On Thursday, several drivers voiced that they won’t miss the current generation of cars, which has caused significant physical discomfort — particularly in the first year, when porpoising led to repeated back problems from the constant bouncing on the straights.

Speaking in Las Vegas about whether ground-effect cars have proven more physically demanding than expected, Tombazis responded: "I think the main issue you're referring to is the fact that cars have been running very low and very stiff. That was something that, overall, had not been anticipated in the generation of these current cars."

The Greek engineer highlighted that the aerodynamic philosophy of the next-generation cars will still favour low-running setups, but far less aggressively than the current generation.

He continued: "The natural direction of the aerodynamics for next year still favours low-running cars more than high-running cars — but not by the same amount."

Tombazis believes 2026 cars will be a bit “softer” compared to the current models, although for now this remains just a prediction that will need to be confirmed on track.

He finally added: "We're not actually sitting there determining the conditions of the cars, but all indications we have are that it will be a bit better in that respect. But we’ll know for sure once we see the cars running."