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...
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