Thanks for the clarification….zibby43 wrote: ↑29 Apr 2021, 20:42That’s what the slots/holes at the rear of the floor were designed to do: to manage the disruption to the airflow caused by the rotating tire. That airflow otherwise tries to wreck the consistency of underfloor flow that feeds the diffuser.holeindalip wrote: ↑29 Apr 2021, 16:13I thought the slots just helped with pushing the turbulent tire wake outwards not to create vortices? Correct me if I’m wrong??zibby43 wrote: ↑27 Apr 2021, 23:38
Brabham BT19 days!
Re: the W12, I thought the above photo did a really good job demonstrating the "Z-shaped" floor, which can be read about in more detail here:
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/arti ... Jb5U1.html
Thought it was a fascinating development choice, as cutting the Z into the floor's sides actually results in shedding some floor area from the car.
Excerpt:
"The cut-out itself, working in combination with the vane atop of it, could be creating a vortex of spinning air which is then sucked to the underside edges of the floor, thereby helping seal it, so retaining that negative pressure.
These vortices form virtual ‘skirts’ (so named after the physical rubber/ceramic skirts which were banned in the 1980s) keep the airflow of the main part of the floor energised. The faster that flow, the greater the downforce. The job of creating the vortices on the outer edges of floor was previously done by the floor slots which were banned for this year."
Like you said, those slots allow the excess pressure to vent, rather than being injected into the free airstream.
These slots were typically angled. The excerpt above was referring to the vertical slots running parallel to the floor’s edge closer to the side pod area.