Formula 1 has been coming to Montreal for a long time, and many of its visits have featured rain. The 2011 Canadian Grand Prix in particular is perhaps one of the most legendary Formula 1 races of all time.
If you find yourself faced with a similar situation in F1 2020, this guide will have you feeling like Jenson Button on that stormy day. Hopefully your race won’t last quite so long, though.
Aerodynamics
Wet races always require higher levels of downforce. Moreover, they require a higher rear wing angle than at the front, so as to ensure that the car has a stable rear end.
To achieve this without sacrificing too much straight-line speed, I would suggest running 4-9 wings. If you’re feeling extra confident, try lowering the front wing setting a little.
Transmission
An on-throttle differential setting of 50% is a must. Whether in the dry or in the wet, it helps the car’s stability significantly.
For the off-throttle setting, 65% works nicely around here. This is low enough to help you with rotation in the low speed corners, without being so low that the car becomes unstable in these corners.
Suspension Geometry
Running your camber closer to 0 will give you greater stability.
Therefore, going for -2.50 and -1.00 is the way to go at a soggy Canadian Grand Prix.
With your toe settings, any benefits from running anything other than the minimum settings are negligible around here. Running a low toe also helps with maintaining grip through the longer corners. Therefore, 0.20 and 0.05 are my recommendations.
Suspension
I find that a soft front suspension coupled with a middling rear suspension works really well in the wet conditions.
Montreal is no exception. For me, 2-5 yields the best results here. Not only is the car stable with these stiffnesses, it will help you over the kerbs at the end of the lap as well.
For the anti-roll bar settings, personal preference comes into play. That being said, I would suggest trying out 4-10 and seeing how that suits you.
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If you’re having issues with the car understeering mid corner, try raising the front stiffness a little.
A ride height of 9-11 is sufficient to get you clear of the water and the kerbs around here. If you feel the car is still a little on the twitchy side, raising the front ride height might be the way to go.
Brakes
For your brakes, here as elsewhere, 100% brake pressure with 50% brake bias gives well balanced and powerful brakes.
If you’re still struggling with front locking despite the rearward brake bias, lower the pressure a touch.
Tyres
Speaking of lowering pressures, that’s exactly what you’ll need to do when it comes to the tyres.
Low tyre pressures help cars to deal with wet conditions, especially when it comes to the rears. Therefore, I would suggest 21.8psi for the fronts and 19.9psi on the rears.
Any values lower than these ought to work pretty well too, but I’ve found these give me the most comfort in the car.
READ MORE: How to race in the wet in F1 2020
A wet race in Canada shouldn’t come as the world’s greatest shock. Even if it does, running this setup will ensure that you’ll seem perfectly prepared for the downpour.