How F1 teams create a third of their performance

F1's simpler 2019 front wings have received plenty of attention during the first week of pre-season testing, but the reduced impact of that part means teams' bargeboard arrangements are now a key area for aerodynamic gains

Jake Boxall-Legge Feb 21, 2019, 5:55 PM

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Imagine a well-designed front wing, working to perfection. The airflow is happily being channelled around the front tyres, the outwash lost to the new rules has been partially recovered, and there's a strong vortex being shed from both sides of the wing's neutral section. It's a fantastic starting point, but to exploit it to the full the rest of the car has to be just as good.

It's like starting a relay with a quick runner. Sure, it puts the team in a great position, but if the other three runners can't hack it, then the initial effort was wasted. The second runner has to be as fast as the first, much like the bargeboard package has to mesh perfectly with what the front wing does.

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Author Jake Boxall-Legge

Jake Boxall-Legge Autosport’s Technical Editor. Having studied Automotive Engineering with Motorsport at the University of Hertfordshire, West Country-born Jake's original ambition was to design racing cars. During a year between studies in which he accidentally rekindled a love of writing, he took up a Master's in Motorsport Engineering at Oxford Brookes. Halfway through his master's year, he was offered a place on the Autosport Academy, conducting occasional freelance duties before becoming the press officer for Formula 2 and GP3 in 2018. Autosport offered him a return to the fold later that year to serve as its Technical Editor. His voice appears on a number of videos and podcasts, and can often be found writing about terrible Formula 1 cars in excruciating detail. In his spare time, Jake enjoys baking and blames his failure to make it past the Great British Bake-Off interviews on his tenuous grasp on choux pastry. His dream is to open a brunch cafe - and his willingness to make outrageous puns in inappropriate situations has earned him the contempt of his colleagues.