F1 cars are the fastest of all. They can reach up to 360 kph and generate ridiculous G-forces of up to 3.5 in lateral cornering thanks to their high aerodynamic downforce, which pushes them against the ground. Knowing this, can an F1 car do the same but upside down?
In theory, F1 cars can drive upside down, as they can generate the necessary power and downforce to keep the car\’s weight on the ceiling. However, in reality, they cannot, as the engines would not be able to cope, as the oil and fuel would not work properly, causing a hydro lock.
Therefore, those fictional movie scenes we have seen many times would be physically possible. However, it would have some limitations that we will see below.
Can A Formula 1 Car Drive Upside Down?
This is a question that every Formula 1 fan has surely asked himself because the performance of an F1 car is incredible, but really, could it be done in reality?
To answer this question, we must first understand the aerodynamics of F1 cars. F1 cars use their wings just like an airplane but in reverse. Airplanes use the wings to lift off, while F1 cars use their front and rear wing, bargeboards, and floor to stick to the ground for faster cornering, generating downforce.
So, downforce is the force that sticks an F1 car to the ground. If we want a car to stick to the ceiling, it would have to generate more downforce than its weight, as it would have to counteract the entire weight of the car. The weight normally acts in the same direction as the downforce, but being upside down, it would act in the opposite direction.
For an F1 car to go upside down, we need all the forces on the car to balance each other: the engine\’s torque has to overcome the drag, and the downforce holding the car up on the ceiling needs to match the gravity at least pulling it down.
To achieve that, an F1 car would have to go at least 210 kph to create enough downforce to keep the car on the ceiling and generate twice as much downforce as the weight to move it forward. Since downforce grows exponentially with speed, it would only take 1.4 times that speed to generate twice as much downforce or about 295 kph.
This speed is easily achievable for an F1 car. However, there is a major problem, the engine.
Would An F1 Engine Run Upside Down?
The engines of an F1 car are extremely complex and robust and, in fact, are the most expensive parts of a car. They are extremely efficient and powerful 1.6-liter V6 90° four-stroke internal combustion engines, but they are not made to run upside down.
Gravity would cause the oil and fuel to malfunction, which would generate instability due to the movement of the liquid, and which would not be in the right place to generate enough speed to go upside down. An upside-down engine would hydro lock, i.e., it would explode.
The engines that could run upside down would be electric engines since they can operate in any orientation (even in space). However, current electric engines are not powerful enough to reach that speed, so it is not feasible to use one of them soon.
Therefore, the ideal would be to use an electric motor with the power of an F1 engine in an F1 car chassis to run upside down, which is not possible at the moment.
How Would Running An F1 Car Upside Down Affect The Driver?
F1 drivers are subjected to forces up to 3 times that of gravity that requires great training and strength, especially in the arms, legs, and neck, which is the most delicate point.
However, driving upside down is a whole other level, as drivers going nearly 300 kph would experience normal G-forces and blood rushing to their heads the whole time. Fighter and display pilots can fly upside down for several seconds, but only a few. Also, the fact that they are not stuck to the ground makes it somewhat smoother.
There are also some car races held on circuits with many steep grades, which have caused a lot of dizziness and sickness among drivers. Therefore, for a driver running upside down, motion sickness and spatial disorientation are likely to be two major problems to consider if the technology to do so were available.
Where Could An F1 Car Run Upside Down?
In the hypothetical case that we could run a Formula 1 car upside down right now, where could it be done? Well, the answer is quite obvious: in a tunnel. However, it could not be just any tunnel since we would have to revise certain parameters to make our experiment possible.
For the car to reach 295 kph, it must run upside down and then slow down. It would take 2 kilometers from a standing start to a stop, so the tunnel would have to be at least 1 kilometer long. In addition, for the car to go from the floor to the ceiling, it would have to be straight and 20 meters high through a seamless transition across the entire tunnel.
Many tunnels around the world are very long. However, few are smooth, long, and high enough for a car to go upside down. In addition, most of these are used as public roads or railroad tracks, so they are full of objects and items that would have to be removed if this experiment were to occur.
Therefore, if this experiment is ever carried out, an existing tunnel would have to be completely remodeled, or a new one would have to be built to meet all the characteristics, which would take a large investment.
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Conclusion
Although it is physically possible for a Formula 1 car to go upside down, as it can generate the necessary speed and downforce to do so, combustion engines would not support running in this direction, as they would not function properly.
A car to run upside down would require an electric engine with the power of an F1 engine mounted on an F1 chassis. This is not possible today, but perhaps in a few decades, it will be possible.
