Smooth wheel covers on latest Ferarri F1 race car?

[NachtRitter]

Originally Posted by daqcivic

They were developed for brake cooling efficiency, not (primarily) for making the airflow at the outer side of the wheels less turbulent.

<snip>

In short, the design is not for making the brakes cooler, but for improving aero efficiency (mainly downforce).

I think I missed something ...

[aerohead]

I got to see Danika Patrick's Indycar at a recent Good Guy's show.The inside of the wheels had full Bonneville-style carbon-fiber covers with only marginal cut outs for wishbones.Beautiful.This is common practice on the salt flats.

[QuickLTD]

Found this close up.

[daqcivic]

Originally Posted by NachtRitter

I think I missed something ...

The brake temps they need to achieve remain constant and that is not a significant challenge in itself, that is why I said the end goal is not brake cooling. Their end goal is downforce, which requires greater aero efficiency of the rear wing, which requires smoother airflow across the length of the body. The brake ducts create turbulence in that airflow, so if they can make them smaller (while still cooling the brakes) the rear wing will be able to generate more downforce.

The wheel covers are not there to reduce drag across the outer surface of the wheels (even if they do that); they are designed to allow smaller brake ducts—improving brake cooling efficiency—which in turn improves the aero efficiency (downforce generation) of the car overall.

[NachtRitter]

Ah, I see what you're saying... makes much more sense now!