F1 2016 Setup Manual

Version 0.10
Written By: Xyadas
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CONTENTS

Introduction

Aerodynamics

Transmission

Suspension Geometry

Suspension

Brakes

Tyres

Weight Distribution
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In motor racing, including Formula 1, you must always reach a compromise

betweenthe various settingswhich affect theperformanceofthecar.Thereis
no clearly defined procedure that will allow you to find the most effective
setup in a scientific anddependableway. Even experience,fundamentaland
necessary as it is, can have its limitations as each situation is new and
individual. A small change in temperature,alittlemorerubberonthetrack,or
a few bumps which werent there before can be enough to create a new
situation.
AyrtonSenna
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Introduction

I want to make some things perfectly clear right from the start.
First off, there is no substitute for practice. It is pointless to make
adjustments to the car if the driver cant consistently hit their marks.
They will not know for sure what an adjustment did to the car if they are
driving it differently or taking different lines through corners. Remember,
the driver is as much of a setup parameter as anything else on the car.
Never neglect driver input and its effects on the handling of the car.
Which leads me to the next point, there is no magic one size fits all
setup. Some drivers are aggressive and want to point and squirt the car
through corners. Others want a slightly understeering car to gently
remind them of where the limit is. The range of variables and driving
style and preferences are almost limitless. The driver must find the
balance that suits them so they are comfortable with pushing right up to
the limits. A driver that does not trust their car will not find the
maximum performance achievable with their car.
With that said, I make no guarantees that this guide will make you a
faster driver. Again, thats on you to put in the time and effort to
practice. Instead, what I offer is the knowledge you need to help you in
your quest to extract every bit of performance from the car. I like to say
that setting up a race car is really more about figuring out what
compromises you want and which you dont. All things being equal, it is
simply not possible to make a setup that truly excels at everything on any
given circuit. Low speed and high speed corners, increasing and
decreasing radius, long and short corners, straights and cornering,
elevation changes, bumps, kerbs, and more. Every change you make on
the car with have pros and cons attached to it.
The majority of the setup is all about controlling weight transfer
and the loads placed on each tyre. After all, the only thing between your
car and the track is (hopefully) the tyres. If thats not the case then you
better let Jeff know youre ok and what happened. A setup that
imbalances the car or controls weight transfer poorly will not only be
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frustrating or downright scary to drive, but will shorten the lifespan of

the tyres quite dramatically. Ill say it again. The fastest driver is one
that completely trusts their car and thus is comfortable with pushing the
car right up to the limit.
Still with me? Good! Keep on reading and I hope you find the
knowledge you need to help you in quest to be world champion!
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Aerodynamics

Formula 1 has advanced in leaps and bounds in aerodynamics. What

started as streamlining the car to reduce drag evolved to reducing lift to
generating downforce several times that of the cars weight. Nowadays,
pitch sensitivity is more critical to the overall behavior of the car than
yaw or roll. Aerodynamic balance can shift greatly if a car is pitch
sensitive introducing unwanted characteristics at the most critical points
on the track, causing a loss in lap time, or worse a crash.
The front wing generates around 10 percent of the total downforce
and directs airflow all around the car. Changes to the angle of the front
wing also have a minimal impact on drag. The rear wing generates about
30 percent of the total downforce and is a major contributor to drag.
Keep this in mind when changing the rear wing angle. Under current
regulations the cars lose around 20 percent of downforce when within one
second of another car in front.
So in total the wings are responsible for about 40 percent of the
aerodynamic grip. Generally speaking, wing settings on an F1 car are
straightforward. Set the rear wing for the desired compromise between
top speed and rear downforce and use the front wing for balance.
Increase the front wing to shift aero balance to oversteer and trim it to
shift aero balance to understeer. So where does the other 60 percent of
downforce come from? Around 50 percent of it comes from the underbody
and diffuser and the remainder is the bodywork.
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FRONT WING
Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
Shift aerodynamic balance Shift aerodynamic balance
aft (understeer) forward (oversteer)

REAR WING
Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
Higher top speed More downforce
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Transmission

Gear ratios are set for the whole season so the only thing to adjust
here is the differential. Unlike most road cars which have an open
differential, F1 cars have a limited slip differential. So if one tyre loses
traction, torque is still transferred to the other tyre unlike an open
differential where all the torque would go to the spinning tyre in the
same situation. Path of least resistance.
When cornering the tyres will cover different distances and thus
rotate at different speeds with respect to each other. At 100 percent you
effectively have a solid rear axle and the tyres will always rotate at the
same speed. The differential can drastically alter the handling of the car
entering and exiting a corner. The game breaks this down for you already
with on throttle (power) and off throttle (coast). So naturally on throttle
would affect corner exit and off throttle would affect corner entry. In
both cases more lock will increase tyre wear when in a cornering state.
Weight transfer also plays a role with how much locking you can get away
with, particularly with the on throttle setting. By increasing roll stiffness
the inside tyre will have more available grip. The more grip available the
more locking force you can use.
So what impact does the off throttle setting have on corner entry
performance? At 100 percent both tyres rotate at the same speed. That
means when you make the cut into a corner the car wants to keep going
straight because the inside tyre cant rotate slower than the outside tyre.
This makes for a very stable car that can be thrown into a corner with
relatively little risk of spinning out, which also can be bad if the
understeer is so great that you cant make the corner to begin with. You
need to find the balance between stability on entry while still being able
to enter corners at competitive speeds. Because we cant set the off
throttle to 0 percent, it is impossible to lock up just one tyre under
braking. Its either both lock up or both keep rotating. This means the
stronger the locking, the shorter braking distances by pushing the brake
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bias aft and trail braking into a corner while maintaining stability. For the
on throttle setting its the same principles. At 100 percent both tyres
rotate at the same speed and will want to push you straight out of a
corner. But if you apply too much power and exceed the grip available on
the outside tyre you will experience snap oversteer. Again its a matter of
finding the compromise between stability and outright traction that suits
your driving style. The on throttle differential setting is adjustable on
track.
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ON THROTTLE (POWER)
Range: 50% to 100% Increment: 1% Reference: 75%

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More forgiving when opening More traction for better
the throttle while cornering acceleration
(more warning before
breaking traction)
Better rear tyre wear rate
while on throttle and
cornering

OFF THROTTLE (COAST)

Range: 50% to 100% Increment: 1% Reference: 75%

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
More yaw (better rotation)
for corner entry
Better rear tyre wear rate
while off throttle and
cornering
>>> Increase >>>
Better stability on corner
entry
More traction for shorter
braking distances and trail
braking
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Suspension Geometry

Camber is important in maximizing the contact patch of the tyres

with the track. The tyres are hopefully the only thing between your car
and the track so its important to get the most of them. As you turn into
and go through a corner weight transfers to the outside of the car. The
car will also roll in that direction. The effect of all this is the outside
tyres receive all this load. So if the tyres have no camber, at rest they
would be perfectly perpendicular to the track and the contact patch is
evenly spread across the tyre. When going through a corner however, the
contact patch on the outside tyres would shift to the outer edge. This
means the contact patch is less than ideal as the full surface of the tyre is
not being utilized which translates into less grip and slower lap times.
Having negative camber, where the tyre is leaned towards the car at rest,
means that the outside tyres when going through a corner will lean into a
perpendicular position thus increasing the contact patch which affords
more grip. Like everything else on the car there is a compromise. What
you gain in the corners you must give up on the straights. Negative
camber means the contact patch is smaller when travelling straight which
means less grip available for acceleration and braking. Excessive wear on
the inside shoulder of the tyre can be a problem with too much negative
camber as well.
Toe is the angle of the tyres with respect to each other on the front
and rear. Toein is where the leading edge of the tyres are pointed
towards each other, toeout is the opposite. Toeout is desired on the
front and toein on the rear. The game automatically limits you to toein
on the rear and toeout on the front and just simply shows you the angle.
Toe is typically a last resort adjustment when trying to cure an ill
handling car as any changes will affect tyre wear noticeably, but there
are other uses for toe as well. Toeout on the front offers more response
on turnin at a cost of straight line stability and wear on the inner
shoulder of the tyre. Toein on the rear offers more stability under
acceleration at a cost of less overall grip and more wear on the outer
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shoulder of the tyre. One neat thing you can do with toe if you have
exhausted all other options is if you are unable to get the tyres up to
operating temperature is to simply add toe to make the tyres scrub more
and heat up.

FRONT CAMBER
Range: -3.50 to -2.50 Increment: 0.10 Reference: -3.00

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More grip for high energy More grip for straight line
corners braking
Better tyre wear rate

REAR CAMBER
Range: -2.00 to -1.00 Increment: 0.10 Reference: -1.50

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More grip for high energy More grip for straight line
corners braking and acceleration
Better tyre wear rate
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FRONT TOE (TOE-OUT)

Range: 0.05 to 0.15 Increment: 0.01 Reference: 0.10

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
Better straight line stability Better turnin response
Lower tyre temperature Higher tyre temperature
Better tyre wear rate

REAR TOE (TOE-IN)

Range: 0.20 to 0.50 Increment: 0.03 Reference: 0.35

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More rotation on throttle Increase stability while
Lower tyre temperature accelerating
Better tyre wear rate Higher tyre temperature
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Suspension

Mechanical grip goes hand in hand with aerodynamic grip. With the
premium placed on aerodynamics in the current state of Formula 1 it is
imperative to balance mechanical and aerodynamic grip with the
mechanical components of the car. The suspension needs to be soft
enough to provide the desired mechanical grip but stiff enough to not
make the car pitch sensitive and destroy the aerodynamics under the car
or shred the tyres. The rear suspension also determines how quickly the
rear tyres are loaded when accelerating which means it can also help the
differential. The antiroll bars control how much energy is retained by
the inside tyres and limits the roll of the car once the car has transitioned
to steady state cornering. The ride heights need to be as low as possible
to keep the center of gravity down while high enough to not bottom out
on bumps, kerbs and at the end of straights with aerodynamic forces
pushing or pulling the car into the track. It also needs to be low enough
on the front to limit airflow under the car and high enough in the back for
the diffuser to accelerate the airflow under the car to generate as much
downforce as possible without being so high that the drag overcomes any
benefits gained. Underbody airflow accounts for around 50 percent of the
total downforce produced by the car. As you can see the
interdependencies of all these components gets complex really fast.
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FRONT SUSPENSION
Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
More grip while cornering
Better tyre wear rate
Shift front end handling
towards oversteer
>>> Increase >>>
Better responsiveness
More pitch control
Shift front end handling
towards understeer

REAR SUSPENSION
Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
More grip while accelerating
Better tyre wear rate
Shift rear end handling
towards understeer
>>> Increase >>>
Better responsiveness
More pitch control
Shift rear end handling
towards oversteer
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FRONT ANTI-ROLL BAR

Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
More grip while cornering
Shift front end handling
towards oversteer in steady
state cornering
>>> Increase >>>
Better turnin response
Shift front end handling
towards understeer in steady
state cornering

REAR ANTI-ROLL BAR

Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
More grip while cornering
Shift rear end handling
towards understeer in steady
state cornering
>>> Increase >>>
Better responsiveness
Shift rear end handling
towards oversteer in steady
state cornering
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FRONT RIDE HEIGHT

Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
Should be set as low as More ground clearance
possible without bottoming (youre currently bottoming
out. out too much)

REAR RIDE HEIGHT

Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
Less drag (from body and Prevent diffuser stall
rear wing) More downforce produced by
Higher top speed underbody airflow
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Brakes

With braking zones extremely short in the current state of F1, it is

imperative to extract the most performance possible from them for
attack and defense in braking zones as well as for lap times. The carbon
fibre brake system used in F1 cars is very temperature sensitive. The
optimum temperature window is about 400C to 1200C with the peak of
braking performance achieved around 600C.
Brake pressure is exactly what it sounds. It is how much pressure
from the system is available. So if the pressure is at 80%, thats how
much pressure from the system is applied when the brake pedal is
pressed all the way down. The lower the pressure the easier it is to
modulate the brakes and prevent lock up. On the flip side theres less
pressure available for maximum braking at high speed when you first
apply the brakes. Find the trade off that works for you.
Brake bias is how much of the pressure is applied front and rear
with the percentage indicating the amount of front bias. 50 percent
would be equal braking force at both ends and usually not desirable.
Weight shifts forward when the brakes are applied which means there is
less weight on the back. Thats why brakes are always biased towards the
front. The shortest possible braking distance is achieved when all four
tyres are at the nth degree before lock up. Brake bias is adjustable on
track to allow for various braking needs around the track.
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BRAKE PRESSURE
Range: 50% to 100% Increment: 1% Reference: 75%

