When the 2022 FORMULA 1 (F1) racing season revs up in March, teams will take to the track with newly designed cars engineered to give fans — and drivers — more of the wheel-to-wheel action they’ve been seeking. Anybody who has followed the sport has heard drivers complain on the radio about not being able to get close enough to the car in front of them. Essentially what they're reporting in those situations is a lack of grip, or downforce.
F1 cars are the fastest regulated road-course racing vehicles in the world. While these open-wheel automobiles are only 20 to 30 kilometers (or 12 to 18 miles) per-hour faster than top-of-the-line sports cars, they can speed around corners up to five times as fast due to the powerful aerodynamic downforce they create. Much like the way that aircraft generate lift through their wings, F1 cars use a similar mechanism, except inverted, to generate the downforce they need. Cars lose up to 50% of this downforce when racing closely behind another car due to the turbulent wake generated by wings and bodywork. Turbulence from the leading car causes the trailing car to slide and lose its grip on the track. The driver behind senses a loss of grip earlier than the driver in front and, ultimately, has to take his foot off the accelerator.
Credits:
https://www.amazon.science/latest-news/the-science-behind-the-next-gen-2022-f1-car
No comments:
Post a Comment