The aero secrets revealed by F1’s dirty cars in Turkey

The challenges certainly were unique, but there were also some unintended consequences from the weekend too as they offered a fascinating glimpse of teams’ aero secrets.
For not only did the weather allow us to capture images of some of the vortices, the wet surface gave us clues about how the aerodynamics of the car disturb the airflow and manipulate the tyre wake to improve performance.

On top of this, the track surface was still leeching oil residue. This emulsified when mixed with the rain and, after nearly two hours of running on Sunday, left the cars covered in a grey hue. This behaved much like the flo-viz paint that the teams use to assess aerodynamic performance in testing and free practice sessions – so offered the chance to see a car’s aero secrets at work.

Join us as we take a look through a collection of the best images from the weekend that can be used to visualise how the car’s aerodynamics move the airflow around to improve performance and cause the turbulence we always hear about.

Red Bull

Red Bull Racing RB16 sidepods detail

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Red Bull is known for its aerodynamic prowess and this picture just goes to show how well the airflow moves around the RB16’s sidepods into the coke bottle region.

Mercedes

Mercedes-AMG F1 W11 detail

Photo by: Andy Hone / Motorsport Images

Lewis Hamilton climbs out of the cockpit of his Mercedes W11 as a seven-time champion, and we are treated to a view of both how the airflow moves over the surface of the sidepods, and how the design of the halo fairing alters the flow too.

Ferrari

Ferrari SF1000 detail

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

In this image of the Ferrari SF1000, we can see a vortex that has formed beneath the car.

McLaren

McLaren MCL35 rear detail

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

A vortex forms due to the adverse pressure gradient at the rear wing tip on the McLaren MCL35 and is visible due to the climatic conditions.

Renault

Renault F1 Team R.S.20 sidepods detail

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

This shot of the Renault RS20 shows how the Venetian blind style deflectors push the airflow down and around the sidepods.

Williams

Williams FW43 sidepods detail

Photo by: Steven Tee / Motorsport Images

This shot of the FW43 is aided not only by the oily residue kicked up off the track, but also some dirt that appears to have clung to the car. It shows how the ramped section of their sidepod drives the airflow in to a point on the floor where it will be picked up again by another aerodynamic airflow structure.

Ferrari

Charles Leclerc, Ferrari SF1000

Photo by: Charles Coates / Motorsport Images

The spray from the wet conditions gives us an idea of how the airflow is pushed away from the car by the various aerodynamic surfaces. This in-turn prevents the airflow being ingested by the floor which would reduce performance.

Gallery: Turkey’s dirty cars

For more images of the airflow secrets revealed by the dirty cars in Turkey, here is an extensive gallery.

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