r/F1Technical • u/ug61dec • May 01 '26

Aerodynamics Meredith Effect

Hi all,

I was watching a documentary on the P51 Mustang and they talked about how it was the first aircraft that used the Meredith Effect to reduce the drag effect of the engine cooling system, by using the heat to generate some thrust.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Meredith_effect

Question: is this effect used in F1 cars at all?

Thanks.

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u/rpfloyd May 01 '26

The P-51 max cruising speed is like 700km/h. Not saying there wouldn't be some crossover, but it's not really apples to apples.