FORCE INDIA’S MULTI-VANED BARGEBOARD

Force India introduced a multi-vaned bargeboard in Mexico to pull more airflow from underneath the front section of the chassis and improve the performance of the front wing.

Making it all work harder means there is more risk of airflow separation and the multi-slot gap arrangement will be to improve its consistency. But, with this number of slot gaps and the vortices that could be set up with the open upper ends, it might take a little time to get the most out of it.

Force India also fitted three small splitters to the leading edge of the underfloor (inset), but only on Sergio Perez’s car in practice.

These have curved lower foot sections to help induce horizontal vortices from the lower edges, which travel under the flat floor section to increase the speed of the airflow here. This improves the aerodynamic performance of the underfloor. This detail was used with great success in the late 1990s and early 2000s on Champ Car underfloor leading edges.