F1 2021 Japanese GP Setup Guide

Our F1 2021 Japan Setup Guide

Suzuka is one of the more interesting tracks on the Formula 1 calendar. And it’s a track we haven’t seen for a little while due to the topsy turvy calendar of the past couple of years.

The track itself is extremely flowing, with almost every corner leading into another. And if you don’t quite take the best racing line into the first corner of a sequence, you’ll be feeling the pain all the way down to the next corner sequence. This is especially true of the snaking corners from turn 3 to turn 7.

With balance and consistency two of the most crucial aspects of racing around Suzuka in F1 2021, we need a car setup that is extremely stable and wont be unpredictable. This car setup guide will give you a car which is exactly that, an extremely balanced and stable car, allowing you to race consistently lap after lap.

---

Aerodynamics

Jumping straight into the aerodynamic setup, we want a setup which will give us great rear stability. If your rear end doesn’t have the downforce it requires you will have a car with a tendency to be unpredictable and oversteer-happy… Not what we need at Suzuka.

So go with a front wing aero of 7 and a rear wing aero of 9. The emphasis on rear stability is evident right from the get go, with the higher rear wing aero giving good downforce at the rear of the car.

This will prevent the rear end of your car from stepping out of line while accelerating out of the long sweeping corners. Allowing you to focus entirely on perfecting your racing line and corner exit.

---

Transmission

As Suzuka doesn’t feature too many slower corners or heavy traction zones, we can prioritise a high on-throttle differential setup. I’ve gone for an on-diff setup of 80%, which is one of the highest I will run all season long in F1 2021.

This will ensure you can carry a high minimum corner speed through the medium and high speed sweeping corners. And it will give you a good platform to maximise your acceleration out of the turns and on to the long straights.

The only real slower parts of the track are coming out of the slow hairpin of turn 11, and out of the final chicane. However, both of these turns aren’t too traction reliant and you can almost certainly manage these corners with a little extra throttle control.

I’ve setup the off-throttle differential to 58%, which is very similar to a lot of our other F1 2021 car setup guides. This will give you a little extra rotation into the slower corners.

---

Suspension Geometry

For the suspension geometry around Japan in F1 2021, we can run a setup closer to maximum all around. This is because you will spend a lot of time leaning on your car through the longer corners.

So we need a camber setup which can give you maximum peak grip through these sweeping corners. Go with -2.6 and -1.8 on your camber setup.

Then for the toe, I’ve added a little more front toe than normal with a setup of 0.09. This will make your car more responsive at the expense of a little straight line speed. This setup approach will help you flick your car from left to right through the switchbacks throughout a lap of Suzuka.

Then go with a minimum rear toe setup of 0.2 to help reduce drag as much as possible.

---

Suspension

I have prioritised stability once again for the suspension setup. This is designed to work with the aerodynamic setup to create the most stable car possible for a long race.

I have done this by creating a suspension setup with inverted anti-roll bars. Essentially I am running stiffer front anti-roll bars, and softer rears. This works in combination with the overall soft suspension setup to give you a car which will remain balanced and stable.

Go for 1 and 3 on your suspension setup and 5 and 2 on your anti-roll bar setup.

Then for the ride height, go for a setup of 3 and 7 for best performance and stability.

---

Brakes

For the brake setup, I am running 97% brake pressure. Just like many of my F1 2021 setup guides, this is my usual braking setup which is designed to give the best combination of braking performance while limiting any risk of locking any wheels.

Then go for a brake bias of 56%, which again is my go to setup for F1 2021.

---

Tyres

In F1 2021 tyre pressure setups are completely different to last year’s game. The emphasis now is much like real world racing, where teams want to run the highest tyre pressures without overheating the tyres.

With this in mind, I’ve gone for a high tyre pressure setup of 24.2 for both fronts, and 22.7 for both rears. This will maximise performance while limiting the amount of tyre wear through a race distance.

---

And that will do it for my F1 2021 Japanese car setup guide. As mentioned above, stability is crucial at Japan, and this setup is designed completely with balance and stability in mind. It will give you a car which you can push hard without worrying too much about unpredictability.

Let me know how you get on with this setup in the comments below.

View all of our most recent F1 2021 setups, by visiting our F1 2021 car setups page.

See you on track guys.

---

---

F1 2021 Singapore Setup Guide Video