F1 stepped noses and double-DRS out for 2013

The stepped noses seen on most of this season’s Formula One cars – and deemed ugly by many – are very likely to disappear next year, thanks to a change in the FIA’s technical regulations allowing teams to cover them with special fairings.

The revised rules, just published by Formula One racing’s governing body, give details of the ‘modesty panels,’ which can be used to smooth the transition between the low nose and the high chassis. The fairings will not affect the car’s aerodynamics or impact-protection properties.

Article 3.7.9 of the 2013 technical regulations refers to the new panels as “an optional, single piece, non-structural fairing of prescribed laminate (whose precise lay-up may be found in the Appendix to the regulations) which may not be more than 625mm above the reference plane at any point."

The rules have also been amended, as expected, to outlaw the double-DRS system pioneered this season by Mercedes, where the team use the DRS activation mechanism to trigger other aerodynamic changes on the car.

According to Article 3.18, the moveable rear wing "cannot be used to change the geometry of any duct, either directly or indirectly, other than the change to the distance between adjacent sections permitted by Article 3.10.2."