The Zandvoort circuit in the Netherlands returned to the F1 games in 2020 and is a tight, tricky but fun track to race at. It looks very twisty and it is, but you’re actually on full throttle for a surprising amount of the lap round here.

 

For a race setup, on the last game you could go a number of different routes, with your wings anywhere from the mid 40s to the mid 30s level. On F1 24, I think that’s largely out the window and you always need to keep your wings as low as possible to stay competitive on the straights.

Thankfully, I’ve made a setup that is a blend of a few other setups I tried, that seems to work very well in races. I’m continuing to do well in my career mode on 95 AI level, once I started figuring out the setups a bit more around the time of the Austria race. You basically just need to reduce the wing levels much lower than you might expect.

Here’s a general dry race setup for Zandvoort for a controller user:

• Wings – 34/36
• Diff – 10/45/50
• Camber/Toe – -2.50/-2.20/0.00/0.18 (LLL18)
• Suspension – 39-3-16-9-23-60
• Brakes – 95% Pressure/53% Bias
• Tyre Pressures – Fronts right 26.5, Front left 27.5; Rears maximum

Hotlap Using This Setup (Little Understeery But Stable)

 

This setup again allowed me to closely match the pace of the leading cars for most of the race on 95 AI, in a midfield car. For sure it is weaker in the corners, but very strong on the straights versus the AI. So seems to work OK, although you have to be very precise and consistent in the twisty sections and good on the traction, to make it work.

More Setup Analysis & Tweaks

Here’s some more setup ideas and possible tweaks to create your own customized configuration.

Template Setup – My baseline generic setup I usually start with also worked pretty well on this track, just with 34/36 wings and 10/45/50 Diff settings.

Wing Levels – This is a tricky one. You can get better single lap times raising the wing levels up to 40 or higher, but it’s no use in the race as you’re just a sitting duck on the straights with the AI. So you need to lower them to around the mid 30s to defend and attack properly. 34/36 just about worked in being able to defend, with strategic use of ERS on the pit straight. You could also try 32/24 or 36/38, but any higher than that and you might struggle to hold position in races.

Wing Spread – Wheel users are sometimes spreading the wings much further apart, using something like 45/35. No chance I can make this work on a pad. I set the rear wing 2 clicks higher for better stability, and even that got a bit tricky once the tyres started to wear.

Tyre Pressures/Temps – I usually like to keep things simple with the tyre pressures, keeping both sides even, but Zandvoort is very tricky and you some more precision since it’s the left hand side tyres that take all the punishment here and overheat much more. But conversely the front right tyre especially can fail to get up to temperature if you set it too high, especially using the hard tyres. Therefore you need to drop this down, but keep the front left higher to prevent that over-heating – set the fronts somewhere between middle and max, with the right hand side 0.5-1 PSI lower than the left hand side. The rears need to be a max or close to it, but again you can drop the rear right pressures lower than the rear left since it overheats less.

Intermediate Conditions – I actually encountered some inter conditions in my race here, and the dry setup wasn’t really optimal. So it might be useful to make some adjustments, like softening the suspension and roll bars 1-2 clicks, and raising the ride height 1-2 clicks. Also, space the rear wing 3 clicks above the front (33/36 or 34/37) and use minimum On Throttle Diff for easiest traction.

Full Wet Conditions – For heavy rain running, it’s similar tweaks as per the intermediate setup, but just more drastic. But I’d add a bunch more wing for sure, and make sure they’re spaced 3 clicks apart again for better stability.

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

• Wings – 40/43
• Diff – 10/50/50
• Camber – -3.50/-2.20/0.00/0.18
• Suspension –  36-3-13-6-26-62
• Brakes – 95% Pressure/53 Bias
• Tyre pressures – Max pressures all tyres.

More Setup Resources For Zandvoort

You can go a lot more aggressive with the setups here for sure. But you probably wouldn’t want to be using a lot of these setups for longer races.

I want stable and easy to control race setups. But if you want setups more optimized for single lap pace and TT, plus custom setups for specific cars, here are some extra resources to check out:

• 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.
• Sim Racing Centre (Paid) – Need to buy these setups, but they’re much more aggressive, top end eSports style configurations. Designed mainly for wheel users, but may be able to port them over to a pad with some tweaking. Their support team can help with this, but recommended for advanced players looking for top level speed.

More Racing Tips For Zandvoort

Zandvoort is a tricky circuit that does require quite a bit of practice to master for newbies, but here’s a few more tips for racing here.

ERS (Quali) – You’ve got lots of spare ERS Overtake mode to use on qualifying laps in all game modes – about 10-12 seconds or more. So you can deploy it liberally to boost acceleration and top speed. You can use it going onto your hotlap all along the main straight, on the straight out of turn 3, the short back DRS straight and whatever is left as you come back onto the pit straight to finish your lap. Keep your eye on the yellow ERS bar and aim to use it all up just as you finish the hotlap.

First Lap – Zandvoort is another one of those circuits where the cars really bunch of on the first lap, especially turn 1 and the sharp banked hairpin of turn 3. It’s recommended to take a cautious approach on lap 1 and just coast into the apexes here, since getting front wing damage and having to pit on lap 1 ruins your race here. You lose a ton of time dropping out of the DRS train so early, and it’s almost impossible to get back into the race unless there’s a Safety Car. Try to keep your front wing clean at the start, and stay in the DRS train until at least lap 5-6 (pitting 1-2 laps early can work for an undercut).

Defending – The AI cars will be constantly pestering you on the main straight, and with the ERS/DRS/slipstream combo being so powerful on this game, you need to use your ERS strategically. If you’re constantly defending lap after lap, use your ERS only on the short back DRS straight, and then the bulk of it all along the pit straight to hold position. Then don’t use it and allow it to recharge the rest of the lap. Because the ERS recoups so quickly on this game, you can just keep doing this lap after lap and fend off faster cars if you need to.

Last corner – Related to the last point on defending, aim to get a good exit on the banked last turn to give yourself the best chance to defend. Avoid the raised kerbs, take a slightly wider entry into the first of the two right handers, and be patient on the throttle. It’s also your only real chance to overtake as well if on the attack, so save and use your ERS here for both attacking and defending and get a good entry and exit into T13/14 to give yourself the best chance.

Kerbs – The kerbs at Zandvoort seem to be getting slightly less lethal on each iteration of the F1 game, but they’re still tricky for sure with some raised ones that can spit the car off the track, especially in sector 2. I’ve tried to provide a setup that has a moderated level of turn-in when using a pad so it’s harder to over-rotate and clip the kerbs. If you’re still having problems, raise your Off Throttle Diff or adjust wings to introduce more understeer to the setup.

Finding More Pace At Zandvoort (Track Guide)