Hacker News Reader

Comment by jacquesm | Hacker News Reader

That second link is just insane, the way that thing gets going and maintains speed through the corners is out of this world. I wonder what the disturbance in the air behind the middle of the car is, probably dust but it looks a bit strange for that. Or is it sucking itself to the ground (if so then that makes the run a lot less impressive, F1 outlawed that long ago).

View on HN

They actually brought back ground effect this year with the newest regulation change. The argument was that if cars relied on ground effect for downforce and less on front and rear wings, cars could have an easier time following the car ahead because the turbulent air becomes less of a factor (due to ground effect not being as susceptible as the front wing to turbulent air) and being able to follow more closely makes for better racing. As a fan, I certainly can't complain. The commentators certainly never miss a chance to remind us how good the new regulations are.

Yes, but that's not using fans, or is it?

Not fans exactly, but the Bernoulli principle, which is sufficient to keep the car sucked to the track if the floor is designed in a specific way [0][1]

[0] https://motorsport-magazine.s3.eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/wp-co...

[1] https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ground_effect_(cars)

Yes, but that only works above a minimum speed, fans work all the time so that is why that electric car in the video moves like it is on rails. If that F1 car had had fans it would likely be just as fast, the difference is minimal as it is.

It is all electric rear wheel drive with two fans that suck it to the ground, and the skirt lasts a long time!

Ah ok, then this is an apples to oranges comparison. Thank you!

Reply on news.ycombinator.com