Auto123.com spoke with Pascal Vasselon, Technical Director of Toyota Motorsport about the new moveable rear wing that will be introduced in Formula 1 this season.
Even if Toyota no longer runs its own F1 team, its motorsport branch (located in the suburbs of Cologne, Germany) remains fully active as the engineers headed by Vasselon are working as consultants for several teams.
First of all, Vasselon explained why a passing manoeuvre is so difficult to execute in F1. “A car that is closely following another loses a great deal of performance. The car is not just unstable, it loses performance,” he said.
Here’s an example that is easy to understand. “An F1 car that moves through the air creates turbulences that are very similar to those generated by a jet ski moving forward in the water. Those turbulences are called wake. With one jet ski following another, the one that runs behind loses performance because its turbine runs out of water and it becomes very difficult to steer. The same principle applies in F1, with the exception that water is replaced by air,” explained Vasselon.
The Overtaking Group of the FOTA has worked hard over the past few years to find innovative solutions to make passing manoeuvres easier in F1.
“The Group came up with the idea of giving back some performance to the car that is running behind another one,” Vasselon continued. “One way was to temporarily increase engine power. The other way was to decrease drag to increase top speed. That’s what was chosen for 2011.”
The rear wing of an F1 car generates not only massive downforce but also an incredible amount of drag (turbulences). Reducing drag automatically increases the top speed (Vmax) of the vehicle. And that’s exactly what the Moveable Rear Wing (MRW) to be introduced this year is designed to accomplish.
Even if Toyota no longer runs its own F1 team, its motorsport branch (located in the suburbs of Cologne, Germany) remains fully active as the engineers headed by Vasselon are working as consultants for several teams.
First of all, Vasselon explained why a passing manoeuvre is so difficult to execute in F1. “A car that is closely following another loses a great deal of performance. The car is not just unstable, it loses performance,” he said.
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| The spray of water shows well the turbulences generated by the Mercedes. (Photo: WRI2) |
Here’s an example that is easy to understand. “An F1 car that moves through the air creates turbulences that are very similar to those generated by a jet ski moving forward in the water. Those turbulences are called wake. With one jet ski following another, the one that runs behind loses performance because its turbine runs out of water and it becomes very difficult to steer. The same principle applies in F1, with the exception that water is replaced by air,” explained Vasselon.
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| CFD illustration showing the influence of the leading car over the follower. (Archives Auto123.com) |
The Overtaking Group of the FOTA has worked hard over the past few years to find innovative solutions to make passing manoeuvres easier in F1.
“The Group came up with the idea of giving back some performance to the car that is running behind another one,” Vasselon continued. “One way was to temporarily increase engine power. The other way was to decrease drag to increase top speed. That’s what was chosen for 2011.”
The rear wing of an F1 car generates not only massive downforce but also an incredible amount of drag (turbulences). Reducing drag automatically increases the top speed (Vmax) of the vehicle. And that’s exactly what the Moveable Rear Wing (MRW) to be introduced this year is designed to accomplish.