and increase straightline speed. The direction the air was fed initially depended on the position of the driver’s knee, as they could cover or uncover a vent to change the flow of air in the car.  

Other teams scrambled to implements F-ducts of their own, with differing levels of success… and safety. In one instance, the duct was operated by a driver taking their hand off the wheel, which led the FIA to step in.  

The device was banned for the 2011 season and was, ultimately, replaced by the Drag Reduction System.  

Double DRS 

Do you know what’s better than one DRS? Two. At least, that’s what Mercedes thought with the novel front wing design it deployed in 2011 and then refined in 2012.  

For 2011, a creation dubbed the W-duct sought to have a similar impact on the front wing as the F-duct had on the rear. Namely, it redirected the airflow to stall the front wing and cut downforce to aid top speed.  

This system was refined in 2012 and comprised pipework that ran through the car from the front wing to the rear to stall both wings and cut drag produced by the car. Teams subsequently sought to outlaw the creation, as implementing it themselves meant finding space in their cars to weave pipework from front to rear.  

What’s more, the device turned out to be a hinderance to the Mercedes team in its own front wing development. That’s because the innovation came about when teams up and down the grid were pushing the flexibility of their wings to the extreme, and Mercedes wasn’t able to capitalise on this due to the construction of its own wings. 

Despite some teams also working to implement double DRS systems of their own, the innovation was outlawed for the 2013 season.  

DAS system 

After winning six constructors’ crowns on the bounce, Mercedes was in a league of its own come 2020 and was all about refining its dominant machinery. So, for 2020, the German manufacturer rolled out a unique steering system that sought to further increase the gap to the competition.  

The innovation was spotted in pre-season testing when drivers Lewis Hamilton and Valtteri Bottes were seen pulling on their steering wheels, as well as twisting it left and right to turn the wheels. Pulling the wheel, it turned out, altered the alignment of the front wheels, which would change the contact patch between the tyre and the road. 

Uses for the system ranged from aiding tyre warmup following a safety car period to enhancing mechanical grip to improve cornering performance. Mercedes was permitted to run the system for the 2020 season, but the FIA moved to outlaw the setup from 2021, which put other teams off deploying systems of their own. 

Flexi wings – 2024 

The latest controversy to rock Formula 1 has been flexible wings. Wings at the front and rear of Formula 1 machinery have been seen flexing under load, which means their profile reduces at speed and a reduction in drag.  

Flexible wings have been an issue in F1 for years but the FIA is attempting to clamp down on them more than ever right now. A technical directive rolled out in 2024 sought to reduce the permitted flex in wings and implemented tougher tests on wing flexibility.  

A further technical directive due to hit the grid at the Spanish Grand Prix will further clamp down on flexible wings in F1. From the Spanish race, teams will only be permitted to have front wings that can flex by 10mm when under load. Additionally, the flex on the slot gaps on rear wings must be no greater than 0.5mm once the technical directive comes into force.