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IndyCars did not use ground effect as substantially as Formula One. For example, they lacked the use of skirts to seal off the underbody of the car. IndyCars also rode higher than ground effect F1 cars and relied on wings for significant downforce as well, creating an effective balance between over the car downforce and ground effect.
The Lotus 79 was the first F1 car to take full advantage of ground effect aerodynamics. Over the span of its lifetime, the Lotus 79 took 7 wins, 10 pole positions, 121 points and won the last drivers' and constructors' world championships for Lotus. The 79 is credited with pushing Formula One into the modern aerodynamics era.
The sliding skirts sealed the gap between the sides of the cars and the ground and prevented excessive air being sucked into the low pressure area under the car and dissipating the ground effect. Andretti described driving the 78 as if it were 'painted to the road'. [8] The Lotus 78 being tested at the Lotus test track in Hethel
The Renault RS10, the first turbocharged car to win a Grand Prix, had ground-effect aerodynamics permitted in 1979. The new technologies introduced by Renault and Lotus became entangled in the FISA–FOCA war of the early 1980s. Turbo engines were complex machines whose layout limited the ground effect 'tunnels' under the car.
By 1981 the ground effect cars were so efficient and so fast that the drivers were suffering from the tremendous g-forces involved in cornering and braking. The FIA banned the moveable skirts fitted to the bottom of the cars' sidepods that were vital for achieving consistent ground effect and regulated a mandatory ground clearance of 6 cm, in the interests of driver safety.
For 1980, the JS11 was updated with improved aerodynamics and better ground effects. The team took on Didier Pironi in place of Depailler. Again the car was fast and competitive, but the Brabham BT49 and the Williams FW07 proved to be the cars to beat, with Alan Jones taking the world championship. Even so, the team still scored two wins, and ...
The onset of the turbo era in the early 1980s put an end to the DFV's F1 activities, as even with modifications the 15-year-old engine could not hope to compete with the vast power being put out by the new 1.5-litre turbocharged engines. However, in the early days of turbo F1 cars (1979–1982) the Renault, Ferrari and Toleman were unable to ...
The team remained the same for the 1978 season. Postlethwaite produced the WR5, a new car for the ground-effects era. This did not appear until the Belgian GP. Scheckter finished fourth in Spain and second in Germany but the WR5 soon made way for the WR6 with which he ended the year with a third in the US Grand Prix and second in Canada.