Dirty Air & Following

A car leaves a wake of churned-up, turbulent air behind it — dirty air. A car following closely runs straight into that wake, where its wings and floor cannot work properly, so it loses downforce and grip exactly when it is trying to stay close enough to attack.

The effect is dramatic: a car running right behind another can lose a large share of its downforce, and the closer it gets, the worse it becomes — a vicious circle right in the braking zone where a move is launched. Because the floor relies on clean air feeding the tunnels, ground-effect cars are less sensitive to this than the wing-dominated cars that came before, but the penalty never disappears entirely.

Following still costs grip, and pushing hard in dirty air also overheats the tyres faster. That is why a driver who is visibly quicker can sometimes sit stuck behind a slower car: staying close burns the tyres and erodes the grip needed to make the move.