The FIA has moved to close off a potential new development arms race in Formula 1 that could have led to qualifying-only wheel rims becoming a must-have item.
One of the key changes to F1’s 2026 rules was a move away from standard wheel rims, with teams having freedom once again to use their own designs.
This has led to an intriguing battleground of updates as teams have come to realise the benefits that can come from optimising tyre temperatures.
At the Barcelona Grand Prix, for example, Ferrari introduced new wheel rims to help improve cooling at the rear and these helped play a part in Lewis Hamilton taking victory for the squad.
Other outfits followed Ferrari’s lead in tweaking wheel rim designs over the course of the year – with McLaren in particular having pursued a path of trying to use new rim designs to help warm up its front tyres better and cool the rears more.
F1 tyre supplier Pirelli said it became obvious early in the year how much of an impact the teams’ own designs were having in controlling tyre temperatures.
Its chief engineer Simone Berra explained: “It's quite a significant variation.
“What we have seen this year is that generally stabilised conditions are much lower than in the past, and this is because the rim basically is cooling the whole wheel, and the tyres themselves.”
The gains teams had found over the course of this year pointed to a likely ramping up of development in this area over the winter.
This prompted concerns within the FIA about teams taking it to extremes because of the clear performance benefits on offer.
One of the worries was that some squads could choose to invest heavily in running one wheel rim design for qualifying and another for the race.
The benefit from this would be having tyre temperatures optimised for a single flying lap – potentially by firing up the fronts or the rears more to help perfect the balance – and then altered for the race when the aim is to keep the rubber cool for as long as possible.
Mindful about this risk, and the spending war that could have followed, the FIA has pushed through changes to F1’s 2027 regulations to stamp out this route being followed.
These were approved this week by the FIA's World Motor Sport Council and come into force from the start of 2027.
They demand that only a “single specification” of wheel rim may be used from the time the car is in pre-parc ferme before a sprint race or main grand prix.
This means that teams must stick to the same specification of front and rear wheel rims for each qualifying and race – with no scope to swap between the two sessions.
The rules clarify that wheel rims will be deemed to have been used once an F1 car has left the pitlane with the rims fitted.