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you'll likely have heard the phrase
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downforce refer to a fair bit when
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watching F1 and it's for good reason
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downforce is a very important integral
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factor in what makes a Formula 1 car
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drive fast on a track but why let's
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break it down Force let's start with a
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quick
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definition downforce is a vertical
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aerodynamic force acting on a car as the
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car moves forward traveling through the
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air the down Force pushes the car
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towards the ground effectively the
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opposite of what lifts a plane into the
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air on takeoff to give you an idea of
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how much downforce a Formula 1 car can
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generate when a car is traveling at
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around say 150 kmph or 93 mph the amount
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of downforce on the car is almost equal
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to the minimum weight of a F1 car 795 kg
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at Max Speed that force is over five
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times as powerful the teams work super
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hard to maximize this downforce and the
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places that can benefit from it for
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example being able to push the car more
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into the ground on tight and twisty
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Corners Generating more grip and
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traction so these Corners can be taken
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at higher speeds so what do the teams do
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to master and be at one with the
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downforce it all comes back to the
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aerodynamic design of the cars a large
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amount of the downforce is impacted by
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the floor of the car but also crucially
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with the front and rear Wings regardless
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of aerodynamics downforce is constantly
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being created by every piece of the car
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that comes into contact with the air the
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challenge is how can teams manipulate
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and control the those parts to work in
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harmony with the Natural Forces at play
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one way the teams achieve this is via
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the front and rear Wings changing the
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size and angle of the wing elements to
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provide different downforce levels on a
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high-speed circuit with long straights
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for example the wings are smaller and
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nearly flat allowing air to travel
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through them with less resistance but on
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a twisty circuit where downforce is
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essential the surface area is larger and
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could be angled more against the air
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flow turning that passing air into
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additional weight pushing the car
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towards the ground and improving grip
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and traction through corners this is
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just one of a few ways the front and
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rear wings and other elements of the car
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are designed and utilized to work with
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the Natural Forces on the car and turn
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it into improved performance how
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smart to achieve the almost unbelievable
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remarkable speeds and performance of an
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F1 car you need a combination of raw
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engine power and expertly crafted
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aerodynamics engine performance has
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become more and more comparable between
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teams over the years of F1 racing which
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has made way for the mastering of drag
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and aerodynamics giving teams The Edge
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on their Rivals it's a huge part of the
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process with teams hiring hundreds of
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Staff across different departments to
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make sure performance levels keep going
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up and up and up and up and up and up
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and you get a picture let's start by
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talking about a small or not so small
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thing called drag and how it impacts an
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F1
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car drag is an aerodynamic resistance or
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force that works against the direction
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of a moving vehicle simply put the more
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air space a car is taking up as it moves
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forward the greater the resistance
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against it is going to be as the car
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goes faster the drag increases catch my
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drift in a sport where speed and
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efficiency are super important drag is
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detrimental to quite a few areas that
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you wouldn't want it to be Performance
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top speed and fuel consumption to name a
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few not at all ideal for racing Formula
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1 cars imagine the difference between
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throwing an expertly folded paper air
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playe through the air versus throwing a
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really rubbish badly folded one we've
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all done it or the way the air feels
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through your hand when placing outside
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the window of a moving car more forc
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against your hand if it's facing up
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rather than flat faceing the ground
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right make sense on the team side
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various specific aerodynamically
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designed elements and components on the
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car work to reduce drag remember the
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paper airplane example great the two
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main sections of a Formula 1 car's front
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Wing the end plates and the Cascades are
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specifically designed to direct air flow
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around the tires and underneath the car
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the arrow of foil Wing shape creates
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higher pressure above the wing than
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below it which pushes down on the wing
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this is true of both front and rear
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Wings helping to make the car great at
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cornering where the demand for grip is
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high there is an element of increased
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drag as a result of this but this is
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seen as a necessary evil given that the
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speeds are slow off through the
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corners does the term DRS ring any bills
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time for a quick history lesson back in
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2011 a new rule was introduced that
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allowed cars to have a system installed
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via a rear wi component to help further
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reduce drag helping make the cars
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temporarily faster so drivers had more
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chance to overtake others on track this
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is called the drag reduction system or
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DRS and it is fundamental in modern F1
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racing the DRS is a driver control
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device that adjust the position of part
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of the rear wing the idea being that by
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opening up part of the wing and allowing
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for more air to pass through it without
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interruption drag on the car is reduced
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and straight line speed increased
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reduces drag drag reduction system make
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sense right DRS is a crucially important
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aspect when following a car as the air a
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car in front has just driven through
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using all of its aerodynamic Wizardry is
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turbulent so the wings of the car behind
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aren't as effective DRS counters any
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loss in corner and grip by making the
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straight line run up to the corner
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faster when DRS is activated giving the
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driver a chance to pass the car in front
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before the corner DRS can be used at any
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time during practice and qualifying
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within a dedicated DRS activation zone
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or zones on the track however during the
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race it can only be activated when you
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are within a second of the car in front
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at the time you enter an activation Zone
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this keeps things interesting as drivers
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push to get close enough to the car in
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front while the driver in front has to
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push to stop that happening when a
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driver is within a second of the car in
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front they are alerted via DRS dash
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lights and can manually activate the DRS
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via a button on their steering wheel
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once they have passed the line on the
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track that indicates the start of the
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DRS zone They then can use the reduced
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drag plus added speed to try and
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overtake the DRS is then deactivated
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when the driver breaks before the next
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turn so they need to make it count the
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same rules apply for any driver within a
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second of the car in front even if it's
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a lapped car which means sometimes
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multiple cars may be able to activate
