Are you struggling to find pace at Monza? Or maybe you can’t keep the rear end of the car in check? Don’t worry, we have our Italian GP setup guide just for you.
Photo credit: EA / Codemasters
One of the most beloved and well-known circuits on the F1 calendar is Monza. Not only is it one of the oldest racetracks in the world, it’s got an awesome nickname: the Temple of Speed. It got this name due to its high top speeds that cars reach down its several long straights, as well as having a very high average speed over the course of the lap due to a relative lack of heavy braking zones. Because of the track’s unique layout, it’s very important to ensure you have a good setup to race there on F1 2021. Here’s what we recommend you run at the Autodromo Nazionale di Monza for a fast but stable car.
Aerodynamics and Transmission
First on the list, as with any F1 2021 setup, are your wings. These always play a crucial role in the overall feel of the car, and that is still the case in Monza. In years gone by, running minimum wing settings has been a viable strategy here. However, in F1 2021, downforce is very important. As such, we recommend that you opt for 3-6 settings for the front and rear wings respectively.
Having a decent amount of rear-end downforce helps you out in the traction zones, which can be very trick at Monza, and running wings which are too skinny will leave you losing too much time in the Lesmos and in Ascari. If you’re comfortable dealing with downforce and you want to be able to overtake more easily, you could consider turning the front wing angle down a notch.
Part of the reason to run a slightly hefty rear wing is to allow you to run a 100% locked on throttle differential setting. This will make wheelspin under traction a hazard, hence the rear wing to balance this out, but if you manage to nail your throttle application you should reap the rewards all the way down the long straights. For the off throttle differential, we’ve found that 60% works well, but you can play around with this one quite a bit.
Suspension Geometry and Suspension
For your camber values, moving the bar all the way to the right hand side can help to mitigate tyre wear at little extra cost. Therefore, -2.50 on the fronts and -1.00 on the rears is a good way to go. As for your toe settings, the front toe is not very impactful, but a minimum setting of 0.05 works fine. Then, on the rears, running as much as 0.44 toe angle really helps with stability on the rear end of the car.
The high kerbs at Monza are a major consideration for the suspension and ride height aspect of your car’s setup. In terms of the suspension itself, a softly-sprung car will handle the bumps of the Della Rogia, Ascari and Rettifilio chicanes. Furthermore, a hard rear suspension really makes the car feel on edge and unstable in most of the corners here. So 1-2 is what we would recommend for your suspension values.
In general, anti-roll bar settings of 3-9 are a solid option at almost any track on the F1 calendar when you are focusing on drivability. It’s very easy for the rear end to get away from you, so a firm rear anti-roll bar is important if you don’t want to be fighting your car to the death lap after lap.
As with the suspension itself, the ride height settings have to take the high kerbs into account. However, a car which is raised up to its maximum height will also have a less efficient drag profile – something which you simply can’t afford at a track with such high speeds as Monza. A happy balance between these two concerns can be found somewhere in the middle. We suggest 5-7, but you can experiment with this a bit and see what feels stable for you.
Brakes and Tyres
While there aren’t many major braking zones at Monza, those which do exist are extremely heavy on the brakes, especially into turn 1. Therefore, it’s important that you feel comfortable on the brake pedal. For us, this can be achieved with a brake pressure of 100% and a bias of 54%. However, if you find yourself struggling with consistent lock-ups, consider lowering the pressure a little bit. You will slightly compromise your overall potential stopping power, but that’s a small price to pay if it helps you to avoid smoke emitting from your tyres.
Finally there are the tyre pressures, and these are super simply for Monza. Maximum values across the board work really nicely, giving you less drag and more responsive tyres. Tyre temperature doesn’t tend to become an issue with this setup (unless you’re locking up a lot), so that’s not a concern here. Therefore, values of 25.0psi on the fronts with 23.5psi on the rears is our recommendation for Monza. However, always remember that if your tyres are consistently getting too hot, the easiest way to remedy this is by lowering your tyre pressures.
To see more setup guides for F1 2021, click here.
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