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Adrian N.

Published on May 22, 2023

High Downforce Setup for Monaco
Engineering
Setups

Maximizing downforce is the holy grail for navigating Monaco's labyrinthine streets. The circuit's tight, slow corners demand immense grip, making aerodynamic efficiency a secondary concern to raw downforce. Our latest proposed rear wing design features a more aggressive angle of attack and larger endplates, designed to generate maximum vertical load. While this would be a significant detriment on a high-speed track due to drag, Monaco's short straights mean the time lost is negligible compared to the gains in cornering speed. The philosophy here is simple: cornering speed is everything in Monaco. The straights are so short that any time lost to drag is easily regained with higher apex speeds. Our simulations show this new wing could provide up to a 5% increase in downforce, which translates to almost two-tenths of a second per lap. The trade-off is a slightly higher fuel consumption and increased tire wear due to the higher loads, but the potential lap time gain and improved driver confidence through sections like the Swimming Pool complex make it a necessary and potent adjustment.