Wedges and cigars - from slipstreaming to downforce

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Wedges and cigars - from slipstreaming to downforce

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Created on March 19, 2022

Text:

Gerhard Schütz

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Archiv Gerhard Schütz

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Archiv Manz

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Bruno von Rotz

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Alfa Romeo / Werk

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Sauber Motorsport

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Audi / Werk

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Lotus 19 (1967) - Perhaps the most beautiful cigar of all time

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Alfa Romeo Tipo 1959 "Alfetta" (1951) - Cigar in red

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Alfa Romeo Tipo 159 "Alfetta" (1951) - Less air resistance through cladding

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Lotus 49 (1967) - Less air resistance due to internal front springs

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Ford P68 (1968) - Streamlined flounder shape

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Michael May's Porsche 550, at Monza in 1956 - 10 years before Chaparral with wing

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Ferrari 312 (1968) - 1968 British Grand Prix: Jacky Icks clinched the first wing victory in Formula 1 at the race in Rouen

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Chaparral 2E (1966) - Winged monster of the Can-Am series

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Ferrari 250 GTO (1962) - Integrated rear spoiler

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Ferrari 312 B (1970) - Cooling air outlet in the front

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Lotus 49 (1970) - Downforce through front spoiler, cooling air outlet in the nose and rear wing

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Lotus 72 (1970) - Downforce through wedge shape

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Ferrari 312 T "Spazzaneve" (1973) - Wedge-shaped study

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Lotus 79 (1978) - Downforce from the aproned side box

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Chaparral 2J (1970) - Underpressure due to fans and rear skirts

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Brabham BT46B (1978) - First victory in the first (and last) race

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The front wing generates side-sealing wake vortices

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Alfa Romeo Giulietta 1.6 (1977) - the first version

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Fiat X 1/9 (1979) - flat and open at the top thanks to the Targa roof

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GMA T.50 (2022) - Vacuum cleaner sports car for the road

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Summary

While air was still considered the number one enemy of speed before the war, engineers recognized its benefits in the mid-sixties in the search for ever higher cornering speeds. All kinds of tail units were used in an attempt to control and steer the airflow according to their own wishes. Part 2 of our history of racing car aerodynamics tells the story of the journey from the flow-optimized cigar to the downforce-generating wedge.

This article contains the following chapters

The first aerodynamic revolution: wings and spoilers
The second revolution: the wedge shape
The three-liter Formula 1 as a driver of aerodynamics
The third revolution: the wing car with ground effect
The fourth revolution: the vacuum cleaner
What remained of the wing car: the rear diffuser
2022 - The ground effect is back
Offshoots of aerodynamic developments for everyday cars
Epilogue

Estimated reading time: 10min

Preview (beginning of the article)

Cigars with a cut-off tip were the basic shape for single-seater racing cars until the 1970s. As in the pre-war period, the sole aim of the design was to minimize air resistance - albeit with a few interesting, forward-looking exceptions, as presented in Part 1 of this story. One of these exceptions reappeared in 1954: The air brake. The Mercedes-Benz 300 SLR was equipped with a scoop-like brake tailgate for Le Mans. In 1968, this concept appeared once again at the Indianapolis 500 on the STP gas turbine car. Since then, the air brake has gone quiet - not least because the development of increasingly effective disc brakes meant there was no longer any need for it.

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