F1 25 Controller Settings Guide: Best Recommended Settings for PS5, Xbox, and PC

Kicking back on a sofa or bed, controller in hand, and enjoying F1 25 is one of the most relaxing ways to play this year’s Formula 1 game. Alternatively, you may be an edge of your seat player. Either way, choosing the best controller and setting up your controller correctly can help improve your handling in game.

In this guide, I’m looking at how to correctly set up a controller in F1 25. I’ll then recommend my optimised controller settings, and calibration settings.

Recommended controllers for F1 25

Before looking at specific controller settings for F1 25, I first want to recommend the controllers that I’m personally using in F1 25. Below are my favourite gamepads and controllers for both PS5, Xbox along with an alternate option.

	Best Xbox Controller	Best PS5 Controller	Best Premium Controller
	Xbox Elite Series 2	PS5 Dualsense Controller	SCUF Instinct Pro
Hotswap	Yes	No	Yes
Compatibility	Xbox, PC	PS5, PC	Xbox, PC
Price	From £/$140	From £/$55.95	From £/$200
	Shop Now	Shop Now	Shop Now

Watch our controller settings guide video below

Should you play F1 25 with a controller or racing wheel?

Choosing whether to play F1 25 with a controller or racing wheel comes down to a few factors such as budget, space available and which control method you prefer.

For casual players or newcomers to F1 25, a console controller works extremely well. The game offers optimised controller handling, allowing players to enjoy smooth, precise driving without needing a racing wheel to put in fast lap times.

However, if you’re looking for the most immersive and realistic racing experience, a racing wheel is the better choice. Racing wheels like the Logitech G923, MOZA R12, or Fanatec CSL DD provide detailed force feedback, more precise steering, and improved control, especially in tricky corners or wet conditions. Competitive sim racers will benefit from the added precision and realism that a racing wheel offers in F1 25.

To summarise;

• Controller → best for casual players, newcomers, or those on a budget
• Racing wheel → best for realism, immersion, and competitive racing

No matter which you choose, F1 25 delivers a fun and semi-realistic racing experience on both controller and racing wheel.

How to set up a controller in F1 25

Setting up a controller in F1 25 is simple and can quickly improve your racing performance and enjoyment with the game. Whether you’re using an Xbox, PlayStation, or PC controller, follow the steps below to optimise your controller settings for the best experience:

1. Connect your controller — Plug in your Xbox, PS5, PS4, or PC controller via USB or connect wirelessly. F1 25 should automatically detect it.
2. Calibrate the controller — Go to the Settings menu → Controls, Vibration & Force Feedback → Calibration. Check the calibration using the button test menu to ensure all inputs are working. Adjust your deadzones and input settings if required.
3. Adjust the controller settings — In the same menu, customise your controller settings including:
   • Steering sensitivityThrottle and brake linearityVibration strengthForce feedback (if available on your controller)
   Recommended F1 25 controller settings for beginners typically include slightly reduced steering sensitivity and moderate throttle/brake linearity to avoid sudden inputs. Follow my recommended controller settings below to quickly improve your feel in F1 25.
4. Remap buttons (if needed) — Go to Control Scheme and assign functions like DRS, ERS, pit limiter, and radio to buttons that feel comfortable for you. You can map any input to any button on your controller.
5. Test your new settings — Before jumping into a race, I recommend putting in some laps in the Time Trial game mode to fine-tune your settings and get comfortable with the handling.

Step 1: Calibration

The first step of configuring your controller settings in F1 25 is to calibrate your gamepad to ensure it is correctly measuring inputs. This is important to ensure your controller is working as it should. The last thing you want are deadzones or not being able to reach 100% input.

To calibrate your controller, follow these steps;

1. Open the controller settings from the menu
2. Perform a button test
3. Adjust your calibration settings

The button test is the best way to check your controller inputs are working and calibrate them if required. This can be accessed by starting the button test from the calibration menu. Then, press all inputs including the triggers and analgoue sticks. Ensure you can hit 100% with all inputs.

If you can’t reach 100% input with any trigger or stick, head into the calibration settings and adjust the deadzone, linearity or saturation.

Stick drift or sticky triggers are prime culprits for causing deadzone and linearity issues. These can cause your car to drift on straights or prematurely close the DRS. To fix this, increase the deadzone for the affected input just enough to stop unwanted signals.

Deadzone, linearity and saturation explained

Each of the three settings, deadzone, linearity and saturation are available for all inputs. Adjusting these settings will affect how much you need to press on a trigger or analogue stick to apply input.

