How To Set Up A Racing Wheel in F1 25: Step-By-Step Guide

The F1 25 game brings updated handling and physics to Formula 1 sim racing, and aims to provide the best Formula 1 racing experience yet. To elevate your gameplay experience with F1 25, using a racing wheel instead of a controller can dramatically enhance your immersion, control, and precision on track.

Racing wheels offer a level of feedback and mechanical responsiveness that replicates real-world driving. With precise inputs, realistic force feedback, and fine-tuned control over braking and acceleration, players can better master the nuances of Formula 1 driving.

In this guide, I’m going to share a step-by-step guide on how to correctly set up any racing wheel in F1 25.

Compatibility: Is Your Wheel Supported?

With F1 25 being one of the most popular racing games, it’s no surprise that most racing wheels from the most popular sim racing brands are supported. F1 25 has preset configurations for a wide variety of racing wheels from brands such as Logitech, Fanatec, Thrustmaster and more.

Official F1 25 supported racing wheel list

Teh easiest way to see if your racing wheel is compatible in F1 25 is to check out our F1 25 racing wheel compatibility list. You can find the full list of all compatible racing wheels for F1 25 across PS5, Xbox and PC here.

PC vs Console (PlayStation, Xbox) considerations

One important area to consider when looking to play F1 25 with a racing wheel is console compatibility. Most racing wheels are only compatible with either PS5 or Xbox, and rarely both. Some wheels which do offer compatibility across both consoles have different versions for each platform.

The Logitech G923, for example, has two different versions. One is compatible with PS5 consoles, and the other is compatible with Xbox consoles. So it’s important to purchase the correct version for the console you’re looking to use.

Watch our video guide on setting up a racing wheel in F1 25

Step-by-step setup guide: Setting up a racing wheel in F1 25

You can use the how to guide below for any racing wheel in F1 25, on any platform. The general process is the same across all brands, with the main difference being the software used to update your wheel.

1. Connect your wheel to your PC or console
   The first step is to plug the USB from your racing wheel directly into a USB port on your PC, PS5 or Xbox. Ensure all accessories are connected to your wheel base such as the pedals, and power on your racing wheel.
2. Install drivers and update firmware
   This step is mainly for those racing F1 25 on PC. For your racing wheel to be recognised, you’ll need to install the right software. This can be found on the manufacturers website. For MOZA, this is Pit House, Fanatec has its own Control Panel, Simucube has Tuner and so on.
   Download the software, install it and update your racing wheel when prompted. This step isn’t required if you’re racing on an Xbox or PS5 console, but can sometimes be worth doing to ensure your wheel is performing to its maximum potential.
3. Configure wheel settings via software
   This step can be important for all racing wheels. Changing the wheel settings on PC via the software can greatly affect how your wheel performs. With some wheels such as those from Fanatec, you can change these settings on the steering wheel itself even when using a console.
4. Adjust the F1 25 force feedback settings
   Once your wheel is connected, launch F1 25 and go to Settings > Controls, Vibration & Force Feedback. Select your racing wheel from the device list and enter its settings. Then, input our recommended force feedback settings for your wheel. I’ve included our recommended FFB settings for all racing wheels below.
5. Calibrate your wheel
   You may need to adjust some calibration settings such as the deadzone to ensure all inputs are working as expected.
6. Change button mapping
   The final step is to configure your button mapping to your own preference. I’ve included our recommended button mapping profile below as a guide on how to map key functions such as ERS and DRS.

Recommended force feedback settings

Each racing wheel performs differently, and this means each racing wheel really requires its own settings for F1 25. We have guides on recommended settings for all popular racing wheels from brands such as Fanatec, MOZA and more. Below are our recommended FFB settings guide for all wheels. Click one of these guides to view our recommended wheel settings.

• Recommended Fanatec settings
• Recommended MOZA settings
• Recommended Logitech settings
• Recommended Simucube settings
• Recommended Asetek settings
• Recommended Thrustmaster settings

Calibration: Is it required for F1 25?

Calibrating your racing wheel in F1 25 is different to most racing games. You don’t run through a calibration process, instead, you have a range of calibration settings that you can manually adjust. These settings include deadzone, linearity and saturation for the wheel, brake and throttle pedal.

You don’t need to calibrate your racing wheel for F1 25. However, if you are experiencing any issues, adjusting the calibration settings can help fix your issue. Below is a quick overview of what each calibration setting does in F1 25.

• Deadzone: This setting adjust the initial input for your wheel and pedals. Increasing this will result in you needing to apply more physical input to register an input in game. This is ideal if you experience the car drifting to one side, or any brake or throttle being registered when you aren’t touching a pedal.
• Saturation: The saturation setting is the opposite of the deadzone. This affects the amount of input required to reach 100% in-game input. Increasing this setting will mean you don’t need to press your pedals or turn your wheel as far to achieve 100% in-game input.
• Linearity: The linearity setting changes the input curve for each input. Increasing this will result in more detailed and granular inputs at the start of your steering or pedal input, and faster inputs towards the end. This can be useful to gain more precise control over your throttle input to help with traction out of corners.

Recommended button mapping

Players can adjust the button mapping to fit their own preferences, as it’s a highly personal configuration. For all wheels, the F1 25 developers set a default button mapping configuration. However, changing this can often make activating DRS and ERS, or changing key settings mid-race much easier.

Below is the standard button mapping layout for F1 25.

Essential functions: DRS, ERS, pit limiter, radio

During a race in F1 25, there are some functions that you’ll be using much more than others. The DRS will be activated multile times every lap, and you may want to change your ERs mode and use overtake at different points of a lap as well.

These key features, as well as functions such as the pit limiter and the radio button, should all be mapped to an input that is easy to reach during the heat of a race. I often map the DRS and ERS buttons to my top left, just above my thumb. This makes it easy to press without having to adjust my grip, or affect any gear changes.

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If your racing wheel has a variety of buttons on the face, you can set the pit limiter and radio buttons to also be assigned to inputs near your thumb. Ideally, you don’t want to be taking your hand off the wheel grips at any point to activate these functions.

Testing Your Setup

With your settings configured, and your racing wheel set up. The next step is to hit the track and test out your wheel. I’d recommend spending some time in the time trial mode in F1 25, before hitting the track against the AI or online competitors.

Testing your settings is crucial to ensuring you feel comfortable on track, and know where every input is.

Tweak your settings based on handling and feel

If you feel the force feedback is too light, or too strong, now is the perfect time to jump back into the settings and tweak them. You can do this from the pause menu in F1 25, meaning you can test your settings on the fly, while on track.

Advanced Tips for Gaining a Competitive Edge

While having the best wheel settings is one step towards being comfortable in F1 25, there are other ways you can improve your lap times and be more competitive. One of the key areas to improve your pace is with car setups.

Using F1 25 car setups to gain an advantage

At Sim Racing Setups, we’ve spent the past 5 years learning and mastering car setups, to ensure our community has the best and most optimised setup for every track. For F1 25, we’ve upp’d our game, and expanded our setup engineering team to include some of the fastest drivers in the PSGL.

This year, we’re offering pro car setups for F1 25 for the first time. These pro setups provide multiple optimised car setups for every track in F1 25, with Esports quality car setups, as well as safe setups and wet setups. Our F1 25 pro setup pack also includes qualifying, race and tyre strategies for every track.

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

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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

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