F1 26 Setups: What Will Change With The New DLC?

We have finally seen the new 2026 formula 1 cars on the track, being driven in anger at the Australian Grand Prix. And the overall reaction is… not great. The heavier use of electrical energy and super clipping at the end of long straights isn’t the greatest look.

However, with the new F1 26 DLC arriving soon, how much of the real-world 2026 Formula 1 regulations will make it into the DLC? And, more importantly how much are setups and the car’s handling going to change in F1 26?

These are pretty big questions, that currently we don’t know the answer to. EA Sports have failed to share many details with us, other than the new cars, tracks and rules will be represented in the F1 26 DLC. Lets take a look at how car setups will change in F1 26, how the handling will be affected and updated, and what will be new.

What we know so far about the F1 26 DLC

All we really know about the F1 26 DLC is that it will include “new cars, sporting regulations, teams, and drivers.” That is according to EA Sports’ official statement.

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With the changes in regulations and new cars in 2026, we can take the phrase “new cars, sporting regulations” to mean the cars will look and feel different on the track.

How EA Sports is going to implement the new handling of the 2026 cars we do not know. But as we now know from the pre-season test and first Grand Prix at Australia, the 2026 cars do handle a lot different to those in 2025.

This means, we will get tweaks to the handling dynamics in the F1 26 DLC, and this is ultimately going to mean new car setups will be required.

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What is going to change with car setups in F1 26?

Gone are the ground effect era cars, and instead we have cars with much less downforce, and much more electrical deployment. This means, they will be trickier to drive through high speed corners, have less downforce resulting in slower cornering speeds, and much more energy deployment, resulting in the cars getting out of corners quicker.

With all of these new characteristics, and paired with the new straight line mode, it could lead to the following car setup changes in F1 26.

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• Higher downforce
  The new cars have less overall downforce. To recoup some of this, higher downforce setups could be a trend. Also, the straight line mode helps shed a lot of downforce, meaning higher downforce won’t be as critical to top speed in F1 26
  Of course this won’t mean we run 50-50 Monaco-style wings at every track, but the trend could be higher than in F1 25.
• Lower on throttle differential
  To help with the lower grip and rear traction amounts, plus the immense electrical power, a lower on throttle differential setup may be required to help manage wheel spin out of slower corners.
• New regen setup options
  The 2026 Formula 1 cars rely so much on heavy regeneration of electrical power and super clipping. This could lead to new setup options for battery regen in the F1 26 DLC.
• Different tyre pressures
  The tyres in F1 26 are smaller than last year. This will almost certainly require changes to the tyre pressures at all tracks, as they’ll have fundamentally unique characteristics.
• Brake setup will be critical
  With the regeneration being so important, optimising your brake setup will be vitally important. We all saw the lockups around Bahrain in pre-season testing, George Russell’s lockup in the Australian Grand Prix, and Max Verstappen’s brake-related crash. In F1 26, brake bias and pressure could be more critical than ever.
• Suspension changes
  The new 2026 cars are smaller and lighter, but do have less downforce than 2025. This will almost certainly result in different suspension options being used to help these cars rotate better, and remain stable through a corner, especially at high speeds.

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Where to find F1 26 setups

At Sim Racing Setups, our goal is to offer the very best F1 25 and F1 26 car setups. We have a team of F1 Esports Champions, PSGL esports engineers and drivers, all dedicated to creating the fastest car setups for F1 26.

You can use our F1 26 car setups from launch day of the new 2026 DLC, with all tracks having car setups, strategies and ERS maps available.

There are a couple of ways you can use our F1 26 car setups;

• Become a Pro member
  Our annual pro membership unlocks all of our car setups across all titles. This includes all of our F1 25 and F1 26 car setups, all iRacing, LMU and ACC car setups, plus use of our setup auto installer app.
  View our Pro membership here.
• Pre-order our F1 26 setup pack
  Our F1 26 setup bundle can be purchased on its own. It comes with setups and strategies for every track, ERS maps, Pro support, lap analysis, Discord roles and more!

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• Written by Rich Article updated on March 30, 2026 Tags: Setups, EA Sports F1

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