Location: Covilhã, Portugal (and sometimes in Évora)
Post
"just behind the wheels (front), on top of the monocoque, you can see the pitot tube sticking upç. It measures airspeed and allows us to monitor the dynamic pressure on the car from which we derive windspeed plus car speed. It's extremly usefull in adjusting the car's aerodynamics at the track, because it provides a reference point against which alterations can be measured" by Ben Agathangelou (Renaults aero department) (in F1 Racing, April 2004 page 122).
Exactly, from pitot you obtain speed relative to air (windspeed + carspeed), not speed relative to ground (carspeed alone), especially at low speed or when the car is cornering (both situations typical for TC work) the difference could be relatively big. Pitot is indeed very useful, it’s simple and allows to obtain lot of info, but TC requires carspeed alone and the wheels are a more reliable source for that.
