nothing spices up a race like rain and
unlike your typical road tires Formula
One and most straight track racing
series use different types of tires for
wet and dry conditions why is this then
and how do wet tires work well let's
look at what makes driving in the wet
different firstly remember that dry f1
tires are slick now
weirdly outside of racing the word slick
means slippery but this is F 1 and F 1
never did try to make sense slick tires
are the grippier stars you can get
they're slick because they've got no
tread at all entire the entire surface
is smooth flat rubber noticeably
different from your row tires which has
to be ready for most typical weather
conditions the f1 tires are slick
because you want as much of the surface
touching the track as possible the grip
is generated by the friction between the
rubber in the road more area in contact
with the road means more grip when the
track is wet those slick tire starts do
the complete opposite of what you wanted
them to do and that's at core plane if
there's enough water on the check the
tires will start to ride on top of that
water like a boat a full out go pain can
lift the side completely off the track
and give the driver no control at all
over their speed or direction instead of
maximizing the contact between the tire
and the road you've ended up completely
minimizing it in fact the floor of an f1
car is so low to the ground but if the
track is wet enough the entire car can
sail down the track in a manner even
Ellen MacArthur would struggle to
control the other thing to remember is a
tires grip best when they're warmed up
when cold the rubber is hard less grippy
warming the tires that makes them more
malleable and sticky gripping and
hugging the tarmac like an overly
friendly heart I guess sort of wet tires
need to overcome these issues
firstly the damage of the ties is larger
but a lot larger just ten millimeters or
a centimeter but enough to lift the
floor up and away from the water and
reduce the risk of full-body aquaplaning
and then we come to the grooves the
grooves being the defining
characteristic of the web tire they cut
channels into the surface of the tire
leaving rubber Islands between the
grooves known as tread as the tire turns
on the wet track surface the grooves
channel the water giving it somewhere
else to go and allowing the tread to
contact the road the distinctive shaped
grooves mostly aim to expel the water as
quickly as possible away from the tire
straight down the sides rainy conditions
also call the tires down below that
ideal malleable gripping temperature I
mentioned a minute ago dividing the
surface of the tire into tread blocks
also allows the rubber to flex a little
more which helps it to build up heat
more quickly actually the rubber on wet
tires is softer even the modes on the
softest dries specifically to get them
up to temperature much more quickly
you're probably aware there are two
types of wet tire in f1 the
intermediates which are suitable for
most typical damp to wet conditions and
the extremes the strongest local rappers
so when it gets really wet there are a
few key differences between both of them
let's have a look at the tread on each
of the tires for a start the trade on
the instance is three millimeters deep
while the extremes are five millimeters
deep you'll notice the grooves on the
intercept actually completely divide the
Reverend surveillance of tread they
displace the water in a much more
passive way I have a lot more rubber on
the tread really maximizing how much the
tire still touches the road having more
rubber surface will also stop
overheating as the track dry sir the
extremes on the other hand have a tread
pattern that is heavily asymmetrical but
is the outside of the tire the side
facing away from the car has a much more
aggressive groove pattern on the inside
after all when the track is drenched you
want to throw too much water at the
number the car itself
[Music]
the intermediate I can displace an
amazing 25 litres of water a second the
extremes displays a frankly ridiculous
65 litres of water every second every
second that's this many two-liter
bottles to your favorite brand of diet
cola drink no wonder it's basically
impossible to see when following a car
in the wet so why don't we just use the
wets and the dry and be ready for
anything
well there's number of really simple
reasons for that firstly in the dry as
said about six times already we want to
maximize how much rubber is in contact
with the surface of the road for maximum
grip but it's recent pales in comparison
with just how quickly wet tires degrade
in the dry I mentioned that I love the
design of the whip tires the much softer
rubber and the way the trade is cut is
to get the tire heated up
I also mentioned the warm tire is much
more malleable a sticky well as with
chocolate cake and the x-men films you
can have too much of a good thing once
the tire gets too hot it starts to
degrade crumbling to pieces instead of
gripping on the track I suppose the
lifespan of the high to extreme decline
as the track begins to dry and
conditions are still marginal you'll see
drivers moving over onto the wet part of
the track and away from the dry line to
keep the tires cooled down to a
temperature where then don't start
falling apart having said all that
formula ear uses one type of tire for
all weather conditions so it's
definitely possible but for Mallory on
trying to maximise performance every
stage so they're comfortable to go with
the economical solution using a one tire
for all so there it is that's how wet
tires work coming soon I'll show you how
tried has changed their driving style of
strategy in the wet and what's makes the
difference between ending up drenched in
dismal failure or soaked in success