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More forgiveness with brake More stopping power from
modulation (reduce lock ups) the brake system

FRONT BRAKE BIAS

Range: 50% to 70% Increment: 1% Reference: 60%

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<<
Reduce front lock up
Better trail braking
performance
Shift handling towards
oversteer while trail braking
>>> Increase >>>
Reduce rear lock up
Better straight line braking
performance
Shift handling towards
understeer while trail
braking
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Tyres

The introduction of three compounds for a race weekend has

greatly diversified the strategic options available to teams. As the only
adjustment for tyres are the pressures, I will instead discuss the complex
regulations and other useful information about the tyres before finishing
off the with pressures.

If you do not completely understand the tyre regulations for this season
ingame, then I highly recommend you carefully read this next section as
it is not completely accurate to real life regulations!

Before the race weekend ever begins you need to pick the tyre
allocation you want. This is done on the race weekend menu that acts as
the loading screen between race weekends. There are three allocations
for you to choose from: softer, balanced and harder. As the names
suggest, softer favors the softest compound on offer, balanced offers a
nice mix of all three compounds and harder favors the midrange or
hardest compound on offer. Pick whichever suits your needs and continue
to the hospitality area.
Now, that fancy schedule showing you your allocation for the
weekend is just your teams recommendation for how you should use your
thirteen sets of tyres. You can do anything you want that doesnt involve
any of the three mandatory sets. This is important because after each
free practice session you will return your two most worn sets of tyres, not
the two sets that are scheduled for the session by the team. So pick
which two sets you want to lose and make sure they have the most wear
by sessions end. Once all three free practice sessions are over you will
have returned six sets and retain seven sets. With one exception, these
are the seven sets of tyres you will have available for the race. The set
for Q3 is a mandatory set. If you advance to Q3 you must use this set and
then return it once Q3 is over. If you fail to advance to Q3 then you get to
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keep this set for the race. Also of importance, if you advance to Q3 then
the set of tyres with which you set your fastest time in Q2 is the set you
will start the race with.
During the race you must use at least two different compounds and
at least one mandatory set. Unlike real life where using the mandatory
compound would suffice, ingame you have to actually use one of the
mandatory sets. If you use either intermediate or wet compound tyres
then the regulations for the race do not apply.

Pirelli Tyre Operating Temperatures - Dry Compounds

Ultrasoft Supersoft Soft Medium Hard
Low Low High Low High
85115C 85115C 100125C 90120C 105135C

Pirelli Tyre Operating Temperatures - Adverse Compounds

Intermediate Wet
80110C 80110C
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FRONT TYRE PRESSURE

Range: 21.0 to 25.0 PSI Increment: 0.4 PSI Reference: 23.0 PSI

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More grip More responsive
Hotter weather Cooler weather

REAR TYRE PRESSURE

Range: 19.5 to 23.5 PSI Increment: 0.4 PSI Reference: 21.5 PSI

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More grip More responsive
Hotter weather Cooler weather
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Weight Distribution

Constructors build F1 cars to be as far under the minimum weight as

possible. This gives them the most leeway to adjust the weight
distribution. Although the sporting regulations tightened this up for 2014,
being able to distribute the weight has it advantages when optimizing the
balance of the car. Bear in mind there is only going to be a minor change
in weight distribution across the whole range which is about 1.2 percent
and will always favor more weight on the rear of the car.

WEIGHT DISTRIBUTION
Range: 1 to 11 Increment: 1 Reference: 6

What do you need?

<<< Decrease <<< >>> Increase >>>
More rear grip More front grip