Lotus made changes to the E23’s floor ahead of the rear tyres during pre-season testing, covered here, in a bid to combat ‘tyre squirt’.
They arrived in Malaysia with another change, with the floor area ahead of the tyre receiving another vertical strake (yellow) in order to further manage the effects of the wake coming off the rear tyres.
What is Tyre Squirt?
This is when airflow under the car hits the rear tyre and is split. Teams want to avoid the flow that is directed toward the diffuser as this is slow (low energised) and disruptive, reducing the efficiency of the diffuser. Therefore they add strakes and slots ahead of the tyre to redirect this airflow away from the diffuser.
The new strake will work with both the longer strake (blue), already in situ and the L shaped slot (green) the team started to use this season.
These elements should work together to help combat the effects of tyre squirt as the tyre deforms under load, increasing rear end stability.
Analysis produced by Matthew Somerfield exclusively for Grand Prix Times. Follow Matthew on Twitter.
