Formula 1 promised that for this year 2022 they would have a car that would favor the fight between drivers, and that would also help to see more overtaking on the track.
The main bet to achieve this goal is the return of the ground effect , a solution that was already used in the 70s or 80s. So, if the solution already existed, why was it not reintroduced before? The answer lies in one fundamental aspect: security.
Before detailing what ground effect is, its advantages and dangers, we must analyze why it is so difficult to overtake today.
The ground effect and its operation in F1
The solution that the category has chosen has been to recover the ground effect, something that increases the speed of the car, overtaking and competitiveness on the track. This concept was used in Formula 1 from 1978 to 1982, but was later banned due to the number of accidents it caused.
The operation of the technology is linked to the so-called “Venturi effect”, which is based on Bernoulli ‘s principle. Weird names aside, the logic goes like this: When a liquid is passed steadily through a funnel, the rate at which this fluid exits the thinner end is greater than the rate at which the fluid flows out the wider end.
Not only is the output speed higher, but the pressure is reduced. This is because we don’t change the amount of liquid, we just change the path it travels. As long as we have liquid coming in, there will be a higher pressure at the inlet than at the outlet and the flow of that liquid will be faster at the point where it is “choked”.
Ground effect does something similar in the F1 car: it causes air to enter through a wide, closed path and exit through a narrower one. For ground effect to occur, the sides of the cars must have skirts that trap the air under the car, thus offering only a narrow exit for it, determined by the designers of each car.
When the air outlet is directed upwards, the car grips the ground more, because the pressure at the bottom is reduced thanks to the ground effect. Meanwhile, the pressure at the top increases with the airflow generated by the front and rear wings.
With the car lower to the ground and the airflow directed upwards, cars can go faster and chase their rivals more closely, favoring overtaking. In addition, in the pre-season tests a curious effect was discovered that was not expected caused by these new single-seaters, porpoising.
What is and what causes porpoising in F1 2022 cars?
Porpoising causes cars to bounce up and down in a sort of rocking or oscillating motion when reaching high speeds down the straights, a problem that almost every team has suffered to a greater or lesser extent at the start of 2022.
The key factor causing this phenomenon is that as more and more downforce builds up under the car, the car is sucked closer to the tarmac.
This causes the airflow to separate or directly stop at a certain point and, with the loss of downforce that this entails, the height of the car increases, which in turn causes the airflow to immediately return and the height of the car drops again drastically as downforce increases to the tipping point, creating a continuous cycle that causes the cars to bounce up and down
Turbulence that makes overtaking difficult in F1
The cars have undergone several aerodynamic changes in recent years. Until now the objective was to increase speed and the designers have managed to make the single-seaters have more grip towards the ground thanks to the pressure exerted by the air passing over the vehicle.
The increase in aerodynamic pressure can be achieved in various ways, but in general, the category is committed to increasing the width of the cars and their front wings. The so-called “aerodynamic drag” is responsible for allowing the car to accelerate without leaving the ground and slow down. It all depends on the angles and dimensions of the wings.
Let’s try to understand the principle of aerodynamic force on the wings by thinking about when we put our hand out of the car window. If we leave the hand flat, parallel to the ground, the air will pass through it without moving it. But if we tilt it slightly, the high-speed air will push it up or down.
If we do it with the lid of a Styrofoam box, the force of the air will be much greater and we can even lose the piece. This happens because the total area that is affected by the air is increased. And that is exactly what F1 has done with cars in recent years.
However, the air being pushed upwards can also end up slowing the car down, so you have to find a balance in the airflow. The best solution found by the teams has been to divert it to the sides and rear of the car.
Depending on the shape of the flaps and ailerons, the airflow can take the form of a spiral, which creates a lot of turbulence that harms the cars behind. This is what mainly hinders the chances of overtaking, as the drivers who are in pursuit lose grip with the ground and are more unstable.
With all this in mind, F1 needed to find a solution that would maintain the high speed of the cars while at the same time allowing the driver behind to stay close enough to overtake without losing grip.
The risks of ground effect in F1
This solution was banned in the category because it was very sensitive to oscillations in the asphalt and to objects in the car’s path. As mentioned above, the period in which ground effect was used was marked by several accidents, some of them fatal.
Most of the accidents occurred when the lower part of the car touched the asphalt, causing the air to stop flowing and get trapped under the car, something that increased the pressure. This pushed the car up, causing it to lose contact with the ground and, in some cases, take off like an airplane.
The feeling for drivers is similar to aquaplaning for a road car driver. However, the speed of an F1 is close to what planes need to take off, so it makes the situation that much more dangerous.
The organizers will have to think about emergency mechanisms to prevent the cars from taking off and ways to ensure that, even in the event of an accident, the drivers do not suffer serious consequences.
In 1982, Gilles Villeneuve’s car took off and disintegrated after colliding with the rear of Jochen Mass. The Ferrari was going over 200 km/h and flew for almost 100 meters before crashing to the ground and being destroyed. Villeneuve was unable to survive his injuries and died hours later.
Villeneuve’s teammate at the time, Didier Pironi, complained about the lack of safety caused by the increased speed of the cars in the corners: “Before the introduction of ground effect, the cars cornered on the Gilles died at 180 km/h. This Saturday we reached 260 km/h”.
New protective measures will be needed
The simplest measure to avoid this type of accident is the adoption of protections for the rear wheels, such as those used in IndyCar. This shield prevents cars from taking off by preventing the front wheels of a single-seater from touching the rear tires of the vehicle immediately ahead.
For that reason, the category has to think about how to prevent serious accidents from occurring. Although it is also true that single-seaters have evolved in terms of safety in recent decades and have allowed drivers to survive accidents such as the one suffered by Robert Kubica in Canada 2007.
Increasing the quality of racing is critical to the future of F1 and crashes may be unavoidable, but nobody wants another driver to meet the same end as Gilles Villeneuve or Ayrton Senna.
