Fluid management

Italy's Gazzetta dell Sport has these nice little short movies that illustrate the amazing work applied to a modern F1 car's aerodynamics.

Even if your italian is a little rusty, it's clear enough that the function of all those aero appendages you see on the cars is to split the airflow into three distinct streams: a slower top stream to the rear wing, a faster low pressure flow to the sides and finally one to the radiators for cooling.

The key being to slice through keeping turbulence and drag to a minimum while getting the air to work for the car.

If I understand correctly the lower, low pressure flow is used to prevent infiltrations of air to the underbody of the car. Skirts made of air? I think I might have to consult the Axis STFU 3000 supercomputer for that one.

If anyone out there has any nice illustrations or explanations on the subject, drop me a line.