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Racing cars had only been using their bodywork to generate downforce for just over a decade when Colin Chapman's Lotus 78 and 79 cars demonstrated that ground effect was the future in Formula One, so, at this point, under-car aerodynamics were still very poorly understood.
Modern F1 cars feature elaborate aerodynamic elements. The modern Formula One car is a single-seat, open-cockpit, open-wheel racing car with substantial front and rear wings, large wheels, and a turbocharged engine positioned behind the driver.
Three different styles of front wings from three different Formula One eras, all designed to produce downforce at the front end of the respective race cars. Top to bottom: Ferrari 312T4 (1979), Lotus 79 (1978), McLaren MP4/11 (1996) Downforce is a downwards lift force created by the aerodynamic features of a vehicle.
Formula One originated from the World Manufacturers' Championship (1925–1930) and European Drivers' Championship (1931–1939). The formula is a set of rules that all participants' cars must follow. Formula One was a formula agreed upon in 1946 to officially become effective in 1947.
Bargeboards (red) and turning vanes (orange) shown on a Formula 1 car, circa 2007 Bargeboards (red) and turning vanes (orange) shown on a Formula 1 car, circa 2007. Bargeboards are pieces of bodywork on open-wheel racing cars, serving a purely aerodynamic (as opposed to structural) function.
The term drag area derives from aerodynamics, where it is the product of some reference area (such as cross-sectional area, total surface area, or similar) and the drag coefficient. In 2003, Car and Driver magazine adopted this metric as a more intuitive way to compare the aerodynamic efficiency of various automobiles.
The Mercedes-Benz W196 (sometimes written as the Mercedes-Benz W 196 R [1]) was a Formula One racing car produced by Mercedes-Benz for the 1954 and 1955 F1 seasons. Successor to the W194, in the hands of Juan Manuel Fangio and Stirling Moss it won 9 of 12 races entered and captured the only two world championships in which it competed.
The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effect aerodynamics. Over the span of its lifetime, the Lotus 79 took 7 wins, 10 pole positions, 121 points and won the last drivers' and constructors' world championships for Lotus. The 79 is credited with pushing Formula One into the modern aerodynamics era.