"The balance isn´t right yet" or "We need to do some more work on the setup" – two comments you will often hear or read at the end of a free practice session in the ADAC GT Masters. But how do you go about the business of getting the balance just right? ADAC GT Masters champion Maximilian Götz tells us about the process from a driver´s perspective.

"The first stage takes place in the team garage, with all the preparatory work done on the car. The basic setup is calculated from the characteristics of the track and the vehicle classification, with the aerodynamics also being adjusted to suit the track layout. It takes into account data from the previous year, statistics accumulated by the team over the years and also data supplied by the manufacturer – in our case, Mercedes-Benz. Mercedes have amassed vast amounts of data, and we find that the basic setup is suitable most of the time.

"With a GT3 sports car, the variables are limited anyway, as most of the components are ‘homologated´, which is to say, prescribed by the FIA. Up to now, we´ve had only minimal scope for altering the chassis. But following a rule change this year, we now have significantly more options compared with the constraints we operated under before. Under homologation rules, for example, we were only allowed to use three different springs. So you´re operating within a very limited window.

"Before the first free practice, the tyre pressures are set, and the drivers go out on track without making any real changes to the car. The main focus is on getting these pressures right. If the car is showing signs of oversteer or understeer, you can use the break between sessions for working on the shock absorbers and also with the aerodynamics by tweaking the angle of the wings. But the most important thing is that both drivers must be happy with the setup and that you aren´t compromising on performance.

"The decisive factor in the search for the right setup is the tyres. In accordance with the regulations, teams generally go into free practice with a set of tyres from the previous race weekend. The difference in lap times between used and new tyres varies between eight tenths and 1.5 seconds depending on the track. The driver needs to realise the full potential of the tyres in qualifying, and once again, the secret is in getting the pressure right. As a driver, you have to get a precise fix on the operating window of the tyre, but you actually have no more than four laps before the performance of the tyre drops off.

"Once the race has started, the options for making any changes are limited. During the pit stop, we check the tyre pressures and sometimes adjust them. But last season, our Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG was very easy on the tyres and the car was consistent throughout the race. If both drivers were happy with the first race, the setup was left unchanged for the Sunday.

"The search for the right setup on a race weekend may be a complex matter, but it´s not some sort of sorcery."