The 2025 F1 season will be the last of the current regulations for ground-effect single-seaters. Despite the fact that a big change is coming in 2026 to the chassis and engines, modifications will take place for the Sporting Regulations and for the Technical Regulations in 2025, with a series of points that we will detail in these lines.
Sporting Regulations
The rule of the point awarded to the best lap is abolished. Since 2019, any driver finishing in the first ten positions has scored a point if they had achieved the fastest lap in the race. This rule will disappear in 2025.
There will also be more EL1 for beginner drivers. The obligation to field a young driver during free practice will increase from once per season and per car to twice per season and per car.
The sporting regulations will strengthen the restrictions concerning the rule of Testing of Previous Cars (TPC). The TPC will be limited to twenty days and drivers participating in the championship will only be able to cover a maximum of 1000 kilometers in four days of testing.
Testing will only be authorized on circuits which appeared on the calendar of the current year or the previous year. However, testing is not authorized on circuits which will host a race within sixty days following the testing, nor if the circuit has undergone significant modifications since the last race held there.
The sporting regulations will contain specific provisions concerning the establishment of starting grids in the event of cancellation of qualifiers for Sprints and Grand Prix qualifying for these sessions. The starting grid will be established according to the drivers' championship classification.
Previously, the determination of the starting grid order was left to the sole discretion of the stewards if a qualifying session could not take place. If the drivers' championship classification cannot be applied to determine the order of the starting grid, this remains at the discretion of the stewards.
The gate closure protocol when certain cars do not start a race has been changed following the formation of the starting grid for cars withdrawn before the start of the 2024 São Paulo Grand Prix.
The final grid will now be determined one hour before the start of the race. Cars withdrawn up to 75 minutes before the start will not be included in the final grid, and subsequent cars will move up to all corresponding positions.
Technical Regulations
The minimum authorized weight for the pilot will go from 80 kg to 82 kg. As a result, the overall minimum weight limit of the car without fuel is also increased from 798 kilograms to 800 kilograms.
A cooling kit for the driver will be introduced for 2025. The system will only be imposed by the FIA in extreme heat conditions, with the minimum weight of cars being increased accordingly where necessary. This is to avoid a repeat of the driver overheating seen during the 2023 Qatar Grand Prix.
When the FIA predicts a temperature above 30.5°C, a 'heat risk' will be declared. This will require teams to equip drivers with their cooling systems, and the minimum weight will be increased by 5 kilograms to compensate for this addition of parts.
Gaps at the rear wing between the two DRS modes will be modified, the minimum gap then being reduced. It will increase from 10-15 millimeters to 9.4-13 millimeters, with the upper limit remaining set at 85 millimeters when the DRS is open.
The FIA will also strengthen the rules relating to DRS modesspecifying that there must only be two positions and that the end of the DRS application must return the wing exactly to the initial mode as it was defined.
The dilemma of F1 teams: bet on 2025 or 2026?
The objective of the Formula 1 teams will obviously be to make their 2025 car as successful as possible, so as to be able to immediately move on to 2026 and the regulatory revolution that awaits them.
The best teams, if they make a good transition and continue from their level at the end of 2024, should be able to quickly turn towards 2026 and surf on the little necessary development of their 2025 car. An exception will, however, change the situation: a close season for the world title.
We remember for example that in 2008, McLaren and Ferrari had played for the title until the end of the season and had to concentrate on the current season and not on the new regulations for 2009. Brawn GP and Red Bull in had taken the opportunity to achieve a better transition and beat them the following year.
For mid- or back-of-the-grid teams, like Honda (now Brawn GP) and Red Bull were in 2008, this is a huge opportunity, since they can sacrifice a year and bet everything on the new regulations. We know that Stake F1 plans to do this for Audi's debut, in particular.
