A Distinguished Lecture.

Do you think aerodynamics are not that important at a slow track like Monaco?
Even at 70 km/h (43 mph), an F1 car can corner 8% faster with aero than without.

Next time you hear an announcer telling you how teams are trying to eliminate drag from their car, consider that if you simulate a car with zero drag. the lap time gained would be only two seconds but an F1 car without downforce will be 21 seconds a lap slower at the Circuit de Catalunya than one with downforce and drag .... 21 seconds!
No wonder Red Bulls often had the slowest in top speed but the fastest lap time: being fast in the corners is much more of a factor to lap time than being fast on the straight on many circuits.

Willem Toet is a Dutch-Australian aerodynamicist with a past in Benetton and Ferrari in the Schumacher era and later BAR and BMW Sauber.

It's not often we get insight from engineers and insiders and Mr Toet is particularly generous with it.  His LinkedIn page is a bit of a treasure trove of technical insight which, like this lecture are a must for any racing fan who wants to go beyond the basic understanding of Formula 1.


Find the time to listen to this lecture he gave at the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.    It focuses on past F1 seasons but there are concepts that apply to the coming championship and the effect rule changes might have.

I guarantee it will help you discuss the sport in a more informed way.



Bonus points, Mr Toet hillclimbs a formula car (with great aero presumably!).

More vortices...

In case you doubted you are witnessing the sculpting of air, check out the curlicue vortex created off the RB9's front wing as it twists around the sides of the car.

Interesting how it appears to "turn on" and off like a switch. as soon as Webber reaches a certain speed or hits the brakes. That may be to do with the conditions needed to make the vapor visible, perhaps aero guys out there can shed some light.

Vortices

During practice for the US Grand Prix in Austin, the Texas air was humid enough to condense as it was compressed by all those sophisticated aero devices.   Check out the air swirling out of the sides of Alonso's F138.

Buzzword: Micro Aerodynamics

Super slow motion comparison between the Mclaren and the Red Bull front wings during free practice at Suzuka.

 Beyond the intricate shapes it's interesting to see how each part moves differently. This of course is by design, while the flex in this case is induced by hitting the curb allowing us to see it,   each one of those winglets and vanes is studied and constructed with the idea that it will change angle even ever so slightly at speed, altering those magic "air curtains" that function as containment for other downforce producing airflows.   It's mind-blowing.    Mclaren and Red Bull are at the forefront of this trend as both results and extra FIA attention attest.

Pos  Driver                Team                  Time               Laps
 1.  Mark Webber           Red Bull-Renault      1m32.493s            34
 2.  Lewis Hamilton        McLaren-Mercedes      1m32.707s  + 0.214   32
 3.  Sebastian Vettel      Red Bull-Renault      1m32.836s  + 0.343   37
 4.  Nico Hulkenberg       Force India-Mercedes  1m32.987s  + 0.494   30
 5.  Fernando Alonso       Ferrari               1m33.093s  + 0.600   28
 6.  Romain Grosjean       Lotus-Renault         1m33.107s  + 0.614   35
 7.  Jenson Button         McLaren-Mercedes      1m33.349s  + 0.856   22
 8.  Bruno Senna           Williams-Renault      1m33.499s  + 1.006   35
 9.  Felipe Massa          Ferrari               1m33.614s  + 1.121   32
10.  Michael Schumacher    Mercedes              1m33.750s  + 1.257   13
11.  Nico Rosberg          Mercedes              1m33.866s  + 1.373   19
12.  Sergio Perez          Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.903s  + 1.410   36
13.  Kamui Kobayashi       Sauber-Ferrari        1m33.983s  + 1.490   33
14.  Kimi Raikkonen        Lotus-Renault         1m34.291s  + 1.798   12
15.  Pastor Maldonado      Williams-Renault      1m34.300s  + 1.807   33
16.  Daniel Ricciardo      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m34.863s  + 2.370   32
17.  Jean-Eric Vergne      Toro Rosso-Ferrari    1m35.080s  + 2.587   34
18.  Heikki Kovalainen     Caterham-Renault      1m35.711s  + 3.218   41
19.  Vitaly Petrov         Caterham-Renault      1m35.870s  + 3.377   37
20.  Timo Glock            Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.194s  + 3.701   32
21.  Charles Pic           Marussia-Cosworth     1m36.636s  + 4.143   28
22.  Pedro de la Rosa      HRT-Cosworth          1m37.342s  + 4.849   30
23.  Narain Karthikeyan    HRT-Cosworth          1m37.701s  + 5.208   35
24.  Paul di Resta         Force India-Mercedes  No time               2

