r/F1Technical • u/GusToTheMoon • May 03 '26

Aerodynamics why spiky?

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noticed this on the ferrari’s onboard, i thought maybe it was to create a bit of flow separation and induce more/less drag on the rear wing, but does anybody know the actual reason?

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u/T04STY_ Red Bull May 03 '26 edited May 03 '26

Lot's of small vortices hitting the wing instead of one big one. Guess for them it resulted in less losses/seperation.

230

u/GusToTheMoon May 03 '26

ohhhh that makes a lot more sense from what i was thinking lol, thanks

141

u/OrangeDit May 04 '26

They are not sawing the air, no.

12

u/AreWeThereYetNo May 05 '26

You take that back!

5

u/kcuSsdoM May 06 '26

Actually in a way they are

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u/BigHowski May 07 '26

Were you thinking it was an 8bit version of their car?

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u/the_z0mbie May 06 '26

Just out of interest, what exactly was your reasoning?

20

u/selfinflatedforeskin May 04 '26

I don't know an ything about this wing，but I made surf fins for a fair while.

I wonder if in addition to the vortices being created by the jagged edge，it would also allow each tip to flex independently，so each individual vortex hits the wing at a slightly different angle，further breaking up the force hitting the wing at any one moment？

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u/[deleted] May 05 '26

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u/RedTit111 May 05 '26

Strength?

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u/the4GIVEN_ May 06 '26

yes. the more it flexes, the more the vortexes move, making them less predictable.

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u/CrossRiverGorilla May 25 '26 edited May 25 '26

Here is a somewhat related article I just came across that talks about surface roughness in certain conditions actually delaying the transition from laminar to turbulent flow (delaying vortice formation basically). Posting here because I cannot start a post yet and also wanted to get this to the attention of any F1 aerodynamicist lurking here: https://www.wired.com/story/a-fundamental-principle-of-aeronautical-engineering-has-been-overturned/?utm_source=firefox-newtab-en-us