Technical: Why Williams got hit in Brazil

[asharifi]

I have to agree,

Aerodynamics or not, driver error was the cause of the collisions.

I've seen a ton of theories being thrown about, but there's no excuse for driver error. Mikka managed to score points without slamming into Ralf in Malaysia.

The changes in regulations with regards to front and rear wings have seemed to "surprised" a couple of drivers. Drivers should have been, and most were, prepared for the effects of the aero changes.

The reduction of rear wing elements have served to place the center of low pressure much lower than last year. With last year's rear wings, the low pressure pocket behind the car also had a greater volume than what exists now.

The front wings have now lie on a plane which is 50mm higher than last year.

Basically, the trailing car now has a front wing which is much closer the center of low pressure. In essence, the wing is now closer to a smaller hole in the air.

Because the the low pressure area is much smaller, the effects of it won't be felt until the trailing car is much closer than what would have been the case last year.

The raising of the front wings has also made the cars much more pitch sensitive.

For example, let's say that a trailing car at speeds of 200 kph began to experience a reduction in negative lift at a distance of 3 meters behind the car in front. With current regulations, the driver experiences the same feelings at a closer distance.

Now consider the pitch sensitivity issue. The lower front wing of last year had to be very close to the rear diffusers of the car in front in order to have the angle of incidence of the oncoming air to hit the bottom surface of the wing. Now, the higher nose will experience the same effect at a greater distance than last year.

The recipes for instability have become much more focused and concentrated much closer to one another than before.

In essence the front wing is closer to the low pressure pocket and experiences more oncoming air hitting the bottom surfaces of the wing than last year. And all of this is felt less gradually and much closer.

None of these are causes for the Williams being hit, but perhaps they are factors which the drivers in the rear miscalculated. This miscalculation is still pretty bad considering the reputation of F1 drivers, but hey, perhaps they were sick that day when they were giving the aero lecture in class. Who knows?

In recent years we have seen drivers in the rear following a different line than the drivers in front. This is common practice when the car in the rear is looking for an overtaking opportunity. However, in mid-speed and in high speed corners, the trailing car which isn't close enough to even attempt to overtake will still be in different line in order to get the car into cleaner air.

Like I said, the aero changes still aren't an excuse for driver error. Jacque V is a driver I'm routing for, but I was surprised at his indecisiveness, or being caught by surprise. Granted, the drivers had never raced the newer spec cars in traffic before, and tested in clear tracks etc.... Verstappen seemed to me to have forgetten where he was when he tucked in behind Montoya, and was oblivious to the fact that they were approaching a braking zone.

Just my 2 cents (which isn't worth anything)
Alex