Downforce in a Formula 1 car can exceed the car’s own weight at high speed, yet the machine still depends on tire grip to stay on the asphalt. Aerodynamic load is a vertical force generated by wings and the floor as air flows around and under the chassis, but it does not act in isolation.
The key is that downforce only creates potential for grip. The tire still obeys the basic friction law, where lateral force is roughly the normal force multiplied by the friction coefficient. More downforce raises that normal force, but all cornering and braking forces must pass through a small contact patch of rubber. If the combined lateral and longitudinal demand exceeds what the friction ellipse allows, the tire slides regardless of how much downforce is available.
Aerodynamic load is also highly speed dependent, scaling roughly with the square of velocity due to dynamic pressure. At lower speeds, mechanical grip from suspension geometry and compound properties dominates because downforce falls away. Even at peak speed, airflow can stall, ride height can change the pressure distribution under the floor, and transient weight transfer can momentarily overload one tire. The chassis may have theoretical upside from aerodynamics, but the limiting factor remains the chemical and mechanical interaction between rubber and track.
