Eli5: Why are f1 tires smooth and grippy, but street tires with no tread are dangerous and slippery

Question

When you Google why are f1 tires smooth, the answer is no tread means more surface area, so better grip, but when you Google why do street tires have grooves, the same answer comes up. I’m confused. Also, is this a physics question, engineering or technology? Lol

In: Engineering

Answer 1

F1 cars change to tires with treads when it’s wet out.

Normal drivers don’t have a pit crew they can go to on the fly at the first sign of wet conditions, so the water has nowhere to go from under the tires of there are no treads, resulting in no traction, which means you can’t stop.

Normal cars don’t need the tiny performance boost from having smooth tires in dry conditions, but they really need to avoid the massive performance loss in wet conditions.