How do Wet Tyres work?

Everyone knows F1 cars have to switch to wet weather tyres in the rain. But why? How do they work? And why can't you use them in the dry?
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Please do support these videos on Patreon: / chainbearf1
Twitter: / chainbearf1
Writing / Illustration / Animation / Editing / Narration:
Stuart Taylor
www.chainbear.me
chainbearsharef1
Music: Dreams Become Real Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)
Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0 License
creativecommons.org/licenses/b... chainbearsharef1

[@platymusPrime]

"Nothing spices up a race like rain" Norris at the '21 Russian GP: Oh no

[@ll-yr8zu]

Too spicy

[@skpist]

Bye landooo, bilandooo

[@lukehill6395]

Q: How do wet tyres work? A: Not well

[@WhispersOfWind]

-they don't xD

[@ramseyjordon5043]

why??

[@hattorihonzo8340]

That graphic at 1:03 being exactly identical to Lando’s incident in Russia 2021, everything from the color of the car to the type of turn, is so wild

[@obviousb8508]

Maybe… they did it on purpose🤔🤔

[@SasquatchPJs]

@@obviousb8508 not sure if you're just joking but this vid was made 5 years ago.

[@Iyellatbabies]

Funny how I get this video AFTER the German GP

[@stayfrosty6290]

🤔🤔🤔

[@alki3443]

Looked this up after qualifying of the Styrian Grand Prix.

[@john_reginald2176]

Heart breaking 😢

[@niconavas2683]

Funny how i get this video after Sochi GP

[@doughboi007]

wtf is with the ominous music lol. Like a horror movie

[@Owesome]

Dont forget how he talks is like the narrator in horror games

[@WhispersOfWind]

it's the ''groove''

[@_gaszy_8925]

Hells Wind BROOOO.

[@rsiquera94]

It sounds very melancholic, I liked it

[@ams7695]

*defeated sigh*

[@NoPlanXD]

1:04 My man foreshadowing Lando today at Sochi, Aquaplaning his way from Pole in a right-hander. Even the car is orange lololol

[@sidgameryt950]

Lol I dident think of that Loool

[@fourthur]

Same thoughts tho

[@bobthedj6992]

the speaking and the music make this sound like you're recounnting a true crime story

[@SilverScarletSpider]

How do wet tyres work? Ferarri 2019: “They don’t.”

[@jonskhag]

u copied part of a comment and also a reply from that comment

[@ajajaaukka]

This voice made me nearly fall asleep, and I woke up at some points where he talked louder and closer to the mic.

[@jonskhag]

lol

[@Phazmatix]

Is this a compliment or a insult? It can be bolth

[@Martos4]

@@Phazmatix i think its none of those

[@jabber67]

Could have been the background music?

[@metrogrimm6525]

Yeah definitely DON'T WATCH THIS WHILE HIGH🍁😂😂😂

[@vanclief]

1:05 Chain Bear predicting Sochi 2021

[@chainbear]

I'm aware the audio still isn't *great*. Audio isn't my forté but I'm working on it!

[@marnixd7616]

Work on your pronunciation. It's a good video but that slightly annoyed me.

[@elblopex]

Are you using some software to edit it? Compression should help a lot. Great video, by the way!

[@zira5932]

Chain Bear F1 As a non native speaker, i can confirm. Your pronounciation is slightly hard to understand, may be you could try to speak slower

[@PIDOFREAK]

i loved it, to be honest

[@manictiger]

Just throw a compressor over it. It'll bring up the quieter parts. Recommend not bringing compressed speech to 100% volume, as it will sound too loud compared to other vids on YT. A bass reduction might also help.

[@jayl9110]

It might be worth making an updated version of this, mister bear. I've watched it about eight times over the past 18 months or so (along with literally every other video you've made) and your skills have massively improved since these heady days. Also, small pedantic point, slick often *does* mean slippery, but is also used to mean smooth - as in, a slick operator.

[@bennokrickl8135]

0:51 it's sad that most people associate touching area with grip as if the force that friction is capable of holding depends on that area. Friction only depends on the normalforce and the surface materials and contitions. More area only feels more grippy because each single chunk of surface has to deal less mechanical stress. I think you know that, but it did not sound as if you did.

[@lakshya_3537]

As far as i remember, friction is directly proportional to area.

[@bennokrickl8135]

@@lakshya_3537 Fr=mu*Fn; Friction force is friction coefficient times normal force.

[@neetones]

My wife and I have just gotten into F1 and your videos are absolutely indispensable. Thank you for making this kind of very high quality content.

