Alright, so I decided to tackle Monza in F1 24 the other day. You know, the Temple of Speed. It’s always a challenge trying to get that setup just right for those long straights but still have enough to get through the chicanes. So, I buckled down and started tinkering.
My Approach to the Setup Bits
First thing I always look at for Monza is the Aerodynamics. It’s all about shedding drag. I immediately slammed the front wing down, maybe to around 7 or 8, and the rear wing even lower, something like 5 or 6. Took it for a lap. Felt quick on the straights, yeah, but try braking for Variante del Rettifilo and the car was all over the place. A bit too sketchy. So, I nudged the front up by one click, just to get a little more stability under braking. The rear, I kept it super low. It’s a balancing act, as always.
Next, I moved onto the Transmission. For the on-throttle differential, I wanted good traction out of those slower corners, like the first chicane and Variante Ascari. So, I pushed that up to about 65-70%. Didn’t want it fully locked, otherwise it just snaps. For off-throttle, I kept it a bit looser, maybe around 55%. Helps the car rotate a bit when I lift off, which is handy for getting the nose in.
Then came the Suspension Geometry. Camber, I went fairly aggressive on the front, pushing it towards the right for more grip in the turns. Rear camber, a bit less, to help with traction and not kill the tyres too much on the straights. For toe, I usually go with a little bit of toe-out on the front, just a click or two, to help with turn-in. And for the rear, a bit of toe-in, maybe 0.20 or so, for that straight-line stability. You don’t want the back end wiggling when you’re maxed out down the main straight.
Onto the Suspension itself. Monza is pretty flat, but you do use the kerbs in the chicanes. So, I couldn’t make it rock solid. I set the front suspension a bit stiffer, maybe around 30-35. The rear suspension, I kept it softer, something like 8-10. This helps with traction. Anti-roll bars, similar logic: stiffer front, maybe 8 or 9, and a softer rear, around 2 or 3, to let the car roll a bit and absorb those kerbs without unsettling it too much. Ride height, as low as I could get away with without bottoming out too badly. Probably around 30 at the front and 35 at the rear. Every millimeter counts for aero.
Brakes are crucial for Monza. Those big stops. I pushed the brake pressure to 100%, no messing about. For brake bias, I started around 56% to the front. I sometimes play with this during a race, moving it back a click if I need a bit more rotation, but you have to be careful not to lock the rears.
Finally, the Tyres. Pressures are always a bit of a black art. For Monza, lower pressures generally mean better straight-line speed and traction, but can make the car feel a bit sluggish in response. I started with the fronts around 22.5 psi and the rears around 20.5 psi. After a few laps, I felt I needed a bit more responsiveness, so I nudged the fronts up to 23.0 psi and the rears to 21.0 psi. Seemed like a decent compromise for me.
Testing and Tweaking
So, with all that punched in, I hit the track. First few laps were about getting a feel. The car was definitely quick on the straights. The key was seeing how it handled the chicanes and Lesmos. Initially, it was a bit nervous over the kerbs at Variante del Rettifilo. So, I went back and softened the rear anti-roll bar by one click. That seemed to help. Ascari was the big test. Needed to be stable on entry and have good traction on exit. The diff settings felt pretty good there.
I spent a good hour just lapping, tweaking small things. A click here, a click there. You know how it is. Sometimes I’d make a change and it would feel worse, so I’d revert it. The goal was consistency and confidence. You need to trust the car at Monza.
In the end, the setup felt pretty solid. It wasn’t an absolute rocket ship that was impossible to drive, but a good, stable base that was quick. The tyres were holding up reasonably well too, which is always a bonus. It’s never truly “done,” is it? There’s always a tiny bit more time to find. But for a day’s work, I was pretty happy with how it turned out. Ready for some racing!
