The Red Bull Ring in Austria is a sim racer’s favourite for league, with a really simple layout that’s also really good for racing with half the track basically a DRS zone.

 

Setups here have usually been low-medium downforce with all the long straights, and it’s no exception on F1 24. I think this as also the track in my career mode where I’ve finally figured out what’s going on with the setups on this game.

Here’s a general baseline dry race setup for Austria for a pad user:

• Wings – 18/20
• Diff – 10/45/50
• Camber/Toe – -3.50/-2.20/0.05/0.05
• Suspension – 40-6-11-9-26-56
• Brakes – 95% Pressure/53% Bias
• Tyre Pressures – 26.5 Fronts; 24.0 Rears

This setup is really a mash-up of my own template setup, plus the bits I liked from a few other setups. It feels nice and easy to drive consistently, so I’m really happy with this configuration. Let me explain a bit more.

More Setup Info

Wing levels – I think I’m starting to get the setups on F1 24. It’s feels a lot like the ’22 game, where you needed to use lower wing levels that make the car a rocket ship on the straights, even if it’s weaker in the corners, to stay competitive. The ERS/DRS combo is so powerful you need to keep your rear wing lower to maintain the top speed necessary to attack and defend. I wouldn’t set your rear wing any higher than 20. You can compensate for the lower downforce with other aspects of the setup. But I know my setup above worked pretty well with these wing levels. You could experiment with anything from 14 to 20 and see what works for you.

Wing spacing – I do space the wings in a way many players of this game might find weird, but setting the rear 2 clicks above the front gives a good level of turn in that allows you to get back on the power quickly and get good traction out of corners, which is crucial for lap time on this game. You can invert this and set the rear wing lower than the front (wheel users are often doing this), but the car is a lot harder to control when the tyres start to wear. I want stability and 20/22 kept me competitive against the AI on the straights as well, and the spacing also keeps the car drivable towards the end of stints.

Note – With Austria being a Sprint weekend format, the “Parc Ferme” rules work a little differently. Setups are locked initially once you drive out for Sprint Quali, and can’t be changed for the rest of the Sprint sessions. However, they’re briefly unlocked again just before you drive out again for the Main Qualifying session. So if the wing levels or spacing you used for the Sprint sessions didn’t work for you, there is a chance to change them again just before you start the main event sessions.

Tyre Pressures – It’s not one of the worst tracks, but you can find the tyre temps starting to creep up at Austria if you use middle pressures or lower. Set them anything from slightly above middle to maximum pressures depending on preference. Setting them lower gives better traction and low speed grip, whereas setting them to max gives better high speed responsiveness.

Intermediate Conditions – Your dry setup will work OK as it is, but I’d always space the rear wing 3 clicks above the front for better stability. You can also soften the suspension and raise the ride height 1-2 clicks, and move your on Throttle Diff down to minimum if it’s not already there for easier traction.

Full Wet Conditions – For heavy rain, you do need to make some more obvious adjustments to the suspension and wings to provide more downforce and stability. Again, keep the 3 click spacing with the wings to make the car easier to control.

Here’s a suggested wet race setup for Austria for a pad user:

• Wings – 24/27
• Diff – 10/55/50
• Camber – -3.50/-2.20/0.00/0.13
• Suspension –  36-4-12-6-28-61
• Brakes – 95% Pressure/53 Bias
• Tyre pressures – Fronts 24.0, Rears 22.5

Again there’s flexibility with the wing levels depending on whether you want better top speed or cornering. With how powerful the ERS is on this game, I always want top speed.

More Setup Resources For Austria

There’s a number of different directions you can go for both wing levels and wing spacing round here. Some players use using insane wings like 36/22 or something, so if you want to try super aggressive setups, here are a few more resources to check out:

• My own baseline setup that I usually start testing with also works well for a starting point, just with the Wing and Diff levels ported over from the posted setup above.
• F1laps.com Austria 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.
• Sim Racing Centre (Paid setups) – Need to buy these for either single tracks or bundle packs, but they’re more aggressive setups designed by eSports drivers. Therefore may not translate directly over to a pad without some tweaking. More aggressive higher end option if you’re precise on a controller and want to find some top level pace.

Extra Racing & Strategy Tips

There’s a lot going on at this race, so here’s some extra tips for navigating a race weekend here.

Sprint Format – On this year’s calendar this race is the 3rd sprint race format weekend (1 practice session–Sprint Quali—-Sprint Race—-Normal Quali—Normal Race). Therefore you’ve only got one practice session before your setups are locked, so be sure to select the Harder Tyre Allocation going into the weekend to free up more softs in the single practice session to prepare for quali if that’s what you want. The Balanced allocation gives you one set of hards and one set of softs for the sole practice session. You’ve only got 30-45 minutes to pass all three practice programs as well, so get out on track ASAP as soon as practice starts. Also, setups are very briefly unlocked again just before you drive out for Main Qualifying, so you can change anything (such as wing levels) then if you don’t like what you used for the Sprint sessions.

ERS Mode (Qualifying) – You’ve got loads of Overtake ERS to use on a Quali lap here – around 10-12 seconds worth. So you can use couple of second bursts going onto and finishing your hotlap, plus in the other DRS zones to boost your top speed. Overtake mode seems to work best when used with DRS; aim to drain the yellow ERS bar just as you finish any flying lap.

Sprint Quali – Depending on the tyre allocation you pick for the weekend, you might only have one set of soft tyres for the shorter (12 minute) Sprint Qualifying. It’s best to sit back and wait for the last 5 minutes of this session, when the track is at it’s fastest, to set your hotlaps. I like to go out with around 5 minutes left with 5 laps of fuel and go for two hotlaps (outlap—-hotlap—cool down lap—-hotlap—-in lap). Sometimes you can get a better lap on your second attempt round here.

Throttle Application – Maintaining good lap times at this track seems to be about staying off the throttle for as little time as possible and getting back on the power ASAP. You’re only braking and/or coasting for a very short period around most corners, and there’s lap time to be found by getting back on partial throttle mid way through the corners to “hook” the car round the rest of the corner, using the downforce generated when the power is applied to your advantage. But the key here is to still be progressive and modulate the throttle – slamming on full power before the car is fully pointing straight will actually lose you time out of corners.

Pit Strategy – The “undercut” can be super powerful round here, as the AI cars often waste time battling with all the DRS zones. Pit 1-3 laps early and you can jump a bunch of cars quite easily with a strong out-lap. This strategy has worked very well for me in both career mode races I’ve done round here, with an early pit stop allowing me to jump a load of cars and vault up the order. For 50% races, it’s a medium-hard or hard-medium strategy, with the hard tyre lasting very well. And you can use the soft tyre for 25% races as well. So you’ve got a lot of flexibility regarding what lap you pit.

Find More Pace At The Red Bull Ring (Detailed Track Guide)