Every time Formula 1 arrives in Monte Carlo, it’s all anecdotes, curiosities and statistics in this legendary race, which is undoubtedly one of the most special and glamorous events on the calendar. So we extend the World Geek Pride Day a bit with another ‘height’ geek: can a Formula 1 drive upside down in the Monaco GP tunnel?
What began as an annoying event for the residents of this quiet place in Monte Carlo more than half a century ago -who complained that since the Thursday before the race they had to close their shops and the noise of the single-seaters woke them up early- has become a world motorsport event.
And over the years, victory in this Grand Prix represents a particularly difficult challenge for its drivers, due to the characteristics of this track (which for many seasons was the only fully urban one): short length, poor engine cooling, Excessive brake wear, very tight curves, walls stuck to the asphalt, low visibility…
…Not to mention a curved tunnel -with very important light and temperature differences with respect to the outside- and very few places to overtake on a track that was already narrow and that, with the growth and sophistication of single-seaters is even more overwhelming for all the participants and quite a challenge for the track engineers and mechanics.
Among other things, this challenge has a lot to do with the aerodynamic load that the teams have to apply in this winding scenario and low average speed per lap, which is so different from other circuits where cornering is much faster or there are much longer and faster straights, with a greater possibility of side wind…
And speaking of aerodynamics and the importance it has for all motor competitions today (and if not, tell Max Verstappen, who took a lot longer than expected to win the last Spanish GP due to problems in the opening of its DRS), a geek question that has more science than it seems: could an f1 drive upside down in the Monaco GP tunnel?
Apparently, this question was already raised in 2011 by some students from the University of Leicester (United Kingdom) in an article published that year in the journal ‘Journal of Physics Special Topics’, as Pierre Barthélémy collects in his hilarious popular book (and humor) scientific ‘Improbable Science Experiments’ (Blackie Books Publishing, 2019).
The authors of that text then wondered two things: on the one hand, if the forms of a formula 1 that make it ‘stick’ to the ground would be enough to circulate upside down without falling under its own weight in a tunnel like the one in Monaco. And on the other, that, if possible, at what speed would it have to move to achieve it.
They calculated that “from 179 km / h”, the single-seaters of that time would be able to adhere to the ceiling if they did not lose speed. But since they also recognized that it was “very difficult to verify” and they had no material possibilities to do it themselves, they proposed to the teams to carry out this experiment in their wind tunnels.
Obviously, determining whether a Formula 1 car can drive upside down in a tunnel like the Monaco GP is nothing more than a theoretical provocation based on science, which ignores (and never better said) the difficulties that the drivers would have to race up to the top of this area, do not hit any bumps and then descend in real conditions before reaching the start.
However, set to dream of a future in which this crazy freak would be feasible and realistic -but with a certain mathematical and physical basis-, we join the journalist and writer Barthélémy when fantasizing about a Formula 1 in which this guy of tunnels were also an alternative place for any driver to overtake rivals. Upvotes?
