The Zandvoort Circuit in the Netherlands has proven reasonably popular on the F1 games, having been on them since 2020, but the real race looks set to fall off the calendar after 2026, so we might be losing this track from the games as well.

 

The layout is a little unusual with some twisty sections, but you’re also on full throttle and surprising amount of the time as well, so you do need to maintain some straight line speed against the AI in offline modes. For this reason, a high (but not maximum) level of downforce is recommended.

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

• Wings – 34/36 or 42/44
• Diff – 10/55
• Camber/Toe – -2.50/-2.00/0.00/0.15 (LLL/0.15)
• Suspension – 41-3-14-10-22-49
• Brakes – 100% Pressure/53% Bias
• Tyre Pressures – Front right 28.0, front left max; rear right 25.0, rear left max

More Setup Analysis & Tweaks

This may feel like an “understeery” setup that’s leaving a lot on the table in terms of potential pace. But front and rear left temps are marginal here at the best of times and you need stable handling to avoid those “wheelspin” moments on traction out of corners that can send the rear left temperature over the edge. This setup worked well on longer runs on a pad, maintaining stable handling and easy traction out of corners.

Wing Levels – This is a tricky one as you can go multiple directions:

• High downforce route – 34/36 wings –  My default option for Zandvoort the last few games to to protect against the AI on the straights. But it is weaker in the corners and harder to control on traction once the tyres are worn.
• Very high downforce – 42/44 wings – I’ve actually been trying this online and prefer it, as it offers excellent stability and following of other cars without dirty air vs the lower wing route. I’ll be trying this next time offline as well, and just focusing on a good exit out the final corner and using all my ERS on the pit straight to punch away from any chasing cars.

Tyre Pressures/Temps – Zandvoort is a weird track where the left hand side tyres wear and overheat a lot more than the right hand side tyres. So the front left and rear left pressures need to be at max, 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, causing chronic understeer. So the right hand side tyre pressures need to be set slightly lower to actually get these tyres in the correct window. Bottom line – set the front and rear lefts at maximum, set the front and rear rights at 1-1.5 PSI below maximum to balance the temperatures out.

Intermediate Conditions – Any wet conditions will be tricky at Zandvoort with the twisty technical sections and traction zones, therefore you may want to dial out some rotation for more stability. I’d recommend similar wings to the dry setup, maybe a little higher but more spaced apart, with 4 clicks between the front and rear (something like 36/40 or 38/42). Also increase your Off Throttle Diff to 55 or 60 to dampen rotation and make corner exits easier.

Full Wet Conditions – For heavy rain running, even more adjustments are required. Add a bunch more wing so you’re running much closer to max, and on a pad I’d space the rear 5 clicks above the front (so something like 42/47 to 45/50). Again raise the Off Throttle Diff to 60 or 65, and raise the ride height 3-5 clicks. You might also want to flip the roll bars round to something like 14/10 as this give a more sluggish but planted/stable feeling to the handling and helps maintain traction round long corners. And for full wet I’d be turning the ERS down to None in all traction zones to make corner exits easier.

AI difficulty in the wet also seems to be bugged, meaning it’s way too hard to players to compete on a level they’d normally find fine in the dry. Consider dropping AI level down 10-15 clicks from normal for any wet sessions. I’m currently dropping down 15 clicks. Patch may be coming to fix this.

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.

Throttle Control – Having nuanced and smooth control of the throttle seems to be super important round here, mainly because it helps prolong tyre life and therefore stint length waiting just that bit longer before getting back on the throttle out of slow corners, preventing that rear left from overheating. As long as I was patient on the throttle, my setup that I posted above allowed for decent stints on all 3 tyres.

ERS (Quali) – You’ve got loads of spare ERS Overtake mode to use on qualifying laps in all game modes – so much so that it seems you just run out of ERS full stop before you get the “Deployment Used” sign to come up. 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 meter and aim to drain it to zero just as you finish the hotlap.

Tyre Wear/Strategy – Here are the wear rates I found:

• Soft – 5.5%
• Medium – 4% per lap
• Hard – 2.5% per lap
• Front left tyre wears the quickest, and the left hand side tyres in general wear and overheat much more than the right hand side tyres, which can create weird handling towards the end of stints.

The lower wear rates mean the soft can be used for a short stint in races if you’re smooth on traction. For, 25% races use whatever combination you want of the tyres. For 50% races, a 2 stop is the easier strategy but a 1 stop medium-hard is also possible for smoother drivers, although the handling will be trickier towards the end of each stint.

First Lap – Zandvoort is another one of those circuits where the cars really bunch up 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, it might be better to use your ERS strategically only on the pit straight and let it recharge the rest of the lap if defending. Because the ERS recoups so slowly on this game, you have to really manage it and only deploy when necessary. The AI can get closer in the shorter second DRS zone but usually can’t overtake unless you make a big mistake. So I usually prefer to leave all my ERS for the pit straight when defending.

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 on the inside (but you can use the outside one), take a slightly wider entry and if you get your turn in point nailed you can throw the car into the first of the two right handers and maintain good speed through the corner as long as you don’t clip the inside kerb. 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.