May 16, 2002. Copyright, 2002, Graphic News. All rights reserved

Aerodynamics on the not-so-straight and narrow
By Elisabeth Ribbans

LONDON, May 16, Graphic News:  Monte Carlo provides the slowest and one of the shortest circuits in the Grand Prix season. But as the racing calendarÕs most glamorous and hair-raising event, it puts F1 teams through an indisputably high-pressure workout.

Every member -- from mechanics to marketeers -- will sweat to ensure a peak performance in Monaco. But nothing matters quite so much in preparation as the attention paid to a carÕs aerodynamics. With just one fast straight set against 15 tight bends, this heavy-braking race around the principalityÕs slippery narrow streets demands lashings of downforce to ensure traction on the corners. ÒMore acrobatics than aerodynamics,Ó was how Mika Hakkinen, winner at Monaco in 1998, described the famous Mirabeau bend, while the heavy right-hand turn at Casino Square left drivers feeling their cars had Òno wheels on the groundÓ.

Attempting to keep an F1 auto clinging to the not-so-straight and narrow requires fine-tuning of the front wings -- the first part of the car to receive the air mass -- and of the rear wings. Above all, the balance between the two must be spot on: too little downforce at the front will cause under-steer, while too much will tempt the back of the car to try to overtake its own front on a turn. Either could prove fatal on those unforgiving Monegasque hairpins. (A few seasons ago, the ruling FIA discussed with F1 engineers the possibility of introducing ÒactiveÓ front wings, which could be computer-controlled to adjust the carÕs balance according to aerodynamic conditions. Although some teams favoured an experiment, overriding fears for the disastrous consequences of a computer glitch caused the idea to be shelved.) The wings of an F1 car operate rather like the upside-down wings of an aircraft. Instead of deriving lift from the air that rushes over their surface, they are shaped to harness downforce that sucks the vehicle into the ground. Typically, the larger the wing, the greater the downforce -- leading Arrows and Jordan to produce some bulky components last season that most race-watchers thought deserved no prizes for beauty. The curved wings seen on the Sauber-Petronas are considered much more likely trend-setters.

Suction is also increased through the diffuser -- an area on the rear underside that accelerates airflow through a special shaping that sweeps up towards the tail. A more recent addition to the Òdownforce packageÓ are barge boards, usually mounted vertically between the front wings and the sidepods. Introduced for the 1993 season, they are designed to iron out the turbulent airflow around the sides of the car.

However efficient the aerodynamics of an F1 racer, no adjustment will ever allow drivers to relax for a second at Monte Carlo. As the late Ayrton Senna, six times a champion in Monaco, said: racing those streets is like Òflying a helicopter through the living roomÓ.
/ENDS