Why most F1 teams have new suspension and wing designs for Monaco

The unique nature of the Monaco Grand Prix circuit has prompted every Formula 1 team to bring a modified front suspension and brake duct package, along with its highest-downforce parts.

Every year, teams have to bring a bespoke front suspension package to the Monaco round designed to cope with their full-lock steering inputs around the tightest hairpins. Although the structural members are largely unchanged, the trackrod and wishbone fairings are reshaped to allow the wheels enough clearance at full steering lock.

The brake duct shapes are also modified; given that these are usually located next to the outboard position of the wishbones, these also need to ensure that none of the air scoop interferes with the wheel travel.

Since Monaco is the circuit with the lowest average speed on the calendar, the cars experience much lower relative air speeds – so, in some regards, the brake ducts and exits may also need to be larger to hit the air mass flow rate targets to provide the brakes with adequate cooling.

The lower relative air speed also extends to the aerodynamics, hence the teams will tend to bolt their biggest wings onto the cars to produce more downforce. Teams are not preoccupied with the ‘isochronal ratio’ (i.e. the ratio of downforce to drag) in Monaco, so adding extra drag is not a concern.

McLaren is looking to experiment a little with its rear wing arrangements, however; it has registered two different beam wing designs and a ‘medium-high downforce’ rear wing and will likely mix and match to see which delivers the optimum performance.

Moving beyond the suspension and rear wing, Aston Martin has also addressed its upper front wing flap to extend the range of options it has here. If the team feels its AMR25 is lacking responsiveness at the front, it may choose to employ the new, highly-loaded flap to dial in more front end.

Given the evolutionary nature of the 2025 cars, a handful of teams have simply decided to bring the Monaco rear wings that were used last year. Ferrari and Williams have openly stated that they have the option of using last year’s high-downforce wings, although there may be others who have chosen not to disclose that information.

These are effectively all circuit-specific updates; we won’t see the modified suspension fairings again this year, while the higher-downforce rear wings might only be seen at circuits like Hungary and Singapore – and even then, their higher average speeds will mean teams can get more out of the underbody.

Ferrari technical detail

Photo by: Bernd Erlhof / circuitpics.de