Formula 2 driver and Charles Leclerc’s brother, Arthur Leclerc, and Ferrari reserve Oliver Bearman took the wheel of the team’s 2022 and 2024 cars this Thursday at the Fiorano Circuit, in Italy. The duo tested a device, still under development by F1 and the International Automobile Federation (FIA), created to cover rain tires and contain jets of water launched by cars.
The piece has been in development since last year, when complaints from drivers about water spray from cars became more vocal.
The issue gained even more weight after the death of teenager Dilano Van ‘t Hoff, aged 18, who was killed in a serious accident in the Spa-Francorchamps stage of the European Regional Formula (FRECA).
The younger Leclerc drove the SF-75, the team’s 2022 car, while Bearman, who competed in this year’s Saudi Arabian GP in place of Carlos Sainz (recovering from an appendectomy), drove the team’s current car.
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Why do F1 cars create water spray?
The creases on heavy rain tires are larger than those on intermediate tires – for low-intensity rain. Therefore, they displace more water to prevent the car from aquaplaning (losing control) on a wet road.
Furthermore, the tires end up creating a “squirt area” when they suck water into the diffuser, the pressure of which causes even more water to be expelled.
The water displaced by the tires is thrown backwards, a phenomenon that ends up being enhanced by the aerodynamics of the cars, in the current ground effect regulations (according to which the floor and not the wings start to generate more aerodynamic load) and by the air flow that runs through chassis and wheels.
