The new Jeddah Corniche circuit in Saudi Arabia is a really unique addition to the calendar, with a super high speed, flowing nature and lots of potential for overtaking. If I’m honest, it’s not one of my absolute favourites, but I respect the fact that there’s not really any other track like it.
It’s a street circuit in terms of barriers, but with the average speeds you’ll get at tracks like Monza. A very interesting mixture.
Despite the fact you’re on full throttle for a large amount of a lap at Jeddah, you don’t use super low downforce levels like at Monza. Most players are actually using medium levels of downforce here.
Here’s a general baseline dry race setup for Saudi Arabia for a controller user:
- Wings – 20/22 or 22/24
- Diff – 50 On/55 Off
- Camber/Toe – -2.50/-1.00/0.01/0.13
- Suspension – 25-6-10-2-35-39
- Brakes – 100% Pressure/56% Bias
- Tyre Pressures – 22.7 Fronts/20.3 Rears
This setup is partially taken from the this YouTube channel’s Jeddah setup, with the wings and other aspects of the setup modded for pad users as he races on a wheel and two devices definitely don’t translate over directly in terms of setup.
As a lifelong pad user, I don’t like the wings being equal or the front wing above the rear wing on F1 23. I usually put the rear wing 2 clicks higher than the front wing for optimal turn in and stability, plus good traction out of corners.
Specifically at Jeddah, I also find it can stop you turning in too much/too soon and damaging your front wing, which for sure can happen at certain corners in sector 2 on this track. And there’s other small tweaks you can make to create a more stable, planted feeling in the car that’s crucial for building confidence and rhythm.
Additional Setup Considerations
Let’s put some meat on the bones and explain a little more about the Jeddah race setup.
Wings
Given that you’re on full throttle for a large amount of the lap at Jeddah, it’s a surprisingly high level of front/rear wing, but having that downforce is useful for the high speed corners as well. You need to keep up good momentum throughout the lap.
You can try lowering the wings a few clicks for better speed on the straights for overtaking/defending in races if you’re feeling like a sitting duck on the straights. For me at least, it’s a close call between 20/22 or 22/24 wings.
You can also try bringing the wings closer together or level for better single lap qualifying pace, but I find that on a pad putting the rear wing higher helps with the over-responsive and sensitive handling.
Suspension/Anti-Roll Bars
Some setups round here are going super aggressive with the suspension and anti-roll bars, settings them way higher than normal, but I find this makes the car too nervous on a pad.
It’s really easy to clip the wall round here if your handling is too skittish/responsive, so I put the front suspension down to 25, and the front ARB down to 10 (normal level is around 7-8), for a more “planted”, stable feel that allows me to drive with more confidence round here. In longer races, it’s about getting to the end without damaging your wing.
Qualifying
I’ll be the first to admit that this setup isn’t particularly strong in qualifying (or perhaps I’m just rubbish at this track). It’s designed to be a stable, easy to drive race setup for a pad, without blistering pace.
If you want, you can try bringing the front wing up closer to the rear wing (23/24 or 24/24 wings) just for Quali, for stronger turn in, but it’ll make traction harder to control and you’re also more likely to clip the wall.
Tyre Pressures
Again, like with the previous track Bahrain, tyres are prone to overheating at Jeddah because of the high speed corners and high temperatures. It’s not quite as bad as Bahrain, but the pressures are still low to keep temps under control, especially for the red soft tyre.
Intermediate Conditions
As with Bahrain, won’t ever get this in career mode, but if sometimes sticks on wet weather in an online lobby for fun, the dry setup will work OK in intermediate conditions. Or try increasing the wing a few clicks.
Full Wet Conditions
Again, you’ll almost never race in the wet here, but try adding around 4-5 clicks to the wing angles for better cornering and stability. I’d also put the rear wing 3 clicks above the front wing for more stability and traction. Check out SimRacingSetups Full Wet Saudi Arabia setup for a more precisely tuned setup, but be aware he uses a wheel.
Here would be the full wet controller setup I’d use on a controller at Saudi Arabia:
- Wings – 26/29
- Diff – 50/55
- Camber – -2.50/-1.00/0.00/0.10
- Suspension – 26-6-6-1-38-41
- Brakes – 95 Pressure/55 Bias
- Tyres – Minimum pressures front & rear
As with most tracks, I space the front and rear wing out even more for full wet conditions for better stability and traction, plus the ride height is always several clicks higher to stop aquaplaning.
See our guide on converting dry setups to wet setups for more detailed information on this.
More Race Setup Resources
The setups I’ve provided here are just baseline template setups to get you started with something usable at Jeddah on a controller. But everyone’s different, plus the cars don’t always handle the same. And these setups are designed for races, not Time Trial.
If you’re wanting more specific, fine tuned setup for certain conditions or cars, here are some other resources you can check out:
- F1laps.com Saudi Arabia page – Another car setup forum with pages for every track, and loads of custom setups posted, both TT and race, all cars, all conditions.
- F1gamesetup.com – An even more specialized resource with custom setups, every car and every track, wet and dry weather.
Extra Tips For Racing Here
As with Bahrain, I can’t really think of a massive amount more to add regarding Jeddah. It is an unusual circuit that takes a bit of getting used to and building up confidence on.
Here are a few extra tips and recommendations for racing there:
Rhythm/Consistency
Saudi Arabia for me at least is a track where you really have to build rhythm and confidence up over time. It’s super easy to over-drive and turn in too soon on some corners, and because the walls are so close, you can damage your wing. Especially watch out for the high speed right-left and left-right chicanes in sector 2, and work on building consistency rather than overly pushing and being too aggressive on turn in.
ERS/DRS/Slipstream
Extremely powerful at Jeddah, so make sure you use wing levels that will keep you competitive on straights. There are 3 DRS zones, two of them directly next to each other, so being the lead car that doesn’t have DRS in a pack is not always advantageous.
On this track, sometimes players don’t use DRS on purpose because they don’t want to overtake the person because they’ll just get re-overtaken again straight away. Sometimes, it’s better to stay behind a car for a while, just relying on DRS alone and recharging your ERS for use later.
Save your battery and use it along with DRS to pull away when others have exhausted their battery (flashing red light on the rear). See this video for a great demonstration of how to use – but more importantly, preserve – your ERS and make your overtakes when others have run out of battery and can’t defend.
Pit Strategy
If you’re a career/GP mode player, the AI waste a lot of time battling here in the second half of the lap because of the all the successive DRS zones. Because of this, and also the fact that the benefit of fresh tyres round here is strong, the so called “undercut” – where you pit 1-2 laps earlier than planned to overtake rivals in the puts – is quite powerful.
Consider pitting early if you’re stuck behind a bunch of cars that are constantly fighting and swapping places. You can jump a whole lot of them all at once in the pit stops – I’ve done this myself a few times.
Wing Replace Settings
On your in-race MFD, it’s advised to set your “Repair Wing” option to yes early in the race, meaning your pit crew will always replace your wing with even a small amount of damage. It’s necessary on this track as even the slightest bit of damage destroys your lap times.
