I must admit I always feel bad taking up peoples time with fairly similar requests or questions but i hope this is ok. As much as I am a big fan of F1, im not the most technically minded so I was wondering if I could ask for some help/advice.I am in season 3 of a standard career mode and after two seasons at Aston Martin I joined Mclaren to replace the retirering Danny Ric.The car is supposed to be the quickest, my team mate Norris has taken three poles and one win so far but I haven’t made it into Q3 yet. I am finding the car completely unpredictable and the handling is so loose. I am also struggling with the brakes but I have found ever since they introduced upgrades into the F1 games, brake improvments always make me a lot slower.If I could possibly ask for any advice on set up etc, as I am completely lost.Many thanks for any help!

This is right in my wheelhouse and it will be a pleasure to help 👌It would help too to know what you struggle with the most. Think of driving a F1 car as composed of these basic stages:Slowing down. Right before corners, done mostly by braking the car but can also be done with lifting & coasting or engine braking. Could be a heavy braking zone after a long straight or a mild one in the middle of a corner complex.Cornering. Arguably the most important one. Could be further broken down into three phases:Corner entry. The phase between braking, releasing the brakes and steering the car into the corner. You could be understeering here (when the car won't turn as much as you'd like), oversteering (the opposite, when the rear gets naughty and tends to rotate too much), not being able to follow the racing line...Mid corner. That's when you are about to or have just hit the apex. That's when you're locked into your steering input and is getting ready to get back on the throttle. Again you could be understeering or oversteering here.Corner exit. That's when you get back to the throttle either immediately after hitting the apex or when you're finishing with straightening up the car, completing its rotation. You could be losing traction, having your wheels slipping or spinning in place, understeering or oversteering.Acceleration. That's all about applying throttle correctly and upshifting gears to get the most out of the grip available for you and translate your engine power into speed. You could be losing traction, having your wheels slip spin in place.What is it that you find that happens to you the most? And of all those scenarios what is the hardest for you to correct on the fly?They can all be addressed both by setups and by driving technique. But they require different fixes, and with these things it is always a matter of compromising one aspect for the other. Hence why it's helpful to know what you struggle with the most, as maybe you could cope with a tad slower car on corner exit to account for understeering but could not tolerate a similar fix if it gave you an oversteery car instead.

In case it can be handy. Mind you though, these are all old files I used to share back in the glory days of Codemasters forums. I'll most definitely have a better understanding of the many concepts discussed, but I don't remember ever being called out for being off by that big of a margin back then 😉Some handling issues, quick fixes and definitions of common terms used:Similarly, a quick reference sheet for the various setup elements in the game:Now this is a cheat sheet I've compiled over time but it is not F1 focused. I use it more often for ACC and the occasional Gran Turismo. GT3 cars perform and handle differently, but hey – cars be cars, right?

@ajmcspursfan For the brakes try turning down your brake pressure, try 95 1st then adjust from there.If you dont mind posting a set up people could help point ya in the right direction.Calibration and wheel rotations can make a big difference too.

@BadMayh3m Thanks for the advice, being not really mechanicaly minded like i say, i tend to use the base game setup as i find the others dont really work. However i guess as cars improve through a career mode having less downforce is not as problematic as it would be with the car at the start or career?

@ajmcspursfan wrote:@BadMayh3mThanks for the advice, being not really mechanicaly minded like i say, i tend to use the base game setup as i find the others dont really work. However i guess as cars improve through a career mode having less downforce is not as problematic as it would be with the car at the start or career?mariohomoh talks a lot of sense!Just to throw out the usual Season 3 Max Car issue seen in previous games of the series; have you got the ultimate Brake upgrades in the car? Essentially the upgrade kills the balance of the car, especially when the cars get far too quick in Season 3. It may explain why you feel like you're losing time in the braking zones. To counter this problem it's suggested (at least in F1 2021) to knock the brake pressure back to 80-85 and it'll feel like it did before.

F1 career setup advice | EA Forums

18 Replies

mariohomoh
Hero (Retired)
3 years ago
This is right in my wheelhouse and it will be a pleasure to help 👌
It would help too to know what you struggle with the most. Think of driving a F1 car as composed of these basic stages:
Slowing down. Right before corners, done mostly by braking the car but can also be done with lifting & coasting or engine braking. Could be a heavy braking zone after a long straight or a mild one in the middle of a corner complex.
Cornering. Arguably the most important one. Could be further broken down into three phases:
Corner entry. The phase between braking, releasing the brakes and steering the car into the corner. You could be understeering here (when the car won't turn as much as you'd like), oversteering (the opposite, when the rear gets naughty and tends to rotate too much), not being able to follow the racing line...
Mid corner. That's when you are about to or have just hit the apex. That's when you're locked into your steering input and is getting ready to get back on the throttle. Again you could be understeering or oversteering here.
Corner exit. That's when you get back to the throttle either immediately after hitting the apex or when you're finishing with straightening up the car, completing its rotation. You could be losing traction, having your wheels slipping or spinning in place, understeering or oversteering.
Acceleration. That's all about applying throttle correctly and upshifting gears to get the most out of the grip available for you and translate your engine power into speed. You could be losing traction, having your wheels slip spin in place.
What is it that you find that happens to you the most? And of all those scenarios what is the hardest for you to correct on the fly?
They can all be addressed both by setups and by driving technique. But they require different fixes, and with these things it is always a matter of compromising one aspect for the other. Hence why it's helpful to know what you struggle with the most, as maybe you could cope with a tad slower car on corner exit to account for understeering but could not tolerate a similar fix if it gave you an oversteery car instead.
mariohomoh
Hero (Retired)
3 years ago
In case it can be handy. Mind you though, these are all old files I used to share back in the glory days of Codemasters forums. I'll most definitely have a better understanding of the many concepts discussed, but I don't remember ever being called out for being off by that big of a margin back then 😉
Some handling issues, quick fixes and definitions of common terms used:
Similarly, a quick reference sheet for the various setup elements in the game:
Now this is a cheat sheet I've compiled over time but it is not F1 focused. I use it more often for ACC and the occasional Gran Turismo. GT3 cars perform and handle differently, but hey – cars be cars, right?
BadMayh3m
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@ajmcspursfan For the brakes try turning down your brake pressure, try 95 1st then adjust from there.
If you dont mind posting a set up people could help point ya in the right direction.
Calibration and wheel rotations can make a big difference too.
ajmcspursfan
3 years ago
@mariohomoh ajmcspursfan

Thank you for the repy, thats incredibly helpful.

I think i am losing time literially everywhere. Corner entry i find hard as the car seems over responsive, mid corner i guess is ok but balencing the throttle and not struggling with corner exit is a big problem. I have had issues getting used to how 'flighty' the rear end is on this game, and like you mentioned it seems i am able to handle slower cars then the faster ones.

Slowing down in esscence is ok, just i feel i am losing so much time in the braking zone, this does all seem very much like i am having to relearn everything during a season.

As horrible as the Aston was to drive at times, it at least was something i could drive around. WIth the Mclaren, I am basically not in control of the car at any point and every lap is some sort of nasty adventure.
ajmcspursfan
3 years ago
@mariohomoh wow thank you for all this info, I will give it a real good looking over.

Incredibly helpful, thank you!
ajmcspursfan
3 years ago
@BadMayh3m Thanks for the advice, being not really mechanicaly minded like i say, i tend to use the base game setup as i find the others dont really work. However i guess as cars improve through a career mode having less downforce is not as problematic as it would be with the car at the start or career?
TotosHeadphones
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@ajmcspursfan wrote:
@BadMayh3mThanks for the advice, being not really mechanicaly minded like i say, i tend to use the base game setup as i find the others dont really work. However i guess as cars improve through a career mode having less downforce is not as problematic as it would be with the car at the start or career?

mariohomoh talks a lot of sense!
Just to throw out the usual Season 3 Max Car issue seen in previous games of the series; have you got the ultimate Brake upgrades in the car? Essentially the upgrade kills the balance of the car, especially when the cars get far too quick in Season 3. It may explain why you feel like you're losing time in the braking zones. To counter this problem it's suggested (at least in F1 2021) to knock the brake pressure back to 80-85 and it'll feel like it did before.
ajmcspursfan
3 years ago
@TotosHeadphones wrote:
@ajmcspursfan wrote:
@BadMayh3mThanks for the advice, being not really mechanicaly minded like i say, i tend to use the base game setup as i find the others dont really work. However i guess as cars improve through a career mode having less downforce is not as problematic as it would be with the car at the start or career?

mariohomoh talks a lot of sense!
Just to throw out the usual Season 3 Max Car issue seen in previous games of the series; have you got the ultimate Brake upgrades in the car? Essentially the upgrade kills the balance of the car, especially when the cars get far too quick in Season 3. It may explain why you feel like you're losing time in the braking zones. To counter this problem it's suggested (at least in F1 2021) to knock the brake pressure back to 80-85 and it'll feel like it did before.
Yeah, the car was obv upgraded during the first two seasons. I wish the game had a function, like in real life, where you can opt out of upgrades on the car.
Oh great ill give the brake pressure a go! is that rough for front and rear?
BadMayh3m
Seasoned Ace
3 years ago
@ajmcspursfan If you stay with the base set ups try spreading your wings out to 15 apart....
Example-15/30

Here is my basic set up
15/30,60/51,RRLL,22254,95/50,22.5/21.3
Adjust to your liking.
ajmcspursfan
3 years ago
Thank you for the reply, I am afraid i got a little bit lost at understanding your set up. I do apolgise.