At the 2026 Formula 1 car tests in Barcelona, Audi revealed a distinctive rear wing design that works differently from most teams’ active aero systems. Under the new rules, cars have movable wing flaps to reduce drag on straights, but Audi’s engineers placed the pivot point for the rear flaps in the centre of the support structure, not at the front or back like usual.
Because of this middle pivot, Audi’s rear wing flaps don’t just lift up slightly — they open at an angle that tilts them obliquely, changing how the air flows over the wing compared with other teams’ solutions.
Audi’s setup also uses a single linkage to move both flaps, with the second flap being carried along passively, instead of separate actuators for each flap like many rivals. This creative approach shows how teams are interpreting the new active aerodynamics rules in different ways for 2026.