F1 fans may have often heard commentators refer to the suspension of a car but may have still not understood why is it so important. A suspension in simple words is crucial to help increase the grip of F1 cars, especially over kerbs. This part helps cars absorb the force of bumps and store the kinetic energy using a spring. There are two types of suspensions: the first is a push rod, while the other is a pull rod.
While there are key differences between the two types of suspensions, they also have similarities. Both a push rod and a pull rod suspension system use wishbones. A wishbone helps connect the chassis to the wheels, and plays a crucial role in times of an accident as it prevents the tires from flying off.
Another comment element that both systems use is a track rod. Since this connects the steering to the wheel, it helps drivers to make turns. When it comes to the difference, there is just one thing that separates the two systems.
As explained in the video below, a push rod suspension is mounted from the upper part of a chassis to the lower part of a wheel herb. On the other hand, the system for a pull rod system is the exact reverse. In this setup, the rod is connected from the lower part of the chassis to the upper part of the wheel herb.
Both systems are connected to something called a rocker. When a wheel moves up in a push rod system, the rocker is moved inwards. On the other hand, in a pull rod system, the rocker is pulled outwards when the wheel moves up.
What are the advantages and disadvantages of both systems in an F1 car?
Since there is no clear-cut preference between the two for F1 teams, both types of suspensions have their own advantages and disadvantages. It just depends on the teams and their drivers about which system they prefer for their cars.
The push rod system is usually easier to access as the springs are mounted higher. However, they do compromise the aerodynamic and performance gain advantages that teams usually seek. Hence, most teams usually use a combination of the two systems.
The likes of Aston Martin, Mercedes, Ferrari, Haas, and Williams use the same setup of suspension. All these five teams use the push-rod system at the front and the pull-rod system at the rear. Although the likes of Alpine, AlphaTauri, and Alfa Romeo also use the push-rod system at the front, they also use the same system at the rear.
Meanwhile, Red Bull and McLaren are the only two teams who use the pull-rod system at the front. However, their systems do differ for the rear.
While Red Bull uses the push-rod system for the rear, McLaren uses the pull-rod system for both ends of their car. Although suspension is not an area that is often discussed in F1, it will be interesting to see what type of systems do the teams use for the 2024 season.
