Why the staggered setup?

[SheepDog]

Just to be devils advocate, why do F1 cars have staggered tires?

305 x 18 front and 405 x 18 rear

To reduce drag and rotating mass on the front end, but having absurd amounts of downforce, and a car that weighs 1800 pounds, and the motor in the back changes everything

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[ShadesOfBloo]

So I see a lot of guys going to a square setup to allow for tire life extending rotations, but I want to know why the GT350 was designed with the staggered setup originally?
I always thought it was a way for the factory to build in understeer, but that doesn't seem to make any sense with the car seemingly designed for people with a track focus. Plus it doesn't seem that understeer is an issue with the front tires being slightly narrower than the rears anyway.
Is it difficult to get a wider front tire to fit?
Anyway, basic question is just what is the design/performance reason that the car comes with a staggered setup from the factory?

It might be worthwhile pointing out that, on the track-oriented Mustangs with staggered tires, the rear tires are only 1 increment (10mm) wider than the front. 305s in the front and 315s in the back.

Even with the GT500 carbon fiber track package, Ford only puts 315s at the back.

For the Mustang GTs running a square setup, and 305/30R-19s, it might be partly because it's harder to get any more tire under our stock front fenders. GT Performance Package Level 2 came with square tire sizes (but narrower rims at the front ) and possibly had a part in convincing GT owners that 305s were a good stopping point for stock fenders.

A GT350 comes with different front fenders, right? And with 305s in the front, it doesn't have PP2s reputation for throwing debris up the sides?
if you wanted a square tire setup in a GT350, and it came with 315s in the rear, I certainly wouldn't want to put any narrower tires in the back, so I'd search for what tires are good for track use in a 315 width.

I've heard of a GT500 square setup using 325/25R-20.

 

[NightmareMoon]

It might be worthwhile pointing out that, on the track-oriented Mustangs with staggered tires, the rear tires are only 1 increment (10mm) wider than the front. 305s in the front and 315s in the back.

Even with the GT500 carbon fiber track package, Ford only puts 315s at the back.

For the Mustang GTs running a square setup, and 305/30R-19s, it might be partly because it's harder to get any more tire under our stock front fenders. GT Performance Package Level 2 came with square tire sizes (but narrower rims at the front ) and possibly had a part in convincing GT owners that 305s were a good stopping point for stock fenders.

A GT350 comes with different front fenders, right? And with 305s in the front, it doesn't have PP2s reputation for throwing debris up the sides?
if you wanted a square tire setup in a GT350, and it came with 315s in the rear, I certainly wouldn't want to put any narrower tires in the back, so I'd search for what tires are good for track use in a 315 width.

I've heard of a GT500 square setup using 325/25R-20.

Yes, the wheel wells, strut and strut tower placement and fenders do determine how much meat you can fit up front, and the Shelbys (350 and 500) come with wider front fenders to help with running wider tires without sacrificing highway fuel economy by hanging the tires out in the airstream.

I actually run square 315s on 11" fronts with unmodified GT stock fenders, but any wider, or even if running 12" wheels with the same 315 tires and it will no longer clear stock fenders and OEM style struts.

FWIW, the PP2 didn't show us anything we didn't already know long before that about the S550 chassis.

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