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Post by wilmywood8455 on Sept 18, 2018 6:39:58 GMT -8
Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull have all won races this year. And yet the three cars gunning for supremacy in the 2018 Formula 1 World Championship all go about their business in very different ways. Here, our crack tech team of Mark Hughes and Giorgio Piola explore the subtle art of rake… In the second year of the wide body/big tyre F1 cars, teams have fine-tuned their initial responses to the regulation change in terms of layout and aero philosophies. The top three teams, Mercedes, Ferrari and Red Bull, illustrate the differences in basic philosophy, as well as in how they have each tweaked these layouts in between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The choice of wheelbase is inextricably linked to the aerodynamic philosophy regarding rake angle. A high-rake car will generate more underbody downforce from its underfloor than a low-rake car of the same floor area. It does this because of the expanding space behind the tiny gap between the floor’s leading edge and the track surface. The angle of the floor means the area between floor and ground expands as it goes back. That expansion leads to a decrease of air pressure that the oncoming air rushes to fill, effectively sucking the car to the ground. The faster the air moves, the more downforce is created. The downforce created by the floor is a function of the negative air pressure multiplied by the area that pressure is working upon (i.e. the area of the floor). So to get an equivalent downforce from a low-rake car will require a bigger floor.
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