The Italian Grand Prix at Monza represents round 16 of the Formula 1 World Championship season. It is one of the most iconic and historic events on the calendar, held at the legendary Autodromo Nazionale di Monza, a circuit that is often referred to as the “Temple of Speed.” The long straights, combined with only a handful of fast corners and chicanes, make it the fastest track of the year and a place where teams adopt radically different aerodynamic setups compared to most other circuits. Ferrari, McLaren and Mercedes are three teams that last year demonstrated almost identical levels of performance in qualifying at Monza, making the battle extremely close. To recall, the starting grid in 2024 saw five cars separated by less than one and a half tenths of a second, underlining just how competitive the fight was.
In that race, the number 16 Ferrari, driven by Charles Leclerc, emerged as a standout performer. The Monegasque driver executed a one-stop strategy that proved to be decisive, helping him secure a strong result in front of the passionate Tifosi, the Ferrari supporters who traditionally fill the grandstands of Monza. That performance was achieved thanks to the balance between straight-line speed and tyre management, two elements that are absolutely crucial at this circuit. Ferrari would now like to repeat that kind of success in the upcoming 2025 edition of the Italian Grand Prix. While waiting to see if the Scuderia can once again reach the podium or even challenge for victory, it is worth examining the aerodynamic configurations that the leading teams have chosen for Monza.
Monza GP, Ferrari adopts revised 2024 wing
Ferrari will bring what has been described as a “new” rear wing for the SF-25 to Monza. In reality, however, the solution is not entirely new or revolutionary. Just as happened earlier this season at the Monaco Grand Prix and also at the Spa-Francorchamps circuit, the Maranello tea’s engineers and technicians have decided to reintroduce a specification that had already been employed in the previous 2024 season. This is a logical choice dictated above all by financial prudence and the need to manage the cost cap in Formula 1, which makes it increasingly difficult for teams to design, produce and update multiple different aerodynamic solutions during the year.
Even so, there could be some small updates and refinements to the design, either of an aerodynamic nature or structural in terms of material usage. These details will be officially confirmed in the FIA’s technical documents, which list all the new parts that teams bring to each Grand Prix. A first visual observation of this updated rear wing based on images taken from the Monza pitlane on Thursday shows a less aggressive and less pronounced leading edge, with the front section appearing more compact. The additional flap element, which is carefully integrated and smoothly joined at the tips, has been designed with the purpose of further reducing aerodynamic drag and lowering the overall load.
The reasoning behind this approach is simple and consistent with the demands of Monza: the goal is to privilege maximum top speed. In a configuration with reduced downforce, the Ferrari SF-25 has already demonstrated a generally positive performance level this year. This characteristic should be particularly beneficial at Monza, a track that requires fewer aerodynamic compromises than more technical circuits and instead allows engineers to search for a much cleaner and more effective balance. By running a car with less aerodynamic resistance, Ferrari hopes to give Charles Leclerc and his new teammate Lewis Hamilton the possibility of fighting near the front, using straight-line speed as a key weapon.
Monza GP, Red Bull changes strategy compared to 2024
At Red Bull, a different philosophy has been adopted for the Italian Grand Prix. The Austrian team has chosen a rear wing specifically designed to generate very low levels of drag and downforce, fully in line with the unique demands of the Monza circuit. Last year, the team had carefully studied McLaren’s ability to adapt its aerodynamic load to suit different tracks, and this was considered one of the British squad’s strongest assets. However, with the current budget cap in place, it has become extremely complicated for teams to design, test and manufacture a wide range of wing variations for every type of circuit.
As a consequence, teams are now obliged to design components that are versatile enough to adapt to different requirements. In 2024, Red Bull failed to strike the right balance with this strategy and arrived at Monza with a rear wing that was too heavily loaded. The solution was then trimmed at the trailing edge, but it was not optimal and created too much resistance. Twelve months later, Red Bull has learned its lesson and will bring to Monza a wing that is significantly lighter in terms of load, with a main profile that is almost flat across its surface.
The leading edge of this wing has a variable thickness, which is more accentuated in the central section. This technical choice allows the team to concentrate the peak aerodynamic load in the middle of the wing, reducing the pressure difference between the upper and lower surfaces on the outer edges. This design reduces the drag caused by wingtip vortices, which is an absolutely decisive factor at Monza. On a track where cars spend over 75 percent of the lap at full throttle and where the straights are extremely long, every kilometre per hour of top speed can be the difference between overtaking or being overtaken.
Monza GP, McLaren experiments with more downforce
McLaren, true to its philosophy of flexibility, has once again brought two different rear wing specifications for the Monza weekend in Italy. The idea is to directly compare them on track during practice sessions to decide which one offers the best compromise between downforce and top speed. The auxiliary flap is the same on both versions, but the key difference lies in the design of the main wing plane. In both variants, the central section of the wing profile is more sculpted in the middle, in order to concentrate the aerodynamic load away from the tips, reducing drag and improving efficiency.
The two versions differ mainly in the thickness of the leading edge and in the total frontal area of the wing. The lower-downforce version is consistent with the choices of Ferrari, Red Bull and Mercedes, while the higher-downforce variant would give McLaren an interesting alternative. If Lando Norris or Oscar Piastri can run the higher-downforce wing without losing too much top speed on the straights, the car would benefit from a considerable increase in vertical load. That additional downforce would help to limit sliding in the corners, particularly in the fast Ascari chicane and Parabolica, and would also provide more stability under braking. This setup could improve tyre management as well, a factor that has often proved decisive in the long race distance at Monza.
Monza GP, Mercedes goes aggressive
Mercedes has opted for an aggressive and radical low-drag rear wing solution for the Italian Grand Prix. The Brackley-based team has designed a main plane with a particularly bold and unusual shape. If we observe the images of this rear wing, the central portion appears almost completely horizontal, while the lateral sections rise significantly. This approach has the clear objective of minimizing drag as much as possible, cutting resistance to the air in order to maximize straight-line speed.
As a consequence, the trailing edge of the profile appears heavily unloaded compared to conventional designs. This extreme choice once again confirms that Mercedes continues to use aerodynamic efficiency as its main technical reference point. The main question that remains is whether the car, in the hands of Kimi Antonelli and George Russell, will be able to handle this extreme setup across the full 300-kilometre race distance. Running with such a low-downforce wing may provide excellent performance in qualifying and on the straights, but over a race distance it could make the car nervous in the braking zones and unstable when changing direction at high speed. Managing tyre wear and maintaining consistency will be crucial.
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