[@dltq]

Agreed! I am also a new F1 fan, and these videos are Essential.

[@devd_rx]

Wish i had a wife to share all these with

[@danielchong5032]

Another excellent video, Stuart!

[@TheDrummist88]

This was fantastic, I ride a motorcycle, and was watching MotoGP and just wondered how much of a difference the wet tyres make and the difference of tread, I had no idea what the purpose of tread was. Fantastic video.

[@zeloswaggy4765]

Watching this after the Russian Grand Prix 2021, and you used a orange car that goes of the track to simulate Aquaplaning… just like Lando 😭😭😭

[@maxmoody9755]

Your videos are getting really good, looking forward to what you make in the future. Keep it up!

[@thatwolffe3802]

I love how informative your videos are, I will have to watch more.

[@joelb2067]

The animation at 1.05 is literally what happened to Lando Norris today. Same colour, same turn and direction.

[@mateiberatco500]

Actually, the way the V's displace the water is misunderstood. At high speeds, the V-shaped grooves cannot "divert" the water even on road cars (at 100km/h already). The grooves are so the water that is "pushed" in front of the tire to have a slight interruption of the push and the contact surface to skip over that water before it gets so much that it raises the whole contact patch. What I mean is that there is not much difference between V-grooves and straight-across grooves. The displacement is actually the volume of the grooves themselves calculated at the speed the tire is doing. This is one instance that most people don't understand that the concept does not scale. Yes, you can see the sideways push in slow-motion (you rolling the tire in a deep puddle), but at high speeds, more factors come into play.

[@bh2861]

Sorry bud but wrong analysis

[@luciustarquiniuspriscus1408]

@@bh2861 I have no way of checking the analysis, but just consider how many commercial wet tires don't have V grooves and they work just fine.

[@AVERYhornyMrDinosaur]

with that music and the way you talk, its like you hypnotize information directly into my brain.. I LOVE IT!

[@Omar-vv2bu]

I already knew all this but I love listening to you explain, keep the videos coming!

[@Deepshade_]

Chainbear: Styria 2020: Holt my aquaplaning

[@Rolyat74]

Another amazing video. Keep them coming!

[@NxDoyle]

Thank God you lifted your energy. Audio wasn't the problem. The problem was your apparent boredom.

[@rien8412]

Another great video, you can explain things really good so it is very understandable keep up the good work ;)

[@AdzSONLINE]

I don't mind waiting for your videos because the quality is so high, and that's what makes them great

[@MS4E]

just started watching some videos and it's really nice regarding tyres, it might be nice to talk about how old tyres used to have groves parallel to the direction of travel.

[@teaninja12]

that was a very informative video ! thank you for that and keep up the high quality content :)

[@Ts-ti1vd]

Nicely narrated, keep it going!!

[@bhatkrishnakishor]

There you got my obligatory like. Your explanations are great.

[@noompunk]

I'm grateful that KZbin's automatic subtitles can capture most of your speech correctly.

[@DuncanCunningham]

I always look forward to your vids.

[@Harish-rw5tu]

narration so clear, even the auto generated subtitles were spot on

[@Probe_THC]

Learned a lot from your channel to help me play GT Sport better. Keep it up!

[@honna4949]

so the wet and intermediate tire compounds are much softer than the ultrasoft rubber compound for the 2016 pirelli tyres?

[@chainbear]

True, believe it or not!

[@battosaijenkins946]

@Chain Bear F1, Hi great vid but at 4:39 you explain that the tread from the left tyre would degrade significantly more in dry conditions than the right. So then, how come vehicles aren't equipped with the tyres on the right for the most grip. In other words, why do we get the tread patterns of the left wet tyre instead? Thanks!

[@ForgottenArmy99]

Because you'd be slipping and sliding in a regular car. A regular car doesnt exert the same amount of forces as f1 cars.

[@mediacoregroupph]

+Battosai Jenkins you cannot change tyres as instantly as F1 cars do.

[@matthewmcewen1]

Battosai Jenkins if it rains you are screwed, you could even have a downpour at 100 and slide out of control. Thats how dangerous slicks can be on normal cars

[@quyhdddd]

This is a great channel for a newbie fan of F1 like me. Thks you very much!!!

[@krampus_]

Amazing video as always.