• Deadzone affects the start of your input travel. Increasing the deadzone will require you to apply more input before an input in game is registered.
• Saturation controls how much input is needed to reach 100% in-game. Raise saturation slightly if your controller can’t hit full input, but don’t overdo it.
• Linearity adjusts the input curve. Increasing linearity softens input at the start, giving you more control over throttle, brake, and steering — especially useful if you race without traction control.

The important of steering rate

One of the most important F1 25 controller calibration settings is the steering rate. While similar to linearity, which adjusts the input curve, the steering rate specifically controls how quickly the in-game steering responds to your controller inputs.

Increasing the steering rate makes your car’s steering faster and more aggressive, allowing for quicker direction changes. This is ideal for players seeking maximum responsiveness out of their car in F1 25. Lowering the steering rate slows down the in-game steering, creating a smoother, more controlled feel that can help with precision and reduce oversteer, especially on tricky circuits.

For example, with a low steering rate, moving your analog stick to full lock will gradually steer the car to full lock in-game. With a high steering rate, the steering response will be much faster and more abrupt. Think of this as the general steering sensitivity setting for F1 25.

Recommended calibration settings for F1 25

Below are the calibration settings that I recommend for F1 25.

When fine-tuning your F1 25 controller settings, two of the most important adjustments that I’d recommend making are deadzone and linearity. Increasing the linearity for throttle, steering, and brake inputs gives us much more precise control, especially when applying small or delicate inputs.

• Throttle linearity: Raising this setting improves control over light throttle inputs, making it easier to drive without traction control, which is tricky to turn off in F1 25.
• Steering linearity: Boosting this setting helps you manage small steering inputs at high speeds, reducing twitchiness and improving lap time consistency.
• Steering deadzone: Slightly increasing the deadzone helps prevent stick drift on straights, which can cause your car to wander even when you’re holding the controller steady.

Step 2: Controller settings

After calibrating your controller, we can now move onto the controller settings. These settings affect the vibration and how strong certain effects are portrayed in the controller haptics. You can also controller your steering lock from these settings.

Recommended controller settings for F1 25

Below are my recommended controller settings for F1 25. These settings focus on creating solid feedback through the controller rumbles, as well as maximising our control with the wheel rotation setting.

The important part of these settings to focus on is the maximum wheel rotation. This is by default set too high, so lowering it down can increase the speed of our steering. The past few F1 games have benefited from lowering the wheel rotation, and I’d recommend it again for F1 25.

Step 3: Button mapping

With all of our controller settings ready, the final puzzle piece is the button mapping. This part of the settings let you change which inputs on your controller control each part of your car in game.

This is all about ensuring you are comfortable in game. Adjusting the button inputs for shifting gears is a common change, with some players using the face buttons while others prefer shoulder buttons.

I would definitely recommend one change with the button mapping, and that is to map your right analogue stick to control various car settings rather than the camera.

You can map the brake bias and differential to the analogue stick. This lets you make very quick adjustments to your car setup mid lap with a simple flick of the analogue stick.

Improve your handling with optimised F1 25 car setups

While the importance of correct controller settings will give you the best start in F1 25, optimising other areas of the game can also improve your speed and consistency. Car setups are a big part of any racing game, and its no different in F1 25.

By having an optimised car setup for the track you’re racing at, you can improve your lap time, often by seconds.

We have a range of car setups for F1 25, both free and premium.

• Our free car setups are ideal for players looking to improve on the baseline setups that are included in the game. They focus on stability, while improving the overall pace, and are ideal for the majority of F1 25 players.
  View all free F1 25 setups
• With F1 25, we’ve also launched pro car setups. These car setups are more finely tuned for competitive sim racing, both online and offline. Our pro setups have been created by some of the fastest drivers in F1 25, and feature optimised Esports style car setups for every track.
  View our pro F1 25 setups

Check out our F1 25 pro setups, and gain the competitive advantage on track.

Grab Your Sim Racing Gear Here

You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.

Shop Fanatec

Shop MOZA Racing

Shop Simucube

Shop Sim Lab

Shop Logitech

Shop GT Omega

FAQ

Article written by Rich

Founder of SimRacingSetups.com

Rich is the founder, F1 car setup creator and content writer for SimRacingSetups. With over a decade of experience as a graphic designer, marketing director, competitive sim racer and avid motorsport fan, Rich founded SimRacingSetup.com to share his passion and knowledge of sim racing and Formula 1 with other sim racers. Regularly writes for sim racing website SimRaceReviews.com

View all articles written by Rich