Formula 1’s exhaust wing ban for 2027 has now been made official in the regulations, on the same day Ferrari tried running its car without one for the first time as an experiment.

As revealed by The Race over the Miami GP weekend, the FIA had been wanting to discuss with teams ways to clamp down on an area that had been exploited heavily this year.

The idea was pioneered by Ferrari, which had, through a unique positioning of its gearbox and crash structure, been able to fit a wing at the back of its exhaust tailpipe.

It is a design that provides added downforce throughout, extending the length of the diffuser as well as improving airflow to the rear wing.

Rival teams were unable to adopt the Ferrari concept because it would have required rehomologation of car parts, but they did find a way to introduce similar ideas through the exploitation of another area of the rules.

Others, including Mercedes, McLaren and Red Bull, all integrated wings throughout an allowance made for a tailpipe “support” to be fitted to the cars.

Although the FIA was satisfied that the designs in play fully complied with the regulations, it was mindful that if things were left untouched, then there was a risk of things getting more extreme and a potential tech war exploding.

So, following discussions with teams at a technical director level, amendments to the regulations were agreed upon that will outlaw any scope for exhaust wings for next season.

This has been achieved through a new exhaust exclusion zone, which outlaws any part of the car within a circular cylinder shape that is 20mm greater than the tailpipe and covers the area around the exhaust.

Furthermore, regulations that allow tailpipe supports to be fitted have been removed entirely from the 2027 rules.

With the ban coming, it was interesting to see Ferrari’s test driver Dino Beganovic run without the exhaust wing during his appearance in opening practice in Austria.

This was primarily done as a data gathering exercise, which will be especially valuable for the low downforce races later in the year, when it could be advantageous not to have the wing.

As well as its removal shedding drag, getting rid of it would theoretically reduce the back pressure in the exhaust it causes, which is believed to cost it a loss of power of around 10kW.