F1 Tech | Practice analysis: top teams with different set-ups to fight for the win at Monza

The very long straights and slow speed chicanes flatten the performance difference between the different cars, making the field more compact than ever. An interesting aspect from today was how top teams choose different set-ups and rear wings, to better suit their cars to the Temple of Speed. Let’s try to explore the differences.

Starting with McLaren, the team brought two different rear wing specs to the Italian Grand Prix: the first version was the same one used in Spa-Francorchamps, while the other version is a more extreme low downforce version, better suited to tracks like Monza and Las Vegas. During the first practice session, the new low downforce version was fitted on Norris’ car, while Alexander Dunne (who took the seat of Piastri for FP1) ran the Spa version.

As highlighted in the photo below, the version used by Norris is characterised by a very skinny rear wing, with a very flat mainplane, characterised by a very small spoon in the central portion (green arrow).

The DRS flap also showed a very reduced chord, to reduce the drag as much as possible. Moreover, the beam wing used on the Britain’s car showed a trimmed trailing edge, to privilege top speed over downforce (light blue arrow).

For what concerns the rear wing used by Dunne, the version featured a longer chord mainplane, with a slightly bigger spoon in the central portion (green arrow), with the beam wing that had a blob shape, useful to produce more downforce across its entire length (light blue arrow).

The version used by Norris provided higher top speeds, but put much more stress on the rear tyres in traction phases, due to the lower level of downforce provided. At the same time, the rear wing chose for Dunne provided more drag on the straights but more grip through high speed corners and especially in traction, allowing drivers to better look after the rear tyres.

However, after comparison runs were made during FP1, the team decided to fit on both cars the extreme low downforce rear wing version tested by Norris during the first session, conscious that the great level of downforce generated by the bodywork and the Venturi channels of the MCL39 provided enough grip and downforce to be still competitive through sector 2 and 3, while having a good top speed thanks to the lower downforce spec.

That’s exactly what happened during the second hour of practice: Norris and Piastri were the quickest through second and third sector, making a big difference through fast corners, thanks to the great level of downforce generated by the Venturi channels.

At the same time, however, they were quick in the first sector, where top speed is needed. As a result, Norris was able to finish FP2 in P1 and Piastri in P3, less than two-tenths behind his team mate.

Moreover, the race pace simulations showed during second practice demonstrated that McLaren have a margin over their competitors, thanks to that additional downforce provided by the bodywork, which helps in looking after the tyres on high fuel load, as shown in the table below.

Moving now on to analyse Ferrari’s performance, the Maranello had a very good Friday, also thanks to a very good base set-up and higher engine modes in the qualifying simulations.

For their home Grand Prix, the team has brought two different rear wing specs: the first version is the same one used last year, while the second spec is an even lower downforce spec, characterised by a trimmed trailing edge.

As shown in the image below, in FP1 Leclerc used the trimmed version, while Hamilton adopted last year’s spec. This choice also better aligned with the two drivers’ driving styles: Leclerc, in fact, usually prefers a more pointed car, while Hamilton prefers a more stable car on the rear axle.

The rear wing used by Leclerc provides a higher top speed, at the cost of less grip on the rear axle under braking and in traction phases. On the other hand, the version tested by Hamilton provides more grip and stability in corners, while guaranteeing a slightly slower top speed.

After the tests made in FP1, the team decided to switch to the lower downforce rear wing on both cars in FP2: the very unstable and light rear, however, resulted quite difficult to manage for both drivers especially in the race pace simulations, with both drivers who made quite a lot of mistakes.

The lower grip provided, in fact, made the car much more unstable under braking and in the high speed corners of the second sector, where drivers were really on a knife edge to keep the car on track.

On the other hand, the very unloaded rear wing provided an excellent top speed in all the straights of the Temple of Speed, allowing Leclerc to set the second time in qualifying simulations only 86 thousands of second behind Norris in P1.

During this first day of action, the SF-25 seemed very close to the ground, with a lot of sparks through fast corners, highlighting that the team chose an aggressive ride height to extract the maximum performance from the Venturi channels.

However, to avoid an excessive plank wear, the team probably need to slightly rise the car for tomorrow, losing a bit of performance (especially in the high speed corners of the track) as a consequence.

With the performance demonstrated in the qualifying simulations, both Hamilton and Leclerc could clearly be in the fight for pole, but a lot will also depend on the opportunity to take a tow during qualifying, but also on which is the real gap to the two McLaren.

Moving on to analyse Red Bull’s performance, the team brought the last small updates of the season at the Italian Grand Prix, which concerned some minor (invisible) changes to the front floor.

Apart from these new bits, the team also adapted their front and rear wings to the extreme low downforce level required by the Italian Circuit. The rear wing used was the same one already used in Silverstone and in Spa-Francorchamps, which is perfect for these low downforce layouts. 

The RB21 looked much more balanced on the first day of action compared to previous weekends, showing off a very good performance in all three sectors, proof of a very balanced car and a very good top speed.

The big surprise of the day, however, was Verstappen’s race pace simulation in FP2: after setting a time on the softs of only 2 tenths behind Norris, he made the fastest race pace simulation of the day, with an average of about a tenth faster than Norris, despite completing less laps (5 laps less than Norris).

For this reason, the Dutchman can’t be counted out for the fight for the win on Sunday: with such a balanced and strong car, if he manages to make a good qualifying, he can surely be a thorn in the side for the two McLaren.

Last but not least, Williams had a much better day than Mercedes: the Grove team was in the top positions in both practices, showing the adaptability of the FW45 to the Italian Circuit, mainly thanks to the very low level of downforce required.

For them, qualifying will be a crucial opportunity to start the race as further up ahead as possible, to then score a good amount of points in the race.

For what concerns Mercedes, the team suffered for the whole day, due to the rear limited nature of the circuit and the lack of an appropriate extreme low downforce rear wing.

The better demonstration of these difficulties has been Antonelli’s crash at the beginning of FP2, where he beached at Lesmo 2. For them it’ll be important to get both cars in Q3 tomorrow, to then maximise the amounts of points scored on Sunday.