Lotus 49 B F1,Formule 1, construct, okruhy, závody, grand prix

Lotus 49 B

Miroslav Sanytrák/ Václav Král | 29.6.05 | Historie F1 - vozy

F1 history cars

The 1968 World Champion Graham Hill's car. Please note the rear downpressure wing, where the period of "winged cars" dates back. The engines' output reaching 400HP, weight beteen 500-700kg, the problem of traction emerged. A way out has been, of course, wide rear tires, given the backwheel drive. However, that proved not enough, therefore constructors tried to use as much car weight as possible to increse the downpressure force at the driven wheels. To increase the adhesive force, i.e. to put more load on the driving axel by incresing the total vertical component of the aerodynamic force. This component is obtained at the wing-shaped water-level desks, see the construction. Chaparral was the first one to come up with such a construction at their racing prototypes in 1966. Their car for the 24 Hours Le Mans used the adjustable rear wing as early as in 1968. This configuration spread in F1 by 1979, being first introduced by Ferrari in GP Belgium.