Tech Tuesday: Could this 2022 F1 design trend explain those odd spins for Leclerc and Verstappen?

[ad_1]

Could the renewed trend in 2022 for teams to increase the performance of their rear wings with exhaust and waste gases be a contributing factor to the competition driven by France’s Charles Leclerc and Hungary’s Max Verstappen? F1.com technical expert Mark Hughes examines…

An often overlooked part of an F1 car’s aerodynamics is the interaction between the diffuser, beam wing, exhaust and exhaust inlets and outlets.

A few years ago, when the radial wing was banned, teams were getting massive compensatory performance by routing the exhaust under the rear wing. This has the added effect of pulling the surrounding airflow in that direction.

Read more: Binotto can’t win Hungarian GP for Ferrari – and that tire choice wasn’t the deciding factor

The more flow to the underside of the wing, the greater the air pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces and therefore the lower downforce.

After this, the FIA ​​stepped in and mandated a longer exhaust outlet relative to the rear wing and a steeper angle for the exhaust pipe, thus reducing the effect.

2022 Hungarian Grand Prix: Max Verstappen recovers a 360-degree spin.

Those restrictions still exist in the current regulations introduced this year, but now the radial wing is back, and so even within those exhaust restrictions it is once again possible to get an improved aerodynamic effect from the exhaust.

The pictures below use the Red Bull exhaust, beam wing, waste gate and distributor as an example. At the maximum allowable angle of the exhaust, even if the exit is level with the bottom of the radial wing, there can still be a strong effect, which drags the air flow under the main wing.

Tech Tuesday: A closer look at the FIA’s 2023 rule changes is to reverse the decline.

An interesting detail is that the waste pipe leads directly to the top of the distributor. This helps the performance of the dispenser when the drain is in use. But the wastegate is only used when the driver is off the throttle, as it is used to dump excess gases from the turbo.

Red Bull recently redesigned their beam wing and the upper element is moved below the exhaust instead of above. This probably maximized the aerodynamics of the entire exhaust/wing arrangement.

Tech Tuesday: Analyzing Red Bull’s radical updates for the British Grand Prix


PIO_RED--SILVERSTONE.jpg

The upward angle of the Red Bull’s smoke and possibly its interaction with the airflow on the underside of the radial wing is shown here. This is from the British Grand Prix before the team brought the upper body under the exhaust.

In France we saw Leclerc spin roughly at Turn 11 where he was back on the throttle.

In Hungary we saw Verstappen spin more on the throttle coming out of lap 13.

Could the aero added by the dirtgate be so effective that there would be a momentary significant reduction in power when the driver stood on the gas with the tires fully loaded?

[ad_2]

Source link

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *