Why is Slipstream GREAT but Dirty Air AWFUL?

Slipstreaming and Dirty Air are just 'following the car behind' but how can one be *highly desired* and the other be *a plague on motorsport*? Let's explore.

#F1 #Aerodynamics

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Music: "Chess Moves" by Telegrams

[evilzzzability]

Fun factoid: the car in front also benefits from having someone in their slipstream, as it presents a longer body to the air and cuts the low pressure area immediately behind them. It's most prominent in NASCAR where the cars run bumper to bumper and can go faster in pairs than they do solo. If you ever watch inline speed skating they work together in long packs which dramatically helps everyone in the pack.

[FullOilBarrel]

just consider slipstream and dirty air basically the same. both reduce drag. you want that in a straight but not in a corner

[TheFikri]

Seriously can't wait to see 2022 car race.

[eviebr]

Thinking about Jeremy Clarkson's Atom face is much better than thinking about his O face!

[bossd]

First moment I, non-native English speaker, heard "air, like water, is a fluid" I nearly spat my tea, before I could remember that "fluid" and "liquid" are different terms. Damn you, linguistic barrier! On the other hand, I belive comparing air to water is the best way to explain drag and other stuff like that to anyone of any age who have expirienced swimming.
What an improvement over the years though! When I saw the title and that it has been posted minutes ago I was wondering, I could remember you already covered it an earlier video. But comparing them know, what an astonisihing progress you made!

[DeFlekkie]

This would make excellent physics class material 😁

[fohemmer]

I think it was also worth mentioning the fact that being in dirty air reduces the overall car performance. The main issue is that chasing closely a car ahead means that the average temperature of the air you'll be facing is higher than what should be, so this will lead to an easy overheat of your tires with subsequent excess degradation or formation of graining.
I'm not sure about this, so I ask our lord and savior Chainbear's opinion, but I think that dirty air may not be great for engine performance. I guess that oxygen concentration in free air is a bit better, and surely the decreased air pressure in the wake will make the engine suffer a bit, although the presence of the compressor might make up for this effect.

[ablqze]

This video summarised in about 10 words:

Dirty Air - No Downforce --> Understeer/Oversteer --> Slower
Slipstream - No Drag --> Faster Top Speed

[taufiqutomo]

2:49 which is why in aerokit days (2015-2017), sometimes you see Indy cars running asymmetric wings on ovals.

[bryszkn]

Chain Bear: air particles all around
Me: air all particles around

[caincha]

This is very noticeable watching onboard footage and keeping an eye on the car's front antennas. The antennas are very still on the straights and go wild when following another car on the corners or mid-overtaking, when the driver change lanes and go from the slipstream to clean air - in-between there's heaps of dirty air and the antennas go crazy!

[damionlee]

I'd like to have been a fly on the wall at some of the teams aero department meetings. Specifically when discussing how they can create extra turbulence behind the vehicle under the incoming regs. Deciding on whether it is worth balancing the downsides to the own cars by creating that turbulence Vs the negative impact on following drivers looking to pass improving their chances for better places.

[splode]

This year is my first season watching F1 properly and this is *exactly* the question I've been asking in the last few weeks because the commentators have never bothered to explain it. Thank you so much! Excellent video, and an extremely clear explanation.

[pedrojosesilvacampos]

Great video explanation. One part you got slightly incomplete is at 8:17, the reaction force is only a 2/5 slice of the downforce. most of the downforce is made by suction of faster air running underneath the car, not by reacting to air going up. Lower pressure sucks the car onto the road, not just because air is being pushed up. The diffuser as a concept does not need air on top. just air flowing underneath. In that case the only opposite reaction is the cars suspension.

[lightfeather]

This explains the basic theory well but I wished there was more practical discussion. What confuses people is why are we told that following another car slows you down if they're intentionally following each other during qualifying laps. It sounds contradictory and the nuances of it are subtle, complicated, and rarely ever explained in the media.

[rikw]

3:26 Fun thing is, the drag coefficient of a cube and an F1 car are almost equal, so if they have the same frontal area, velocity and go through the same density air, the drag force would be about the same

[dafyddrees]

This video is basically my dissertation project without the maths, how nice everything is without the maths 😂

[squelchedotter]

When you're so early you can't autoskip the sponsorship yet

[thefibs]

7:23 love that the bus is so recognizably a Transport for London Wright New Routemaster

[jamestaylor]

Thank you! I’m relatively new to F1, and this has been one of my biggest questions. Solved!