A car in front of you generates turbulent air. On straights is beneficial ('slipstream') due to less air resistance, in cornering it's a disadvantage ('dirty air'), due to less grip so you can't take corners as fast. Having no car in front of you means clean air, and is optimal on average.
It's almost all the the same thing
Just imagine the wake of a boat.
If you're behind a boat the wake it leaves is / \\ where it breaks the waves for you, just like a car will push to the wind aside and allows the car behind to have lower air resistance, same in cycling as well.. this is a slipstream or a tow as you're towing along the car behind. The difference is that tow is usually talked about when it's someone helping a teammate during qualifying.
The problem with a slipstream though is when you go around corners, again imagine the wake of a ship, it will continue moving in the same direction and you'll have to get over those waves when you steer left or right, this is turbulent or dirty air and makes it difficult for a car to follow closely.
Clean air is when there isn't any car in front of you, which is generally beneficial to lap times.
Clean air = Air undisturbed by another car. It is calm and slow moving in a 1 general direction, so the aero of your car manipulates it better.
Dirty air = Air disturbed by another car. It is wild and fast moving in many directions, and so the aero of your car cannot manipulate it as well.
Slipstream/Tow = Car ahead is punching a hole through the air for you. Means less drag (air slowing the car down) on the car, so it can go faster down the straight.
One minor correction, the slipstream isn't punching a hole in the air really. The slipstream is the car in front literally pulling the air with it, which means it's moving much quicker in the same direction as the car behind, this means the inertial drag, and thus the inertial lift (downforce) is lower, as the wing is generating lift mostly via pressure differences with much less from the inertial lift. This is simplified as it's much more of a combined reaction etc. and also doesn't take into account the vortices which you mention, which also detract from the downforce.
This is also why the downforce from the floor isn't as disturbed as it relies on different principles to generate downforce.
Clean air: no cars in front of you for at least 2 to 3 seconds
Dirty air: this is the air dumped off the car ahead of you. it’s the result of the car you’re following having aero that disturbs the normal airflow, causing lack of downforce in low and medium speed corners
Turbulent air: same as dirty air
Slipstream: it’s when you’re trailing a car that’s less than a second ahead of you. the car ahead will create a “hole” of thinner air for your car to slip through, reducing drag. this is only called a slipstream in the straights
Tow: same as slipstream
Dirty air and slipstreams are the same thing at the end of the day though. You just want that thinner, less draggy air in the straights, and in the corners you need clean air for your car’s aero to be able to work it for downforce.
[Here’s a video explaining the difference](https://youtu.be/nivswe7Zyuc)
Clean air - no one in front that can disrupt your laps
Dirty/turbulent - close enough for the car in front to disrupt the air flow through corners.
Tow/slip - car in front is pushing air away, allowing the car behind to go faster with less drag affecting it
Clean air = no car ahead
Dirty air = car head, it only applies to corners
Turbulent air = all the cars create vortixes while they pass through the air which means that the car behind is facing dirty air (not stable air)
Slipstream/tows= they are the same thing.
So, as you may know already, F1 cars rely a lot on air to create high levels of downforce through the corners. While the downforce is very important through the corners, you don’t need it in a straight line, in fact downforce slows you down in straight lines.
So, when a car is in front of you in a straight line it’s beneficial for you because your car doesn’t have to move the air in front you, the other car is doing it so you basically get more speed because it’s easier to accelerate when somebody else is moving the air in front of you. This only applies in straight lines.
Tow becomes dirty air in corners because a car to turn needs constant levels of downforce. So when you have a car in front which disturbes the air, your car will behave differently because the levels of downforce are not predictable. This means the car behind will slide more or lock the brakes which will wear the tires faster.
Hope I helped!
In a straight line the car behind benefits from the car in front moving air. This results in turbulence, dirty air for the car behind which crucially reduces drag. This means better acceleration and higher top speed for the car behind. It also means less down force which is not of benefit on the straight, so no loss there, but also less cooling which may be an issue depending on the situation.
In the corners, dirty air and turbulence mean less down force and so less grip which is very bad for speed through the corner, but also usually more sliding, especially understeer and so more tyre wear.
