Let’s start by saying that while it’s not perfect, the F1 23 game is way better than it’s predecessor F1 22 in just about every way. Once you do get used to it, it’s much more fun to drive and race on.

But that doesn’t mean it’s plain sailing and dead easy out the box, especially for pad users. The handling for me at least felt nervous and jittery playing on a controller with the default settings, just very sensitive and twitchy.

Also, a lot of the custom car setups being posted are going very aggressive with the wings, creating even more oversteer and an even more difficult to control handling with a pad. For me at least, the car was over-rotating through corners and this was making traction more difficult, and I kept “losing” the rear end of the car on corner exits.

A lot of these users are playing on a wheel, which is totally different to a pad, and the two devices need completely different car setups to get comfortable. A wheel is totally different to a thumb-stick for a steering input, so tweaks need to be made to account for this.

Therefore, in this quick guide, we’ll cover the two main settings changes you can make easily and quickly to get more comfortable playing F1 23 on a controller. Adjusting the controller calibration settings and the wing settings to make the handling more stable and less nervous are the two big adjustments you can make to make the cars easier to control on a pad.

Let’s cover each option in turn.

Tip #1 – Adjust Controller Calibration Settings

This is a major global setting you can adjust which will immediately “deaden” the handling on a pad to the point where it’s not too sensitive and is easier to control the car especially on cornering and traction out of corners.

Go to your Controller, Vibration and Force Feedback settings on your pause menu, then select the controller scheme you’re using and click Edit.

You might only need to make small changes, but the main settings you need to focus on are Throttle Linearity (controls how quickly throttle is applied), plus the Steering Linearity & Deadzone (controls how sensitive the steering is, and can therefore indirectly make traction easier or harder out of slow corners)

Here’s what worked for me:

• Increase Steering Deadzone from 0 to 10
• Increase Steering Linearity from 0 to 10
• Also increased throttle linearity from 0 to 10 (traction is much easier this year, but I still wanted a bit more control out of corners)

But keep bumping these settings up in increments of 10 and see what works for you, until you reach your own “sweet spot” where the pad handling is sensitive enough to still get good turn in, but not too sensitive that the car over-rotates and makes traction difficult out of corners.

Tip #2 – Adjust Wing Settings

Another settings change you can easily make to reach a better sweet spot for controller handling is the wing settings in the car setup.

Again, lots of custom setups are putting the rear wing LOWER than the front wing for better turn in, but this doesn’t work for me at all using a pad on F1 23. There’s too much turn in and the car over-rotates in corners, meaning that when I get back on the traction, the car spins because it’s still “twisted” as it’s turned too much into the corner. Wheel users have a lot more nuance in how much steering they can apply than pad users, so setups do have to be altered for the different devices.

Even using level wings doesn’t really work for me. Instead, putting the rear wing 2 clicks HIGHER than the front wing is working for me as a default baseline in providing a stable car when using a controller.

On some tracks I only put it 1 click higher; on others like Monaco I’m putting it 3 clicks higher. But definitely, try setting the rear wing higher than the front if you’re struggling with the controller handling.

It makes the car much more stable and provides just enough turn in that you make the corner, but not too much that you can’t get back on the traction. It also makes the general feeling of the car less nervous and I feel far less likely to turn in too soon and hit walls on street circuits as well.

See the this YouTube channel for a great resource for car setups for every track. Use his setups as a baseline, but then adjust the rear wing to make it higher than the front for easier pad handling.

In general, you’re looking to use whatever wings allow you to get the right level of turn in to corners, to get the car pointing straight ahead out the corner, as this is when you can get back on the throttle.

If it turns in too little, you take too long to make the corner; if you turn in too much, you lose control of the car when you get back on the traction because the car is “twisted” and not pointing in a straight line out the corner.

Again, I found setting the rear wing two clicks higher than the front provided a nice baseline to get an optimal level of turn in on a pad, but experiment to see what works for you.

Bonus Tip – Lower On Throttle Diff

Traction in general is MUCH easier on F1 23 than on F1 22. It’s a lot easier to get back on the throttle on this year’s game, plus wheelspin is less punishing, and race starts are much easier as well.

That said, if you’re still struggling with traction on F1 23, another quick setup change you can make is lowering the On Throttle Differential to 50.

This provides the best and easiest to control traction on a pad, at the cost of a small loss in potential outright traction. But 50 On Throttle Diff is a good baseline to keep, especially for longer races, as traction does become noticeably more difficult as tyres start to wear.

Again, a good general setup template to start with on all tracks on a controller is 50 On Throttle Diff and 55 Off Throttle Diff, which provides easiest traction and also a good level of turn in to corners, but not too much that the car over-rotates and makes traction difficult out the corner.

Summary

Let’s round up all the tips presented so far by proving a good calibration and car setup baseline templates for controller users to implement for easier handling on F1 23:

• Wings – Set rear wing 2 clicks higher than the front on all tracks
• On Throttle Diff – 50 all tracks
• Off Throttle Diff – 55 all tracks
• Throttle Deadzone – 10
• Steering Linearity – 10
• Steering Deadzone – 10

Start with these, and adjust to your own preference.