How a Formula 1 Race Car Works - YouTube

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• Clean air is directed into the  side pods for cooling purposes;   this stream passes through the car and out the  back beneath the rear wing. The smoothly contoured   body guides airstreams gracefully around bodywork  for predictable handling under extreme conditions.

• The front wing curves upward, forcing air to move  around it in such a way that a high pressure area   forms above the wing, with a lower pressure area  beneath. This pressure difference is a contributor   to a kind of suction force called "downforce"  that pushes or sticks the car to the track.  Where the wing ends and these different pressure  zones meet, the air crashes into itself,   creating a spiraling vortex.

• Vortices  cause drag, which tugs at the car,   slowing it down. A cap on the wing tip interrupts  vortex formation for a less intense effect.  The pointed, curved-in surfaces on the  inside edge of the wing intentionally shape   and direct a vortex around the floor of the car,  sealing in the clean air that passes underneath. So, while vortices do cause drag,   they're also a useful tool to separate  and seal in different areas of airflow.

• Directly behind  the tires, barge boards condition or "clean   up" some of this airflow while also pushing  lots of dirty wheel air away from the body.  The narrow gap between the car floor and the track   turns the entire floor into a giant  downforce generator as air squeezes,   thins, and rushes beneath the car at a  different rate and pressure than overhead air.

• The floor has a forward tilt or "rake" that  creates very low pressure at its narrowest point,   but allows air to more smoothly rejoin  ambient air pressure as it flows out the back.

• The upward-curved rear wing, which is another  critical downforce generator, has notched end   caps, with gaps, and louvers to allow some  air to combine early, altering and shaping   rear wing vortex characteristics. It's also where,  in wet conditions, the noticeable, misty wing tip