1984 Formula One cars' rear wings

[SamHH]

Why did Formula One cars of the 1984 season have two small outer wings attached to the main rear wings? 1984 cars all seem to have this feature but I've not seen it on cars from any of the preceding or following seasons.

I'm guessing it was either required by the regulations or the regulations made it desirable but it seems odd that it was only a single year.

[LocoBlade]

Just a fad I suspect, only a year after ground effects were banned so probably trying to claw back lost downforce that was re-gained in a more efficient manner with better main rear wings in latter years.

[anonymous-user]

They were banned, they were used at the time to circumvent a regulation that was badly written. The wing size is tightly controlled in the regs now.

[SamHH]

johnfelstead said:

They were banned, they were used at the time to circumvent a regulation that was badly written. The wing size is tightly controlled in the regs now.

So did they allow the rear wing to be wider than would have been permitted for a single element?

[clubracing]

The loop hole in the rule meant that the winglets attached to either side of the main wing, could be used to extend the wing to the maximum width of the car because they were ahead of the rear axle line.

[clubracing]

The loop hole in the rule meant that the winglets attached to either side of the main wing, could be used to extend the wing to the maximum width of the car because they were ahead of the rear axle line.

[Eric Mc]

As has already been said, they were an attempt to maximoise downforce following the banning of sidepods at the end of the 1982 season. FISA subsequently banned them for 1985.

I wish the governing body would do the same for today's winglets, barge boards and multi element front wings.