Red Bull floor stay targeted by FIA rule change for 2027
NXTbets Pro | Published On: October 14, 2026
FIA floor change
The FIA is preparing a rule change for the 2027 Formula 1 season that would shut down a Red Bull aerodynamic loophole and force a reset in one part of the floor architecture. The planned move would cut the permitted floor-support dimension from 20 mm to 5 mm, a sharp reduction that would take the current interpretation off the table. The design at the center of it is a floor body stay, a cable-like element that runs along the sidepod ridge. Under the current wording, that area gave Red Bull room to work with a small-radius bodywork section and build a sharper sidepod undercut around it. Craig Scarborough had previously described the concept as using a 20 mm-radius allowance around the support stay, and that detail lines up with the wider picture of why the FIA is moving now. The aim is clear. The governing body wants to stop the workaround from carrying over into 2027 and close off the path before teams build their next cars around it.
Red Bull sidepod
Red Bull first showed the aerodynamic solution on the RB22 at the Austrian Grand Prix. The idea centered on managing the lower edge of the sidepod and the shape of the bodywork around the support structure, which let the team exploit the small-radius area in a way that fit the letter of the rules. That is where the benefit came from. The sharper sidepod undercut created by the interpretation helped define the package and gave Red Bull another way to use the floor and sidepod intersection for aero gain. The planned FIA change would take that development path away. If the rules shift from a 20 mm allowance to 5 mm, the lower section of the sidepod would have to be redesigned to fit the tighter limit. This is not a minor trim of wording. It would reach into the structure of the bodywork and remove the space that made the original solution possible. The change would also stop the design from being copied forward into the next rules cycle, which is the point of the update. Red Bull would have to adapt its thinking before 2027 rather than carry over a known concept.
Audi floor body stay
Audi later adopted the same concept at the Azerbaijan Grand Prix in Baku. The planned FIA move would hit Audi as well as Red Bull because the lower sidepod section tied to the floor body stay would no longer pass under the tighter limit. Both teams would need to redesign that area if the rule takes effect for 2027. The reported change is aimed at future cars, not the current United States Grand Prix weekend in Austin. By narrowing the allowed support dimension, the FIA would strip away the extra room that teams used to build around the floor body stay and the sidepod ridge. The move would not just end one particular trick. It would also set a stricter baseline for how the floor and sidepod area can be packaged when the new season arrives. In practical terms, that means a cleaner rule line and less room for a repeat of the same interpretation. In competitive terms, it means the teams that leaned into the current concept will have to start over in a key aero zone.
