[Fat Charlie]

Not flow in the sense of controlling it to reach desired effects like downforce, but early on I got a practical lesson in the value of minimizing resistance.

4th grade, Pinewood Derby in Cub Scouts.

In third grade, they called my car "The Golden Potato." I rounded off the font and rear ends and painted it gold. Of all the cars in our pack, it was one of them. In fourth grade I just cut the thing into a low wedge, like a lower, wider version of the wedges people prop doors open with. Some melted fishing weights into recesses in the bottom to bring it up to max weight, and Fat Charlie's car with less frontal area than anyone else's beat everything the whole pack could throw at it. Somewhere in my dad's house is a polaroid of me in the front yard in my Cub Scout uniform holding a large trophy.

The next year everyone but the third graders (who hadn't been there to see my rig clean up) fielded low wedges, my execution wasn't the best and I got eliminated early. Sic transit gloria mundi.

Later in watching F1 I learned how they tried to improve average speed over a lap by adding or reducing downforce, but I haven't done any work myself in optimizing aero beyond drag reduction.