F1 2021 Spain GP Setup Guide

Our F1 2021 Spain Setup Guide

The circuit de Catalunya is an extremely balanced track, which features a combination of fast flowing corners along with slower more technical corners in the form of the horrible last sector. There is a reason why Formula 1 use it as a test track, it really does have a bit of everything!

You should look to achieve a reasonably balanced setup with an emphasis on rear aero performance. Tyre performance can also be a factor around Spain with the long sweeping corners of the first sector really taking a toll on the front left tyre in particular.

You will also need to ensure you have enough front end downforce and grip to be able to manage the tricky (and horrible) last sector chicane. This sector breaks the flow of the Spanish track and can cause a real headache for both drivers and engineers as it really slows the cars down. Front end downforce is critical here as well as the ability to accelerate well out of the last corner and on to the long pit straight.

So jumping straight into the setup itself.

Aerodynamic Setup

As mentioned, the aerodynamic setup for Spain in F1 2021 needs to prioritise rear downforce so you feel comfortable and confident on throttle through the faster sweeping corners.

But you do also need to ensure you have enough front end downforce for the slower corners such as the last chicane.

I’ve gone with an aero setup of 7 at the front and 10 at the rear. As mentioned in our Bahrain setup guide, the aero setup across all tracks will be higher this year round due to the track dependant aero tweaks that Codemasters have made.

This adjustment means that you don’t need to lower your aerodynamic setup for faster tracks, as the developers have already made this adjustment for each track individually.

This aero balance should give you enough bite at the front of the car to get the car turned in to the slower corners, and enough rear downforce to allow you to keep the throttle pinned through the fast turns.

Transmission

For the transmission, you can run your on-throttle diff at 72% without incurring too much wheel spin out of the slower corners. Keeping it balanced like this will give you better drive out of every corner.

Then I’ve lowered the off throttle diff to 57% for better rear balance, and to help get the nose of the car rotated into the slower corners of the awful chicane at the end of the lap.

Suspension Geometry

Next up, suspension geometry. This follows the trend which you’ll see at a lot of tracks this year of higher front camber and lower rear camber, with low to minimal toe.

Go for -2.6 and -1.8 on the camber, and 0.07 and 0.2 on the toe.

This style of setup, while not too extreme will push the limits of the suspension geometry without negatively affecting tyre life too much. And the minimal levels of toe will help reduce drag down the long back straight at Spain.

Suspension

I’ve setup the suspension at 2 and 5, and the anti-roll bars ever so slightly stiffer at 3 and 6. This will give you a soft car so you can ride over the kerbs without causing the car to react too badly. While the stiffer anti-roll bars and rear suspension will help with overall and rear stability throughout the lap.

Then, go for 3 and 6 on the ride height, which is a little higher than last year. This is due to Codemasters changing how low and extreme you can run your car this year round.

Brakes

For the brakes, run your pressure at 95%. This is high enough for almost maximum braking performance without running the risk of locking your front tyres.

There shouldn’t be many places around Spain where you will be locking your wheels under braking, so if you are feeling confident you can increase your pressure up to 100% for maximum performance.

Then setup your brake bias to 56% for good overall braking stability. Don’t run this any closer to 50% as you will start to notice rear brake locking under heavy braking if you do.

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Tyre Pressures

When it comes to tyre pressures, this year you can run much higher overall pressures. Real-world setups run their tyre pressures as high as they can get away with for maximum performance, and F1 2021 does a much better job of replicating this compared to last year’s game.

So set you front tyre pressures to 22.2, and your rear pressures to 22.7. These pressures really are the maximum you can get away with before you start to induce excess tyre wear, which is not what you want throughout a long league race or career mode race.

And that’ll do it for our Spanish F1 2021 car setup. This setup is reasonably balanced with a focus on creating a soft and stable car which allows you to truly attack the Spanish track in F1 2021.

As always, if you use this setup let me know how you get on in the comments below, as I’d love your feedback.

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

See you on track guys.

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Article written by Rich

Founder of SimRacingSetups.com

Rich is the co-founder, and one of the main F1 setup creators and content writers 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.

View all articles written by Rich