Why do formula 1 cars use super slick wheels?
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They do now, but have not always. It mainly boils down to the amount of rubber touching the road. Someone in the past figured out that the more rubber touching the road gives you just that much more grip.
any car built for track racing has to real use for tire threading(unless they race in wet conditions like rain) so this type of tires are meant to take advantage of the speed to heat up and “stick” to the track increasing Grip. this is also why these tires have rather poor durability and end up being swapped a few times in endurance events.
Well, in F1, grip is super important. And the only contact point with the ground are the tires. Slick tyres gives the car a bigger contact space with the ground and therefore more grip than a tire with treads. The reason road cars need to use tyres with treads is to get rid of the water so they can reach the tarmac and have grip in all weather conditions.
The grooves in your tyres are only there to displace water. It’s the rubber touching the road that counts. That being said the compound is key. Racing slicks are extremely sticky and once warmed up they try to preserve that heat either by wrapping the tyres up in thermal blankets while off the track or when on the track they try to keep momentum going to keep the tyres warm.
Cold tyres don’t grip well. This is why drivers can sometime struggle to get up to speed after a sudden slow down until they get the heat back in.
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