Lap time simulations are used to ascertain the overall performance of a car around a given track. The track selected here is Silverstone in its modern configuration. A high-fidelity Large-eddy Simulation (LES) with an efficient synthetic turbulence generation method is used to simulate the turbulent atmospheric boundary layer. The LES-generated local wind data around the Silverstone circuit and the surrounding area are analysed. The sampled local wind data using terrain following sensors are converted into headwind and crosswind components based on local track direction. The headwind data are used in the calculation of aerodynamic coefficients (e.g. downforce and drag) in the lap time simulator. Lap times are estimated to take account of track-local winds, and are compared against data from a single averaged wind velocity and those with no wind. This process is repeated eight times to assess the impact of varying wind directions, with simulations conducted at increments of 45 ∘ . We found the track-local winds produce evident impacts on lap times and highlights the importance of track-local winds in the lap time simulator.
Coburn et al. (Mon,) studied this question.