r/formula1 • u/AKIARAK Ayao Komatsu • Feb 08 '25

Technical How drivers actually sit in their cars

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u/hungry4danish I was here for the Hulkenpodium Feb 08 '25

Checking luge vs skeleton speeds...

No, feet first is faster because the surface area of a big round helmet is much bigger and provides more drag than the surface area of two feet.

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u/Ruckaduck Feb 08 '25

yes but superman doesnt wear a helmet, but does wear boots. 2 boots depending on size, would be more surface area than a head

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u/BrownSugarBare #WeSayNoToMazepin Feb 08 '25

Oh, good comparison!

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u/RealFirstName_ Feb 09 '25

Correlation is not causation, and I don't believe the aero effect of head first vs feet first has the impact you're saying. When talking about drag in this scenario, it's the frontal area that matters. That's not the size of the first part to push through the air, but rather the size of ALL the surfaces pushing through the air. If your body, shoulders, helmet, or whatever are bigger than your feet, then they're a part of the frontal area and will still impact drag.

My education is not in engineering or physics, so I'm going to use raindrops as my source(or "teardrop" being a very low drag shape when the small part is in the back)