Aerodynamic Effect of Wheel Fairings on the Wake of a Formula One Car

Abstract

The open-wheeled configuration of Formula One cars has been known to create unfavourable aerodynamic conditions for overtaking during races. New aerodynamics regulations are set to come into effect by the 2022 season. Early concepts suggested that covering the wheels of a car are amongst the aerodynamic design changes to be implemented. This is in contrast to the traditional open-wheeled configuration. This study aims to evaluate the effect that these fairings have on the behaviour of the wake behind the car. This has been achieved through computational fluid dynamics (CFD) studies which surveyed the flow in the wake, that determined any changes that are added by these fairings. The fairings were found to have altered the structure of the wake, by changing the size of the regions of low-speed airflow at different positions behind the car.