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DRS within the same section of the TRU
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it's always exciting when that happens
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for drivers in front being chased by
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others the race Engineers might update
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them over the radio about the gap
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between the driver or drivers behind
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giving them the option to push and
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maintain a gap of more than a second and
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therefore stopping the driver behind
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from being able to use DRS it's a
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strategic old game this F1 business
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isn't it you've heard about downfalls
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from Wings you've heard about the drag
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that high Wing angles produce but let's
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take a look at some of the aerodynamic
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awesomeness going on underneath a
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Formula 1 car and a little term known as
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ground effect ground effect is just
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another example of the Wizardry that
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goes on in the aerodynamics Department
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of F1 teams simply put ground effect is
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a way of manipulating air flow
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underneath the car to create a sort of
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vacuum sucking the car to the ground and
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improving cornering grip and traction
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the ability for teams to use ground
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effects returned to F1 in 2022 after
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being banned in the 1980s when there was
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still much to learn about
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aerodynamics so how does it work ground
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effect is all about trying to create an
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underside of the car that can expand the
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air flow passing underneath as it moves
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from front to back generating an area of
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low pressure that pulls the car towards
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the ground this then adds Force onto the
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tire on the ground adding to grip more
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grip means more speed and control
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through corners especially on the
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entering and exiting of a corner this
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ground effect aerodynamic approach has
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another benefit over Wings though it
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reduces turbulence underneath and behind
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the car once the air passes through the
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diffuser at the back reduced turbulent
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air behind the car means other cars can
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follow more closely before overtaken
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closer racing equals more
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excitement aerodynamic efficiency dirty
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air slipstream these are phrases
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commonly used when talking about F1
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racing but what do they mean let's start
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with dirty air and know this has nothing
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to do with actual dirt or smoke or
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anything like that to help it make sense
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we need to consider all of the
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aerodynamic forces at play on an F1 car
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and the elements of the car that require
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these forces to work for the front and
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rear Wings to work at reducing drag and
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improving down Force they need a steady
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flow of air passing through them at good
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speed dirty air is what exists when
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following a car in front closely as the
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leading car cuts through the air it
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distributes the air away meaning the car
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behind doesn't have the same amount of
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air related forces to work with
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impacting the ability to produce
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downforce grip and
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traction two words one goal and the
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difference between winning or losing any
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guesses I'll tell you aerodynamic
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efficiency it might sound like you're
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back in a physics lesson but achieving
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this consistently is huge towards
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creating a car that can win races and
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championships so what is it it's the
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balance between the multiple aerody
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Dynamic forces on a car as it's moving
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forward namely the two DS drag and down
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Force reducing drag a force that works
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against the car as it travels forwards
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helps it go faster in a straight line
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and is something that all teams strive
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to do but to be able to improve Speed
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and Performance through corners and on
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the slower parts of a track you need to
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in a sense increase drag by using things
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like the front and rear Wings to produce
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downforce so how do you achieve one
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without jeopardizing the other the
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balance otherwise known as aerodynamic
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efficiency the setup required to try to
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achieve this balance can drastically
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differ from track to track some circuits
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will have high speed layouts long
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straights and fewer slow speed Corners
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where less drag and D force is required
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whereas others may have hair pin after
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hair pin and fewer straights where
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optimal downforce is
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essential the aerodynamicist of the
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teams have to create as much downforce
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for as little drag as humanly possible
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the setup of the car and more
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specifically the angle and components of
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the Wings as well as the diffuser and
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undertray are how they go about
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achieving this efficiency a lot of work
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right well there's more once teams have
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optimized the Angles and shapes of the
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wings for downforce they then need to
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reduce the interference from non-
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aerodynamic surfaces meaning creating
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wings that can generate downforce but
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also direct air away from the tires and
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onto other aerodynamic surfaces further
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down the car this design process is what
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they call designing a slippery car the
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work never stops for F1 teams and
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achieving a perfect balance is no easy
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task slipstream is a positioning
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technique used in many different forms
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of racing from Cars motorbikes cycling
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skiing running the list goes on the idea
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being to capitalize on something or
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someone being in front punching a hole
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in the air whilst juice slipping behind
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into a little pocket of reduced pressure
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and drag in the case of F1 this means
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there's less resistance working against
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the car moving forward meaning the car
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can go faster meaning you can close the
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gap or even attempt an overtake on the
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car in front win-win it can also be used
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during qualifying to lower lap time by
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reducing drag and increasing speed on
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the Straits kind of like using the car
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in front as a slingshot in this nature
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though it's more commonly referred to as
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a toll rather than slipstream but it's
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the same principle so when do you
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actually use Slipstream
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the car is fastest when it uses all of
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its down Force to generate grip in the
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corners but all that down Force isn't
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needed on a straight to go fast so that
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loss of downforce doesn't cost any speed
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it in fact increases speed due to the
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reduction of drag make sense great so
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when are we likely to see Slipstream in
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action in other sports slipstream can be
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used to save human energy cycling or
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running let's say in F1 although known
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to be used as a fuel saving trick in the
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past using the slip stream is most
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common when the driver behind is looking
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to overtake the car in front slipping in
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behind reducing the drag and using the
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extra momentum to launch a move there's
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not a lot the car in front can do to try
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and stop this they could try and move
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across the track to break the toll but
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there are strict rules here they must
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only move once and do so early otherwise
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they can receive a warning or even a
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penalty for unsafe driving so there we
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go all of the key concepts of
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aerodynamics explained from down Force
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drag and DRS to ground effect dirty air
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and slipstream these are all
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characteristics that make modern Formula
00:13:07
1 racing what it is today