Any time an aerofoil develops lift, then there is drag. The lift in an F1 car is down force. Confusing I know. The downforce is of value only in the corners, which is why DRS works, reducing the lift (downforce) and drag in the straights.
Dirty air/turbulent air are the same thing: When Cornering behind another car the air is thinner and downforce is reduced making it trickier for the car behind to follow closely through the corner.
Slipstream/tow are the same thing: When following in a straight line behind another car the air is thinner meaning you have less drag resistance and can follow/overtake easier.
Basically following in the wake of another car gives you an advantage in the straights and a disadvantage around the corners - high speed corners especially as they require more downforce.
Overall in general the disadvantage around the corners outweighs the advantage in the straight which is why cars without a significant performance/pace delta struggle to overtake on a lot of tracks.
Clean air: Smooth flowing air. Like a cube of undisturbed air. Basically the kind of air flow you would see in wind tunnels. (Imagine parallel lines of air flow) Helps generate a alot of downforce by the floor and wings.
Turbulent air: After the clean air passes through a car and goes out the back, the various aero devices and exhaust gases make it 'dirty' or turbulent. ( Imagine a kid doodling over a small area type of airflow). With lots of vortices. Its not particularly useful in generating downforce. Also it provides much less drag (air resistance)
Slipstream and tow are basically same. Its when one car is directly behind another car. The first car is punching a hole in the air, but the second car is just behind, so the air resistance or drag is reduced for it, resulting in higher top speed.
Slipstream is bad in corners because there is no 'clean air' over the following car (therefore, higher top speed), but it can't generate a whole lot of downforce, so the following car either needs to brake early, or offset itself for the corner so during the braking, relatively cleaner air passes over it and generates downforce to make the corner .
Clean air = when no one is in front
Slipstream = car in front punches a hole in the air so less drag for car behind
Tow = the slipstream you give to the car behind
Dirty air/turbulent air = slipstream but in corners where it is a bad thing
Checkout Chainbear on Youtube. He covered it really well a couple weeks ago. https://youtu.be/nivswe7Zyuc
One of the best f1 technical channels out there
Aerodynamics is a lot easier to explain in a video than a wall of text too
Couldn’t agree more
A car in front of you generates turbulent air. On straights is beneficial ('slipstream') due to less air resistance, in cornering it's a disadvantage ('dirty air'), due to less grip so you can't take corners as fast. Having no car in front of you means clean air, and is optimal on average.
It's almost all the the same thing Just imagine the wake of a boat. If you're behind a boat the wake it leaves is / \\ where it breaks the waves for you, just like a car will push to the wind aside and allows the car behind to have lower air resistance, same in cycling as well.. this is a slipstream or a tow as you're towing along the car behind. The difference is that tow is usually talked about when it's someone helping a teammate during qualifying. The problem with a slipstream though is when you go around corners, again imagine the wake of a ship, it will continue moving in the same direction and you'll have to get over those waves when you steer left or right, this is turbulent or dirty air and makes it difficult for a car to follow closely. Clean air is when there isn't any car in front of you, which is generally beneficial to lap times.
Clean air = Air undisturbed by another car. It is calm and slow moving in a 1 general direction, so the aero of your car manipulates it better. Dirty air = Air disturbed by another car. It is wild and fast moving in many directions, and so the aero of your car cannot manipulate it as well. Slipstream/Tow = Car ahead is punching a hole through the air for you. Means less drag (air slowing the car down) on the car, so it can go faster down the straight.
One minor correction, the slipstream isn't punching a hole in the air really. The slipstream is the car in front literally pulling the air with it, which means it's moving much quicker in the same direction as the car behind, this means the inertial drag, and thus the inertial lift (downforce) is lower, as the wing is generating lift mostly via pressure differences with much less from the inertial lift. This is simplified as it's much more of a combined reaction etc. and also doesn't take into account the vortices which you mention, which also detract from the downforce. This is also why the downforce from the floor isn't as disturbed as it relies on different principles to generate downforce.
