Sports Engineering

The Aerodynamics Of F1 Cars

What makes them so fast

Formula One is a sport where everyone is trying to go the fastest possible speed. This leads to insane optimizations in the cars themselves to achieve these minor increases. This is mainly why Formula One cars look so different and weird compared to anything else anyone has seen. The main reason for this car change is aerodynamics.

Aerodynamics in these cars aim to keep the car on the track, and not flying into space. With the insane speeds that would send the cars flying otherwise, the aerodynamics of the car became more important than ever. The way this works is pretty similar to a plane. Planes have a curve on the bottom of the wings to get more air to get pushed below the plane. This lifts the plane up, and is the only reason why flight is possible. Formula One cars work in the exact opposite way from planes. In simplest terms, there are curves on the top of the car, which allows more air on top, which forces the car down on the ground. These same aerodynamics also allow the car to move faster, by cutting through the air with as little air resistance as possible. Air resistance is when the air blocks the object from moving faster, because the air has to move out of the way.

Another feature relating to aerodynamics in F1 cars is DRS, which stands for Drag Reduction System. This is a mechanism that the driver can activate when they are less than one second behind the driver in front of them. This makes the driver behind speed up, and leads to more interesting races. This works by reducing drag (as the name suggests) by reducing the surface area that the air can go against. Aerodynamics are a very important part of Formula One, and it is interesting to see how it works.

https://www.chaseyoursport.com/Formula-1/Aerodynamics-of-an-Formula-one-car/2260

https://www.f1-forecast.com/pdf/F1-Files/Honda/F1-SP2_21e.pdf

https://www.redbullracing.com/int-en/bulls-guide-to-2022-aerodynamics

https://www.mclaren.com/racing/f1-playbook/aerodynamics

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