And I’m not talking about the overwhelming amounts
of particulates in the environment these days…
First off, I am not an Engineer, nor an
Aerodynamicist. Or pretend to know the intricacies of either profession. That
said, I have become disappointed over how much the term “clean” and “Dirty”
Air’s being thrown round in current Formula 1 Grands Prix.
I would Arse-sume that cheating the air has
existed in the design of modern racing cars since they began being created. Not
to mention this aspect of aerodynamics has been applied to production
automobiles forever, with modern cars lowering of their “CD” number, i.e.;
Coefficient of Drag being pursued vigorously. While I’m not certain if
locomotive trains from the 1930’s benefitted from this practice?
The first modern Grand Prix racecar that popped
up upon thoust radar’s internal Jukebox was the 1937 Auto Union Streamliner,
known as the Type C Stromlinie. Having competed at the world’s fastest race
course AVUS in Germany in 1937 vs.
Mercedes Benz All conquering Stromlinienwagen. A series of three Mercedes Benz,
Err Daimler AG Grand Prix racecars fitted with streamlined bodywork. With both
the W125 and W25 chassis utilized.
Herman Lang won the “One-off” high speed event
at AVUS, replete with it’s “Wall of Death” turn, a banked curve of some 42-45
degrees banking constructed from brick. Hmm, that bricks idea sounds familiar
to Mwah…
Lang won the event aboard a W25 Grand Prix
racecar with said streamliner bodywork. Where the long straightaways allowed
for top speeds nearing 400kph, or a remarkable 248.50mph, Sheisa!
Whilst fast forwarding to today. The
Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s Mercedes W196 Streamliner driven by Juan Manuel
Fangio just sold at auction for a whopping $53 million, the second most
expensive racecar ever!
Scary to think I’ve been following Formula 1
for nearly four decades now, meaning it’s really hard to remember everything
that’s happened over that time span, Ja volt! But I tend to believe that
aerodynamics became the rage in F1 in the early 1960’s, when the first wings
sprouted on Grand Prix machinery. With this push for these Aero’ gains
culminating with the failures of high mounted rear wings. For which a certain
Pete Lovely’s late 1960’s Lotus racecar comes to mind. Which I think was a
Lotus 49?
As the win “pylons” were simply failing due to
being overstressed by the aerodynamic downforce loads being exerted upon them!
Then I’ve just been reminded about the foray
into the sliding skirt era by Racer’s Marshall Pruett. As this early 1980’s F1
era saw designers trying to create a vacuum of low pressure? Underneath said
racecar to “glue” it to the circuit with the aid of ground effects and the
car’s wings, which were basically inverted airfoils to push the chassis down to
increase cornering speeds. If I understand the concept correctly?
As it was the late colin Chapman and His
legendary Team Lotus that pioneered this concept with the Lotus 78 that Mario
Andretti claimed the F1 Drivers World Championship with.
Aerodynamics have always been at the forefront
of Formula 1 chassis design as long as I can remember. Although it seems like
we enjoyed great on-track skirmishes over the decades, or at least from the
1980’s to the early 2000’s. Which may have been due to the cars massive amounts
of horsepower? Although today’s racecars are no slouches!
Whilst the last, great scrum I recall seems to
be Nico Rosberg v Lewis Hamilton in equally prepared Mercedes in 2016. Along
with the superb “Dust-up” between Hamilton and Max Verstappen over the 2021
season…
Making me wonder if today’s Formula 1 chassis
have simply become too Aero-efficient? As I don’t know what year the Drag
Reduction System (DRS) came into effect? But I do know that the current chassis
were hailed as the biggest overhaul in quite awhile for their 2022 technical
rule changes. Specifically designed to encourage closer following of a leading
car, and promote overtaking. Which we’re now seeing a total lack of, regarding
who’s leading the Grand Prix.
DRS was implemented in Formula 1 in 2011, and
ceases at the end of 2025, when the new Aerodynamic Aids come into effect…
The current Grand Prix races have seen nothing
more than the pole sitter either lead start to finish, or the car that get’s
out front, i.e.; Oscar Piastri at the first corner in Jeddah going on to win.
As the cars simply run best in “clean” Air and I suppose due to the convergence
of design. Now struggle to run faster in what the Pundits call “Dirty” Air,
which seemingly is the wake or vortex created behind the leading racecar…
As I don’t know if my example’s correct? But
this is somewhat akin to being buffedted by the “Dirty” Air coming off a
semi-truck from a far distance behind it. As we won’t digress into the realm of
draftin…
IndyCar doesn’t seem totally adverse to this
situation either, as it seems that I’ve heard drivers saying you don’t want to
be too far in the pack at Mother Speedway. Although the cars do seem to
“suck-up” better, where you don’t necessarily wish to be the leading car at the
end of the Indianapolis 500. As just ask both Marcus Ericsson and Pato O’Ward
about that!
Sadly, I feel that la Scuderia boss Frederic
Vausser’s words are poetic? Err, Uhm prescient. With the Scuderia Ferrari team
principal noting at Suzuka that this year’s F1 Championship will most likely be
won during qualifying, Sigh! Since apparently the design staffs have clawed
back the lost performance, which they always do. And now the F1 cars are simply
too similar in performance, leading to lack of overtaking at the front of the
grid, leading to rather dull races.
And yeah, I know that both Charles Leclerc and
Lando Norris managed to overtake George
Russell for positions on-track with the aid of their DRS at Jeddah. Yet it was
only third and fourth place. With Oscar Piastri controlling the race ahead of
Max Verstappen.
Yet recall that even when Piastri got within
DRS range of Verstappen, He was unable to pass Him. While Williams Carlos Sainz
Jr. brilliantly led, and allowed teammate Alex Albon to follow in DRS range
andeffectively create a DRS “train” which Racing Bulls Isack Hadjar couldn’t
overcome. With the trio finishing P8-9-10 respectively…
Next year, Formula 1 is set to implement it’s
biggest raft of technical rule changes with the advent of both new chassis and
Power Units. (PU) As the chassis are said to be “smaller”, more nimbler and
weigh less, and feature moving aerodynamic “devices”, i.e.; front and rear
wings. With just two fixed positions available, i.e.; fuel efficiency or “High”
downforce modes.
While the PU’s will feature a 50/50 split
between Electric and Internal Combustion Engine (ICE) power output. With a
third item of consideration being the redesigned, narrower 18-inch Pirelli
tyres for said racecars…
And so it goes, as will 2025 be the season that diminishes Formula One’s current wave of popularism? And how will the 2026 F1 season pan out?
