I see it as a small flap that opens up and it speeds up the cars by a large margin. How does something so small like a flap provide that much of a boost?
In: Engineering
Did you ever do that drill in school where they made you run with a parachute on your back?
You could probably run a lot faster without the parachute than with the parachute, because the parachute was creating drag and holding you back.
F1 cars are designed to produce a lot of downforce so they can corner quickly, but downforce also comes with drag. When the cars are going in a straight line (same as you sprinting) opening the rear wing to let air through (instead of creating drag) is like you taking the parachute off while you’re running.
You can run a lot faster without the parachute on, and the cars can drive faster with the wing open because it’s not creating drag.
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