Automotive/Motorsports Use
While vertical stabilizers have also been used in some race cars, such as the 1955 Jaguar D-type, the concept has seen sparing use until recently when the concept has seen a resurgence in Formula 1 and Le Mans endurance racing. The ostensible purpose of this is primarily to reduce sudden high speed yaw induced blow overs that would cause the cars to flip due to aerodynamic lift when subject to extreme yaw angles during cornering or in a spin. In addition to this, some Formula 1 teams utilized the wing as a way to disrupt the airflow to the rear wing reducing drag, the most radical system being the "F-duct" found in the MP4-25 (and later copied by Ferrari in the Ferrari F10) where air from a duct in the front of the car could be diverted, on demand by the driver, through a tunnel in the vertical fin onto the rear wing to stall it and reduce drag on the straights where downforce wasn't needed. The system has since been banned for the 2011 Formula 1 season. For Le Mans Prototypes, the vertical stabilizer, dubbed the "Big Honking Fin" by some fans has become mandatory for all newly homologated sports prototypes.
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