[@raviteja1689]

Awesome content about f1,very good info

[@TrueRacerAcademy]

great little video man looking forward to some more

[@harisbilalovic]

True Racer hey funny seeing you here :)

[@JP05CPSN]

great video! again! teams also change the setup of the car in changing weather conditions, maybe this would bee a good video too

[@bhatkrishnakishor]

Not sure why people are complaining about your voice/pronunciation, I find it easy to follow what you are talking about.

[@CarlosMats]

dude, you have one of the best f1 channels in the internet

[@patrickford9615]

Be careful when you say wider tyres offer more grip. Strictly speaking, the force of friction doesn't care about the total area of the contact patch. All that matters are the force pushing down and the materials in contact. Wider tyres generally perform better due to good lateral force to slip angle characteristics, NOT (coefficient of friction-related) overall grip.

[@PhocaCPH]

Couldn't agree more. The guy lost me there. "More area in contact with road means more grip" is plain wrong. Every motorcyclist enthusiast knows that contact area has nothing to do with grip, and everything with heat dispersion, wear limitation and tensile strength. This is physics 101.

[@RhodokTribesman]

+PhocaCPH saying that is has "nothing to do with grip" is taking it a little far. Although it's not everything, a corvette tire will grip better than a thin Prius tire, even if the tread and rubber is the same.

[@patrickford9615]

Corvette tire grips better because it is wider, therefore stiffer in slip angle. Put the same compound on both shapes and they will be able to accelerate forward the same, but the wider one will generate more lateral force for the same slip angle, or lower slip angles for the same cornering force. Wider tires are to control body motions, not for more force of static friction.

[@mateiberatco500]

So, what changes when you underinflate or overinflate your tires? Same rubber, same road, same weight on the tire, yet much different results (let's ignore the long-time effects, like temperature buildup and safety). What basic physics teachers fail to teach you is that the friction coefficient itself varies with surface.

[@PhocaCPH]

+Matei Beratco They fail to teach it, because it is not exactly true. Friction Coefficient doesn't vary with surface area. Look in wikipadia or in any other physics article describing the phenomenon. Surface area will be conspicuously missing from it. There is definitely interesting physics going on there and there are good reasons why high-performance cars/motorcycles have fat tires, but stating more-surface=more-grip is an F in any physics class. Wide tires allow cars to be very grippy but don't cause it.

[@eronan03]

Very fun and informative video. Thanks.

[@Moe17869]

Keep up the amazing videos

[@genrepolice]

Seeing this video in my reccomended, uploaded 1yr ago. Just made me realise that I have been a subscriber for a year now! (Well, more or less I guess). You have come a long way since, you keep improving up till today. Your content makes me smart, that is what I enjoy. Thanks! But if there is one thing I may say, I love some concistancy. Even though I know you said you are busy with otger stuf. Its just that I would really like to see this more often. Keep it up Stuart!

[@chainbear]

and that video was made in Powerpoint! How far we've come. I do aim for consistent video output but I'm only one person and have to look after myself too :)

[@genrepolice]

Chain Bear F1 Take care of yourself first Stuart! Without you no videos at all. Once again, keep up the amazing work!

[@MaartenVanhoutteghem]

Really enjoyable and educative video! I'm not bad at speaking and understanding English, but I still had some minor issues with understanding everything you said. Anyway, keep up the good work!

[@0hn0haha]

It's easy to understand if you do speak English. I'd advise you to listen to more of his videos; he has a very understandable tone, honest! Watch more English videos, and you will get it.

[@flyhighpizzapie]

The audio is much better in this video, respeck for the improvement ;)

Great video. I had read about this over 30 years ago, but never had it explained is such an easy way. Great job. Thanks for putting it together. Out of curiosity, which software do you use for the animations?

[@pafa92]

your voice and this background music sound so dramatic together! :D

[@gregorymendyka]

Nice video. Good work.

[@Epochal_Enigmas]

"Nothing spices up a race like rain." **Cries in spa**

[@andrescomparinifilms]

Amazing way to descrive something with that music bro ! susc already :D

[@engineerated5627]

It was informative, I loved it ! . . . Subscribing your channel.

[@immortalgamer1440]

congrats on 12k subs

[@noway159]

More sufrace != more traction. Thats not that simple and the solution is rolling friction and much more.

[@diegohurtado5824]

Right its confusing, the math for friction actually doesn’t take surface area into account only coefficient of friction, normal force, and friction force. (at least to my knowledge)

[@thomascreel6522]

@@diegohurtado5824 if anyone is curious, just google tribology. and btw, the surface area absolutely matters.

[@cinquine1]

@@diegohurtado5824 The coefficient of friction is dependent on the contact surface area though.

