2026年F1车队如何应对墨西哥城赛道的高海拔挑战
墨西哥城赛道因其海拔高度而成为F1赛季的特例，车手面临更大挑战，而赛车则因空气密度降低而拥有更高的速度。
墨西哥城赛道是F1赛季的特例，主要因为其海拔高度：海拔2240米，相当于空气密度降低约25%，这使得一切事情都变得更加困难。
对于车手来说，这基本上意味着更艰苦的工作，但对于赛车来说，情况则完全不同，因为在那个海拔高度，赛车产生的下压力和阻力都会减少。在过去，车队会使用更多或更少的摩纳哥规格的翼片，但本赛季随着翼片规则和主动空气动力学的变化，他们没有这样的可能性。
因此，基本上赛车会滑动得更厉害，但减小的阻力意味着最高速度甚至比正常情况下还要快。这意味着你会在那些长直道上更快地到达终点，需要更长的制动距离，这会在刹车中产生更多的热量。
这些赛车是涡轮增压的，所以实际上，尽管涡轮需要更努力地工作，并且在整个圈的大部分时间里都会以尽可能接近最大转速运行，但它仍然会产生相似水平的动力输出。这意味着发动机的热量排放并没有减少，因此你需要比平时多冷却大约25%。
此外，由于这是一个富含电能的赛道布局，你还会因为收集和部署而使电池组和其控制系统产生更多的热量。
基本上，一切都需要更高的冷却水平。以下是我查看顶级四支车队从他们通常运行的配置中做出的改变。由于进气区域是车身侧面撞击结构的一部分，因此改变它基本上需要重新进行侧面撞击测试，所以大家都会关注冷却出口的大小、位置和数量。
首先，我们可以看看后出口。
红色椭圆突出显示了朝后的出口。麦克拉伦提高了排气出口上方的部分，以增加出口面积。
它已经在奥斯汀使用了一个规格二的出口，正如红色椭圆所示，梅赛德斯在墨西哥保留了这一点。现在它更像是一个三角形开口，这是通过提升上部发动机罩表面实现的，尤其是在中央部分，位于排气出口上方。
法拉利选择了简单地扩大两侧的出口，如两个绿色椭圆所示。中央部分的高度与上一版本相似。
从我看到的来看，红牛并没有真正费心改变这个区域的出口。
后出口的位置大致相同，实际上，所有车队的大小也大致相同 - 因此，它们对整体汽车效率的影响将很容易理解。
当你从这个区域获得最大效益时，就要转向侧箱和发动机盖百叶窗出口。就最大化冷却效果而言，这是最关键的区域，这个区域的大幅变化可能会影响汽车其他部分的空气流动结构。这不仅仅是关于更大的百叶窗，更重要的是百叶窗相对于车身表面的压力位置以及百叶窗的放置方式和位置可以产生重大影响。
在这场比较中排名前两位的赛车，梅赛德斯和法拉利，在放置上相当相似，两者都有两个相当明确的定位。这些位置通常放置在内部散热器流量最弱的地方。
另一方面，麦克拉伦的放置更具美学吸引力，而且所有部分都连接在一起，这也增加了美学效果。我的观点是，只要它能达到目标，为什么选择丑陋的，而不是对眼睛有视觉吸引力的呢？
另一方面，红牛在外观上看起来对墨西哥高原的适应改动最少。也许在其他比赛中它被过度冷却了，但我对此表示怀疑——因为大多数车队都会为每个单独的赛道推极限。
这就是发动机及其辅助冷却需求的变化。另一个大的冷却需求是刹车，很难看出谁在那里做得最好。
对于车队来说，很难模拟那些车辆最重时的早期比赛圈数，当你在交通中行驶时；当刹车过热时，唯一的方法是减少使用它们——这意味着更多的提升和滑行。
那么，谁在这所有方面都做得最好，同时最小化了空气动力学损失？我认为我们可能要到周日晚上才知道。
英文原文
The Mexico City track is one of the outliers of the Formula 1 season, mainly because of the altitude: it is 2240 meters above sea level, which equates to roughly 25% less dense air, so it makes everything just that bit more difficult.
For the drivers it's basically harder work, but for the cars it's a very different story, because at that altitude the cars will produce less downforce and with that less drag. In the past, teams would use more or less Monaco-specification wings but this season with the change in wing regulations and active aero they don't have that possibility.
So, basically the ars will slide around more but the reduced drag means that top speeds are even faster than normal. This means that you will arrive at the end of those long straights faster and require a longer braking duration, which generates more heat in the brakes.
These cars are turbocharged so in reality even though the turbo has to work harder and will be running at or as near to its maximum rpm as possible for most of the lap, it will still produce similar levels of power output. This means the engine's heat rejection isn't reduced, so you need to cool the cars roughly 25% more than you normally have to.
Also, as it's an electrical energy-rich circuit layout you will also generate more heat into the battery pack and its control systems simply from harvesting and deployment.
Basically, everything needs higher levels of cooling and below I have had a look at the top-four teams' changes from what they normally run. It's not easy to alter the inlet area on these cars as it is part of the side impact structure, so changing it would basically require redoing the side impact tests, so instead everyone will focus on the cooling exits, size, location and quantity.
First of all we can have a look at the rear exits.
The red ellipse highlights the rearwards-facing outlet. McLaren has raised the section above the exhaust outlet to increase the exit area.
It already ran a spec-two outlet at Austin and as can be seen by the red ellipse Mercedes has retained that for Mexico. Now it is more of a triangular opening, which it has achieved by lifting the upper engine cover surface, especially in the central section, above the exhaust outlet.
Ferrari has gone for simply a bigger exit at the sides, as highlighted by the two green ellipses. The central section is similar in height to the previous version.
From what I can see, Red Bull hasn't really bothered to alter the outlet in this area.
The rear exits are in more or less the same position and, in reality, are more or less the same size for all the teams - so the effect they have on the overall cars efficiency will be well understood.
When you are getting the maximum from that area then it's onto the sidepod and engine-cover louvre outlets. This is the most critical area as far as maximising the cooling is concerned, and major changes in this area can affect the airflow structure of the rest of the car coming along behind. It's not just about bigger louvres, it's more about placement relative to the body-surface pressure and how and where those louvres are placed can have a major influence.
The top two cars in this comparison, Mercedes and Ferrari, are fairly similar in placement and both have two fairly well-defined locations. These positions are normally placed where the internal radiator flow is at its weakest.
The McLaren on the other hand has a more aesthetically pleasing placing and the fact that it all connects together also adds to the aesthetics. My sentiments are that as long as it achieves the objective, why go for ugly when it can be visually appealing to the eye?
Red Bull on the other hand externally looks like it has made the fewest changes to compensate for the altitude in Mexico. Perhaps it was overcooled at other races but I would doubt this - as most teams will push the limits for each individual track.
That's all the engine and its ancillary cooling requirement changes compared. The other big cooling requirement is for the brakes and it's difficult to see who has done the best job there.
For the teams, it's difficult to simulate those early race laps when the car is at its heaviest and you are running in traffic; when the brakes overheat, the only way to cool them down is to use them less - which means more lifting and coasting.
So, who has done the best job on all of this while minimising the aerodynamic losses? I think it's going to be Sunday night before we know that.
The Race ·
内容来自公开信源，聚合内容版权归原作者与来源所有。