Downforce in wet condition

[freedom_honda]

just wondering do they add more wing angle on the car to increase the downforce in wet condition or do they decrease the downforce level??

[PNSD]

Im going to hijack, sorry but I dont see the point in starting another thread...

But also how does the weather effect downforce ?

But Honda, to answer your question, they usually put max downforce on lol. Depends on track really. But rideheight and tyre pressures are also adjusted.

And obviously the springs to soften up, but in a situation where its dry, then suddenly a unexpected downpour there are limited things that could be changed.

[walter]

I have always wondered about this... would rain actually make cars produce more downforce? since the wings would be changing the direction of the water that is mixed with the air it should in theory. perhaps the added downforce is counteracted with extra force underneath the tires(aquaplaning)? any thoughts?

[freedom_honda]

Im going to hijack, sorry but I dont see the point in starting another thread...

But also how does the weather effect downforce ?

But Honda, to answer your question, they usually put max downforce on lol. Depends on track really. But rideheight and tyre pressures are also adjusted.

And obviously the springs to soften up, but in a situation where its dry, then suddenly a unexpected downpour there are limited things that could be changed.

Like what happened in Nurburing..
When the race started it was all dry. So the cars were set up for a dry condition. But suddenly rain just poured down from the sky. When they pitted, do they add more wing angle or decrease the downforce level?

I was having this argue with my mate the other day cause the cars are losing mechanical grip due to the rain, shouldnt they ADD more aero grip???

[Ray]

They add a tremendous amount of front and rear downforce in wet conditions with wing adjustments. Every one did in Germany anyway. They really crank it up, so the rain itself doesn't make it produce more downforce they just add more with increased wing angle. Rain makes the races more exciting to. It's the equivalent of NASCARs night racing to me.

[PNSD]

Freedom, during a wet-dry race only the front wing can be adjusted, not the rear. but like i said, tyre pressures are also adjusted in a verying condition race.

[FLC]

If I'm not mistaken, wet tyres also change ride height.

[modbaraban]

If I'm not mistaken, wet tyres also change ride height.

true

[Ray]

Freedom, during a wet-dry race only the front wing can be adjusted, not the rear. but like i said, tyre pressures are also adjusted in a verying condition race.

Sorry, you're right. I meant front wing only. Whoops.

[RacingManiac]

the rear wing is not adjustable on a F1 car AFAIK, most of the time they arrive at the track with a specific aero setup and they adjust frontwing to fine tune it, along with other suspension/tyre parameters....I'd imagine they have a seperate rearwing that may be at a different level of downforce altogether to anticipate for the need for a completely different setup(ie, Indy or Fuji, where there might be 2 ways of going for the optimum due to the long-ish straight and slow speed corners.) I think at Fuji some were stuck with a lower df than desired for the wet condition as they may have been hoping for a drier race...

[countersteer]

Here's one for ya...

How do they change the pit speed limiter given that rain tires are larger in diameter? Are both the intermediates full wets larger?

Sure, we're talking 2 to 3 kmh but everything is down to the nth degree.

comments?

[modbaraban]

Just an idea. There's a rain button on the wheel that turns on the rear light. Perhaps it switches the rev-limiting electronics to rain mode too.

[mini696]

the rear wing is not adjustable on a F1 car AFAIK, most of the time they arrive at the track with a specific aero setup and they adjust frontwing to fine tune it, along with other suspension/tyre parameters....I'd imagine they have a seperate rearwing that may be at a different level of downforce altogether to anticipate for the need for a completely different setup(ie, Indy or Fuji, where there might be 2 ways of going for the optimum due to the long-ish straight and slow speed corners.) I think at Fuji some were stuck with a lower df than desired for the wet condition as they may have been hoping for a drier race...

The rear wing is adjustable, but the rules state they cant change it after quali2 (once the cars are under parc-ferme condidtions).

[AeroGT3]

Rain makes for more downforce just from rain alone, let alone adjustments teams make.

[megz]

Correct, if you look closely on the rear wing there are many little slots where the main plane of the rear wing can be adjusted.