[@seven9766]

@@cinquine1 Yep. More Pressure on the rubber means less coefficient of friction. More Surface Area means less pressure means more coefficient means more grip. Thats how that works. For Rubber

[@ninja2624]

@@seven9766 why more pressure on the rubber means less coefficient of friction? my logic cannot comprehend it. what should i google to confirm your statement?

[@balajprasanna]

That chocolate cake and X-Men analogy to having too much of a good thing! KABOOM!

[@NothingVideot]

Am I the only one ok with the way he speaks? Seems so at least

[@stevengunter4990]

DELTA THANK YOU! I dont know why so many people have a hard time with this.....

[@RyanAustinDean]

Overly critical people on the internet are usually mediocre humans (at best) in the real world.

[@prodthedirtybunny]

I actually like his voice. The only problem is that his voice is kind of deep and the background music sounds sad which makes the overall mood of the video sad even though it's not positive or negative, it's supposed to be a neutral mood.

[@alasdairduncan3]

I honestly don't understand what people want him to do. Do they want him to go full "American sports presenter" and shout everything unintelligently at you? Chain Bear in 2019 is the perfect presenter; clear, intelligent, informative, and looking back to these older videos there really isn't much that's different. People are idiots.

[@prodthedirtybunny]

@@alasdairduncan3 I honestly can't even tell whats wrong about the way he speaks.

[@oghomelesskid]

great knowledge here. thank you very much😊 music was a bit loud tho, hard to hear you and kinda through me off at times but great video besides that. thank you!

[@ferozqcs]

great video man -subcriber from second video haha

[@ebaako]

Great work.

[@muggsHD]

nice video! keep it up!

[@Datadog-1]

Love your videos so much but can’t finish this one, that music lol

[@rebelliongen949]

Highly competitive sport like f1 have far less audience than other popular sports, mainly because f1 is very complex and technical but that's what makes it special, and I will always support people who encourage other people to watch f1 by giving them correct technical information in simple way,,,,,,,, Great video, subscribed to your channel

[@comradeoblivious526]

REBELLION GEN I stopped watching F1 because the FIA is a joke. They don't allow wet racing and are basically stopping racing with penalties. If a driver makes a mistake in an overtake BOOM penalty. Completely destroys the racing. Unless it's Hamilton. As evidenced in Mexico where he cut the first corner like a pro and got away with it. Guess that's what happens when you call the stewards racist eh?

[@rebelliongen949]

Comrade Oblivous you are absolutely right, not only in Mexico we see irregularities in penalty in almost every race, maybe because they change stewards in every race and different steward have different opinion on how penalty should be given, or maybe because they favour one driver over other,, i personally feel sad when I see the lap time 2004 f1 cars was faster than 2016 cars, but I hope future of f1 will be better than what it is today

[@comradeoblivious526]

REBELLION GEN look back to 95/96. The drivers could race unimpeded by the stewards for the most part (unless it was obviously intentional). I don't care how fast the cars are really, they could be doing 300mph around Monaco but if it's a procession it's pointless. What I would rather have is cars that are maybe slower but are able to overtake. Step 1. Single element front wings. Step 2. More mechanical grip. Look at nascar. They have a tiny amount of aero by comparison but can run within inches of each other in corners at places like Watkins Glen (not an oval) because of all the mechanical grip.

[@snakevera]

WOW, that's a lot of water being moved every second! Mmmm physics...

[@codeine_addict]

another great video

[@kylelmnop]

I know I'm nit picking on a video that's over a year old, but more surface area does not mean more grip. maximum lateral force is equal to the normal force (or weight) multiplied by the coefficient of friction of the materials touching. No where there does it ask for the surface area. Pressure is equal to force, per unit area. When you have a wider tire, you are just distributing the weight of the car over more tire. Because of this you can run a softer compound and have tires wear slower due to sharing the load with a wider (but narrower) contact patch.

[@ettorefassina356]

These videos should have more views!

[@blackwallstreet1982]

Excellent video

[@joe_mk7948]

funny sense of humour and good video :)

[@ABC97613]

Wasnt bothered by the sound, great vid

[@AllegedlySpiffy]

Thanks for explaining! I was able to understand you just fine -- and I live in the U.S. *shrugs*

[@Novotny72]

nice work.

[@d1want34]

Love the graphics

[@WLockIV]

The papaya car was prophetic omg

[@mr.actiongal1017]

Thank god for subtitles

[@johndaltrocanto]

S-a-s-s-y chain bear, i like it

[@kevinlambo3211]

Very informative. Can you do this for other everyday objects?

