Andrea Stella has revealed that in order to achieve the right balance between downforce and mechanical grip McLaren will have to perform on-track experiments as simulation can only get the team so far in its bid to find the ideal setup for the Monaco Grand Prix.
A 'very good question' was posed to Stella on Friday. How will McLaren get the balance in sacrificing downforce for mechanical grip right at Monaco?
"You will have to answer this question by experimentation," said the McLaren team boss speaking to media including GPblog.
Formula 1 World Championship 2025, Round 8, Monaco Grand Prix, Circuit de Monaco, Monte Carlo, Monaco, Friday 23 May 2025 - Lando Norris (GBR) McLaren MCL39.
Simulation can only get you so far in terms of finding ideal setup
"Like last year for instance, we tried with both cars a relatively pushed setup from a stiffness point of view and both drivers said this is going too far, we need to go back to where we were before."
"So it's not like you have a good number that comes from simulation, because the simulation may lead you to a certain point, but then you need to face all the subtleties that belong to the real exploitation on the car on a real circuit."
For Stella, then it's a matter of being guided by the simulation data, and testing out the different setup parameters of the cars to nail the right setup. A complicated goal, since under the current regulations, the downforce and setup parameters continue to shift.
"So we will definitely, like traditionally, make some experimentation during practice, and we will see if we have gone too far and then in that case we will come back."
"Normally year by year I have to say the more downforce you want the more the downforce allows you to run [a] stiff [setup], if that makes sense, so it's really you chase a target that tends to change every year."
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