F1 aerodynamic innovations of the past?

[amouzouris]

Im wondering...what are the most interesting aerodynamic innovations and/or aerodynamic ideas and parts of the past??

[Tonn]

F-duct!!!

[strad]

the Gurney flap

[ajdavison2]

wings, floors, and ground effect cars lol

[flynfrog]

sucker car

[Jeffsvilleusa]

Barge boards


...and other "flow conditioners"

[andrew]

Raised nose pioneered by Tyrell then later adopted by Benetton and then everyone else.

[Lurk]

Wings, obviously!

Nearly 50 years they used it and they never manage to replace them. Even Lotus 80 was a failure...

[Giblet]

The 6 wheeled Tyrrel, as the small wheels halved the frontal area of the wheels, and gave as much of an aero benefit as it did grip.

[Just_a_fan]

To strictly answer the OP question of "interesting aerodynamic innovations" I'd have to say f-duct and the double diffuser. One former was brilliantly clever and the latter just very effective.

Another interesting innovation was wing endplates. These are hugely powerful devices and now very intricate. That they are, in another form, used on modern airliners is also interesting.

[andrew]

Does the EBD count?

[autogyro]

Going back one stage on Giblet and the Tyrell six wheeler.
The mid engined powertrain configuration.

[Lorenzo_Bandini]

hole in the nose like F2008

[Guille]

Of course the best one was using a fan underneath the car to produce downward force, which meant incredible speeds at corners.

[Jeffsvilleusa]

Does the EBD count?

Shan't we forget hot-blowing and cold-blowing (i.e. engine maps/off-throttle engine ignition)

Aerodynamic innovations which are now going "bye-bye"

Charlie Whiting:

We know exhaust gasses have an influence on the aerodynamic performance of the car and we accept that. The point is that a design should not attempt to use the exhaust for a completely different reason [aerodynamics as a primary, rather than a secondary effect].

Apparently this has been going on for some time. I read elsewhere on the forum that the reason exhausts were periscope-style before they pointed them at the floor was because they were blowing the rear wing...

Paddy Lowe:

...Also, the problem is a little bit difficult to understand because teams have been blowing exhausts through diffusers for 20 years, so the timing of the rule interpretation does seem a bit strange.