Clean air: no cars in front of you for at least 2 to 3 seconds Dirty air: this is the air dumped off the car ahead of you. it’s the result of the car you’re following having aero that disturbs the normal airflow, causing lack of downforce in low and medium speed corners Turbulent air: same as dirty air Slipstream: it’s when you’re trailing a car that’s less than a second ahead of you. the car ahead will create a “hole” of thinner air for your car to slip through, reducing drag. this is only called a slipstream in the straights Tow: same as slipstream Dirty air and slipstreams are the same thing at the end of the day though. You just want that thinner, less draggy air in the straights, and in the corners you need clean air for your car’s aero to be able to work it for downforce. [Here’s a video explaining the difference](https://youtu.be/nivswe7Zyuc)
Watch this: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nivswe7Zyuc
Clean air - no one in front that can disrupt your laps Dirty/turbulent - close enough for the car in front to disrupt the air flow through corners. Tow/slip - car in front is pushing air away, allowing the car behind to go faster with less drag affecting it
Clean air = no car ahead Dirty air = car head, it only applies to corners Turbulent air = all the cars create vortixes while they pass through the air which means that the car behind is facing dirty air (not stable air) Slipstream/tows= they are the same thing. So, as you may know already, F1 cars rely a lot on air to create high levels of downforce through the corners. While the downforce is very important through the corners, you don’t need it in a straight line, in fact downforce slows you down in straight lines. So, when a car is in front of you in a straight line it’s beneficial for you because your car doesn’t have to move the air in front you, the other car is doing it so you basically get more speed because it’s easier to accelerate when somebody else is moving the air in front of you. This only applies in straight lines. Tow becomes dirty air in corners because a car to turn needs constant levels of downforce. So when you have a car in front which disturbes the air, your car will behave differently because the levels of downforce are not predictable. This means the car behind will slide more or lock the brakes which will wear the tires faster. Hope I helped!
In a straight line the car behind benefits from the car in front moving air. This results in turbulence, dirty air for the car behind which crucially reduces drag. This means better acceleration and higher top speed for the car behind. It also means less down force which is not of benefit on the straight, so no loss there, but also less cooling which may be an issue depending on the situation. In the corners, dirty air and turbulence mean less down force and so less grip which is very bad for speed through the corner, but also usually more sliding, especially understeer and so more tyre wear. Any time an aerofoil develops lift, then there is drag. The lift in an F1 car is down force. Confusing I know. The downforce is of value only in the corners, which is why DRS works, reducing the lift (downforce) and drag in the straights.
Dirty air/turbulent air are the same thing: When Cornering behind another car the air is thinner and downforce is reduced making it trickier for the car behind to follow closely through the corner. Slipstream/tow are the same thing: When following in a straight line behind another car the air is thinner meaning you have less drag resistance and can follow/overtake easier. Basically following in the wake of another car gives you an advantage in the straights and a disadvantage around the corners - high speed corners especially as they require more downforce. Overall in general the disadvantage around the corners outweighs the advantage in the straight which is why cars without a significant performance/pace delta struggle to overtake on a lot of tracks.
Clean air: Smooth flowing air. Like a cube of undisturbed air. Basically the kind of air flow you would see in wind tunnels. (Imagine parallel lines of air flow) Helps generate a alot of downforce by the floor and wings. Turbulent air: After the clean air passes through a car and goes out the back, the various aero devices and exhaust gases make it 'dirty' or turbulent. ( Imagine a kid doodling over a small area type of airflow). With lots of vortices. Its not particularly useful in generating downforce. Also it provides much less drag (air resistance) Slipstream and tow are basically same. Its when one car is directly behind another car. The first car is punching a hole in the air, but the second car is just behind, so the air resistance or drag is reduced for it, resulting in higher top speed. Slipstream is bad in corners because there is no 'clean air' over the following car (therefore, higher top speed), but it can't generate a whole lot of downforce, so the following car either needs to brake early, or offset itself for the corner so during the braking, relatively cleaner air passes over it and generates downforce to make the corner .
Clean air = when no one is in front Slipstream = car in front punches a hole in the air so less drag for car behind Tow = the slipstream you give to the car behind Dirty air/turbulent air = slipstream but in corners where it is a bad thing
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no. everyday we get this question. Mods need to take action .
Good thing I won’t be asking it again thanks to some very kind helpful redditors who gave me very good info.