Historically, teams run as little downforce as possible for Monza, giving them greta straight line speed, but seriously reduced braking capabilities. Is it worth trying what Jenson Button did last year, quite effectively, and running far more downforce than the competition, for a braking and cornering advantage? Remember, this year we have DRS and KERS, both will help offset the negative effect of increased downforce. How would you set the car up, would you run as little wing as possible, or would you attempt the contrary strategy?
I would go for downforce, its not much difference and you will win in the wet, but you will be a sitting duck on the straights for DRS.
Actually, with the 2 DRS zones, it wouldn't hurt that much. As you would be running more wing, the DRS would help you pass the car in front far more than if you were running minimal wing.
I think mercedes would run minimal downforce. We know their car has cornering issues (sign of a fundamentally bad chassis), so they have nothing to lose, may as well go all out attack with a low wing.
It's all they can really afford to do though. I don't think the Mercedes board of directors would be happy with the way this season has gone. At least if they run minimum downforce, they have a (realistic) shot at winning the race.
I'm not sure. I said a few months ago that a Merc would win the italian GP. (mind you i also said Adrian Sutil would win the Belgian GP)
Yeah man, it is unrealistic to be honest. They weren't massively surprising in Spa either as a certain Cowboy predicted, so why would they be better in Monza? The other teams are way out in front relative to Mercedes.
Don't forget Button was only able to run more downforce because he had the F-duct on the car at the time - without it, there's not much point in a high-downforce setup. I'd try both but I suspect the low-downforce will provide a greater advantage on the famous long straights of Monza.
Was then about to make the same point. Higher downforce will be beneficial in qualifying with unlimited DRS, but you'd drop through the pack like a stone in the opening couple of laps.
haha this guy gets it. On a seperate note, I remember Lewis going for a low downforce set up in qualifying last year (removing the f-duct) and saying he was sliding all over the place in qualifying, who knows how this wouldve turned out in the race. JB went for the higher downforce set up and was able to keep Alonso behind him for most of the race. Yet this approach failed for Lewis in Spa with him being so slow on the straight. Its about compromise and making the best judgement with set-up, you either look clever or silly.
Yeah Matt, the right decisions need to be made here, it is far from simple. Every car is different and the drivers needs are all varied. So no simple judgment on what is needed and what needs to be reduced can be made... really good comment pal.
its easy for people to say that cars with fast straight line speed will perform the best here like the FI and mercedes cars but every team can suit their car up for a certain race track and a simple changle of race set up can fix the disadvantages the car may have eg red bull at spa last weekend
Force India haven't generally been that quick in the speed traps, it's tended to be (from what I've seen) Mercedes, Sauber and Renault. Red Bull were up there in Spa with the car tuned for high speed, I've no doubt the top teams will be able to make their cars fastest regardless of engine. Last year Rosberg was the only driver outside the "Big Three" to get in the top six.
Yes, the faster teams can match their car to the track they are going to.. thus the standings and the positions of the teams remain the same.