[@Qu1ppy]

1:05 my mans predicted lando Norris at Russia

[@nathanaelnamrath9135]

Man you are genius in f1

[@0hn0haha]

Nice pirelli tire patterns!

[@T07N]

you should have more subscribers! fun knowledge

[@michaelbuckers]

Racing tyres provide most grip through adhesion, that's why they're trying to maximize contact patch size. Beyond that, greater contact patch size means better tyre longevity because there is less stress over any particular area, something as minor as removing the grooves can make it last couple of laps longer. Road tyres provide grip through friction alone, in this mode surface area and exerted pressure cancel out no matter the size of contact patch, so they are free to add grooves and make tyres smaller (most notably, narrower).

[@Dmenjivar22]

Lol I love the background music

[@Nolfavrell]

Haha I'm a German speaker but I have no problem at all with his English Accent or way of talking... I actually really like his way of talking

[@rizkiyoist]

A little correction. Wider tire doesn't necessarily increase grip, if that's really the case then every tires will be made as wide as possible. Wider tire allows softer compound because the wider tire cools faster. If you use a compound too soft compared to the width of the tire, it will overheat and perform poorly. If you use too hard compound with wide tire, the tire will be too cold and also perform poorly.

[@mercique]

oml finally, simple short fun race knowledge

[@t.l.2349]

Stuart, I would like to disagree that slick tires have more grip than wet tires because it has more "area in contact with the road". In physics, the function for the friction force is F=(mu)*m*g*cos(theta) where mu is the coefficient of friction. You can clearly see that the function does not depend of surface area "aka contact patch"! So why do slicks have better traction? This is simply because the soft composition of the tire increases mu (the coefficient of friction), while wet tires are made from harder material which have a lower coefficient of friction. So, in theory, tires with grooves will provide as much grip as tires without grooves if they were made from the same material and have the same hardness. However, that is not possible in real life since if the wet tires were made from the same material the slicks are made of, it would not last very long or simply would fall apart. Great video though!

[@alceuzinho]

It doesn't make any sense. If the grip didn't depend on contact area, all racecars would have a lot narrower tires because of aerodynamics. And F1 wouldn't be on wider tires for next year to make cars faster.

[@MrPutterify]

Alceu Filho This is a very common misconception. I will explain using an answer I have taken from Quora. "Question As an engineer, I know that friction does not depend upon surface area. As a car nut, I know that wider tires have better traction. How do you explain this contradiction? Answer This is a good question and one which is commonly asked by students when friction is discussed. It is true that wider tires commonly have better traction. The main reason why this is so does not relate to contact patch, however, but to composition. Soft compound tires are required to be wider in order for the side-wall to support the weight of the car. softer tires have a larger coefficient of friction, therefore better traction. A narrow, soft tire would not be strong enough, nor would it last very long. Wear in a tire is related to contact patch. Harder compound tires wear much longer, and can be narrower. They do, however have a lower coefficient of friction, therefore less traction. Among tires of the same type and composition, here is no appreciable difference in 'traction' with different widths. Wider tires, assuming all other factors are equal, commonly have stiffer side-walls and experience less roll. This gives better cornering performance."

[@alceuzinho]

It still doesn't make sense. But... well, a lot of things don't. Thanks. EDIT: It actually DOES make sense. Thanks again.

[@hfeng7053]

great vid!!!!!!!!!!!!

[@yesidvizcaino9285]

Your vídeos are awesome!!! but please add CC

[@acruzp]

it's not friction, it's adhesion. The amount of people who get this wrong is incredible.

[@nandooooooo]

When people think rain affects a race like nothing else, Latifi laughs and ask someone to hold his beer.

[@drybones7475]

Would it be possible to make a video about driving in the wet, explaining the cause of aquaplaning , spins or understeering, and the different trajectories?

[@bernardocianciosi3511]

Amazing

[@shreyjain2752]

1:08 Lando Norris going off the track at Russian Grand Prix 2021?

[@tehsarr0w]

why is this cool video about tires so dark and menacing

[@Robert-xp4ii]

I guess I'm just focusing on the information because I've been seeing ppl criticize the music and I've never even noticed it. It seems there may be background music at times but I've literally never noticed it.

[@aapjeaaron]

surface area doesn't matter for grip, friction is equal to the normal force on the surface multiplied by the friction coefficient. this is a very good thing because theoretically the only contact point between a tire and the ground is a line with the thickness of a graphical point.