F1 2025 - News/Regulation change/Developments

Mexico will be another play for RedBull with qualy being critical if the wing/downforce levels correlate as they have for Baku and Monza.

Why DRS has been even more ineffective at Monza and Baku in F1 2025

2025's low-downforce packages, seen at Monza and Baku, have been characterised by wing elements with lower angles-of-attack and shallower camber to garner more straightline speed. The current floors generate sufficient downforce in the corners now to offer the balance between lower levels of drag and the tractive force needed to break out of the corners quickly.

The efficiency gains with the low-drag wings, according to Mercedes' trackside engineering director Andrew Shovlin, has perhaps contributed to the processional nature of this year's Monza and Baku races.

"With these regs, because so much performance comes from the floor, it's been driving down the size of rear wings," Shovlin confirmed. "So now you're getting to a stage where what would have previously been called the Monaco wing barely appears at any circuits now.

"It used to be the case that was what you were running in Budapest and you'd be running it in Mexico. So generally, people are putting smaller wings on, they create less disturbance so the tow effects are smaller, and then also with a smaller wing you've got less DRS effect.

"That's one of the things in Monza – there's barely any DRS effect because the wing is so efficient in its high-downforce state that there's very little drag to get rid of."

 

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