F1 | How do engineers calculate downforce points lost as a result of a contact?

“We have lost 5 load points”. This was the team radio message sent to Charles Leclerc by his Ferrari race engineer Xavier Marcos Padros during the 2022 British Grand Prix at Silverstone after the loss of the right endplate following a collision with the Red Bull of Sergio Perez. It was not the first time such team radio messages have been broadcasted and it certainly won’t be the last.

The loss of aerodynamic elements obviously causes a reduction of the load, which the men at the pit wall promptly communicate to the driver, together with some suggestions for partially fixing the problem. f1ingenerale.com explains how this interesting process takes place.

We hear this term very often in Formula 1, but what exactly is a downforce point equivalent to? The answer is “it depends”. In fact, each team establishes its own equivalence different from that of other teams, precisely to avoid transmitting sensitive information to rivals during radio communications.

Speaking in general terms, we can simplify the concept by establishing that one point is equivalent to about 1% of the car’s lift coefficient (in the case of Formula 1 cars, downward thrust). Is it therefore possible to determine how much lap time corresponds to one point less?

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The answer, at least with the data available to fans is no. The loss of downforce points cannot be quantified with a clear loss in terms of lap time. 5 points less can both be imperceptible and make the car undriveable. A lot depends on the original location of the aero elements that break.

How is pressure drop measured?
Having discovered what downforce points indicate, let’s now see why they are so important in Formula 1 and how it is possible to quantify them with the car in motion. In fact, as can be seen from the punctual radio communications, the engineers on the pit wall always have the aerodynamic load situation under control, as if the car were in the wind tunnel and not on the track.

An ingenious system makes it possible to have these measurements. Taking into consideration the front wings, they are equipped with very small holes in the most disparate points, called pressure taps, both in the mainplane and in the flaps. Each of these holes coincides with the termination of a small tube, in charge of channeling the air towards the nose of the car, where all the other probes coming from the different parts of the wing converge.

The pipes are then collected and conveyed to a transducer, which measures the pressure and sends the data of each measuring point to the box. At this point it is possible to trace the level of aerodynamic downforce based on the pressure measured in the various points.

The use of this system ranges a lot during the weekend. In fact, on Fridays and Saturdays its main task is to assist the engineers in choosing the set-up, returning the downforce values of the various configurations. On Sundays this use is obviously less due to the parc ferme rules.

During the race, the sensors in question are thus used to establish, in the event of contact and consequent loss of parts, how much aerodynamic downforce the car has lost and in which areas. This information will then be sent to the driver once “Encrypted” through downforce points, and to the pit stop mechanics who will intervene with adjustments to the flaps at the first possible pit stop.