Red Bull and Audi floor-stay loophole outlawed for 2027 Formula 1 rules

Floor stay trick banned from 2027

A clever regulation loophole used this season by Red Bull and Audi has been outlawed as from next season.

The ‘floor stay’ loophole gets around the regulation limiting the radius angle on the edges of the sidepod, to give a much more aggressive shape for a cleaner airflow along the sidepod undercut as it travels to the rear of the car.

How the radius rules work

To understand how this works requires an explanation of the bodywork radius regulations. These stipulate the maximum permitted radius angles of the various bodywork panels at their corners and edges.

The floor stay arrangement allowed teams to effectively bypass those limits on the sidepod leading edge, creating a sharper, more aggressive profile than the rules intend while staying technically within the wording of the current technical regulations. The FIA has now decided to close the interpretation for 2027, removing the loophole that enabled the more aggressive sidepod undercut and the cleaner airflow it produced.