Rake

Rake in motorsport refers to the angle of a race car's body relative to the ground, specifically the difference in height between the front and rear of the vehicle when viewed from the side.

When a car has "positive rake," the rear sits higher off the ground than the front, creating a nose-down attitude. This is the most common setup in professional racing. "Negative rake" means the front is higher than the rear, but this configuration is rarely used in competitive motorsport.

Rake plays a crucial role in how air flows underneath and around the car. When teams adjust the rake angle, they're essentially changing how the car cuts through the air, which directly affects downforce production. More downforce means better grip and faster cornering speeds, but it can also increase drag on straight sections.

The most famous example of rake strategy comes from Formula 1, where Red Bull Racing dominated for years using high-rake setups. Their cars ran with a significant nose-down attitude, which helped create more efficient airflow through the rear diffuser - the part of the car that accelerates air underneath to generate downforce.

Adjusting rake also changes how weight transfers around the car during braking, acceleration, and cornering. More rake typically makes a car more prone to oversteer (rear sliding out), while less rake can cause understeer (front pushing wide in corners). This balance is critical for driver confidence and lap times.

Teams must consider that rake changes dynamically during racing. Under heavy braking, the car's nose dips down, increasing rake. During acceleration, the rear squats down, reducing rake. Engineers must account for these movements when setting up the car.

It's important not to confuse "rake" with "aero rakes" - those are completely different tools used to measure airflow around the car during testing, featuring multiple sensors that look like small pitchforks mounted on the vehicle.