Zandvoort is a really tricky, unusual track to get a good setup on, because although it’s very tight and twisty, you’re also on full throttle for a surprising amount of the lap when you look closely at it.

Therefore it’s about finding a balance between straight line speed on the pit straight and in sector 2, and also needing downforce in the tight corners in all all sectors.

Therefore, there’s actually a lot of different routes you can go down for setup on this track, and don’t take this setup here as gospel; it’s just a starting point and you might need some experimenting with wing levels to find what works for you. But most setups for Zandvoort run at medium-high to high downforce.

Here’s my dry controller setup that I currently use for races:

• Wings – 37/38
• Diff – 50 On/55 Off
• Camber/Toe -2.60/-1.00/0.06/0.25
• Suspension – 36-9-10-5-36-40
• Brakes – 95% Pressure/53% Bias
• Pressures – 22.5 Fronts/Rear 20.1

This is actually partially taken from the SimRacingSetups YouTube channel setup series, just with a mod for wing and other settings – huge credit to this guy for the useful content he provides. But pad setups do need adjusting vs wheel setups, since the two devices are very different.

A lot of the setups posted online have the wings spaced a long way apart, and the rear wing often lower than the front wing, which is great for wheel users, but not always good for controller users. I provide modified race setups more suited to pad users, as that’s what I use myself.

More Details On Creating a Setup

Here are some explanations for the setup, plus some other factors to bear in mind:

Wings – My sweet spot was 37 front wing and 38 rear wing. I almost always put the rear wing above the front wing when using a pad for better stability in the race, but just 1 click above instead of the usual 2 because you need good turn in. But some players use setups with the wings in the 40s. For pad users, I’d experiment with wings between 36-41 to see what gives you the best lap times.

Brake Pressures – Most setups run 100 brake pressure, but I find it useful to knock it down to 95 at Zandvoort to stop scrubbing off too much speed in the faster corners in sector 2 especially.

Tyre Pressures – Need to be kept low on this track to avoid overheating with the prolonged corners that put a lot of strain on the tyres. Keep to minimum or almost minimum.

Qualifying – Bring the wings closer together, perhaps make them level instead of 1 click difference, or even the front wing higher than the rear wing if you can handle it on a pad (I don’t like doing this). Also, I would say qualifying position is more important in Zandvoort, so prioritize this in setup.

Intermediate Conditions – Using the dry setup will work fine, or maybe add 2-3 clicks to the wings if you want more advantage in the wet conditions if it’s mixed forecast between Q/R.

Full Wet Conditions – Add quite a lot more wing to the dry setup if you want more pace, anything up to 47/50 for full wet weekends. But you may need to compromise if it’s a mix of dry/wet sessions in a weekend, and pick something in the middle.. However, it’s safe to say track position is important in Zandvoort and overtaking is hard, so prioritize whatever setup gives you the best qualifying result in mixed weather weekends.

Here would be the full wet controller setup I’d use on a pad at Zandvoort:

• Wings – 47/50
• Diff – 50/55
• Camber – -2.50/-1.00/0.00/0.10
• Suspension –  28-8-8-1-40-43
• Brakes – 95 Pressure/55 Bias
• Tyres – Minimum or close to it front & rear

Alternative Setup Resources

I try to keep it simple on this blog and provide stable, easy to drive controller setups to get people started with something decent they can drive easily.

If you’re wanting more detailed, specific setup resources that really go into the minutiae of car setups for different cars and wet/dry conditions, plus pure speed Time Trial setups, check out these resources:

• F1laps.com Zandvoort 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.

Tips For Racing Here

Here are some strategy and general tips for racing at Zandvoort.

Kerbs – Watch out for the kerbs at Zandvoort; they’re not as deadly as on F1 22 and F1 2021, but some of them are still raised and pretty dangerous and you don’t want to be riding over them too much. An exception is the right-left loop after the second DRS straight, where you can climb over the right hand kerb a bit to gain lap time.

Last corner – Aim to get a good exit on the banked last turn and save your ERS, as the pit straight is really your only chance to overtake in most races.

Quali vs race – Because overtaking is difficult, you might want to prioritize qualifying when deciding which setup to use, using slightly higher wings.

ERS – Be very sparing with ERS, as with high downforce settings that are often used, it’s hard to harvest it. Therefore, once you blow it, you’re not going to recoup it very easily.

Fuel – This track does use more fuel than you might think at first, because you’re actually on full throttle for a surprising amount of time, plus you’re not fully off the throttle very much as you’re easing around long corners on partial throttle. Therefore, put 1-1.5 laps more fuel in than normal to cover yourself here.