All Timing Unofficial

Speed Secret

Top speed at Watkins Glen Bus Stop, Traqmate GPS verified.

Without: 136.3 mph.
With: 139.8 mph.

That's why gardening is good for you!

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Rule makers vs Engineers: Episode 174

The rear wing of the OAK Racing LMP1 Le Mans racer, bizarre, isn't it? Care to venture a guess?

No they are not vortex generators, the answer is both more pedestrian and much more fascinating as part of the never ending battle between those who write the rules and those who get paid to bend them until they are broken.
Find out after the jump.



As Race Car Engineering and Mulsannecorner.com explain, LMP1 regulations mandate a 20mm gurney flap at 90 degrees to a virtual plane connecting the highpoint of the wing to the rear lip. With mandated power reductions in 2011 teams have been striving to reduce drag more than to find more downforce and a tall 90 degree flap is not what you want on the long straights of the Sarthe.

The solution found by OAK Racing engineers, simple if not very esthetically pleasing, turns 90 degrees into 120 and is illustrated in the drawing below.

Turbulence segregation

For a long time I have been seeking a clear explanation of what all those bargeboards hanging from the side of Formula 1 cars are for. Finally a clear simple illustration...

In this video from Italy's Gazzetta dello Sport aside from the slick virtual studio explanations of the basics of the BMW Sauber aerodynamic workings and data points such as "the bottom of the car is a wing with about 53 square feet of area which provides 45% of the downforce" lies the answer to my question about the bargeboards. 

I direct you to the end of the video (about 1:10) where the invisible, self generated aerodynamic vortexes the modern F1 car travels in are visualized. 

The blue stream is a clean flux channel that, from the nose to the rear wing, is responsible for the main downforce pressure.

 In yellow behind the tail is a powerful low pressure area which sucks air from under the car increasing the efficiency of the bottom wing. 

Finally in red is the turbolent air from the tires which is kept from interfering with the top (blue) stream by...you guessed it,  bargeboards!  

Simple no?

Mclaren Wing Check!

Mclaren showed a further evolution of their front wing at the Silverstone tests this week. We thought it might be cool to take a second and look back at development during the season.....

I know many out there despise the looks of modern aerodynamics but you have to appreciate those who are able to sculpt the air best. It's no coincidence that the designs that are most harmonious are also the fastest. Contrast Mclaren's organic shapes to Honda's.... well, let's leave Honda aside.

The latest Mclaren wing has six distinct elements (at least six visible ones) with two so close you can barely tell there is a gap. They launched the car with a three element wing, though that was never intended for use in a race. Mclaren tested a four element wing with a square-ish top bridge in Valencia and Barcellona but already in Australia a five element wing was on the car.

With minor variations it remained unaltered up until in June the FIA mandated that "bridge" elements must not flex and here the Woking team chose a different path. Where most competitors faced with this isse chose to install a vertical element between the bottom of the bridge wing and the top of the nose cone, Mclaren designed a support from the top of the wing back onto the nose. I'm guessing this is to disturb as little as possible the airflow between the bottom of the bridge and the nose cone.

The Silver Arrows were fast at this week's test and the British GP is a key race in the championship for Mclaren and almost a must win for Lewis Hamilton. It will be great to watch next week end!

Mclaren 2008 evolution slide show