F1 23 Bahrain Car Setup: Best Race Setup

If you are currently playing F1 24, view our recommended F1 24 Bahrain setup.

With F1 23 now here, one of the first areas where we like to spend time tinkering is with the car setups. And with Bahrain being the first track on the Formula 1 2023 calendar, I’m going to go ahead and start right there.

Here is our optimal F1 23 Bahrain car setup, which has been designed to be competitive during races. It’s worth noting that this is not a time trial orientated car setup. Instead, this setup is designed for races, and will give you a competitive car during a race along with good tyre wear.

Watch our F1 23 car setup video

Aerodynamic setup

Starting with our aero setup for our F1 23 Bahrain car setup, I have opted for a front wing aero setup of 36, and a rear wing aero setup of 35.

This approach is relatively high downforce. Despite Bahrain being home to a few long straights, you will be able to put in the fastest lap times in F1 23 with a higher downforce setup.

This is due to almost the entire track from turn 1 through to the second to last corner requiring pretty high downforce.

I have opted for a slightly higher front wing aero setup, just to give a little extra turn in, although both front and rear wing remain similar for good balance between the front and rear of the car.

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Transmission setup

Now, F1 23 has really gone a long way to improving the feel of driving a Formula 1 car without traction control. It is much easier to apply the throttle without spinning your rear wheels in this year’s Formula 1 game.

Despite this, I have still opted for a low on throttle differential setup. Bahrain has a few heavy traction zones where you will be accelerating hard from low speed. And it’s a track which is notoriously rear-limited due to these traction zones.

So opting for a low on throttle differential setup ensures that throughout a longer race where tyres are wearing, it is still easy to find traction.

I’ve setup the transmission for Bahrain in F1 23 at 56% on throttle and 54% off throttle. This is a very similar approach to F1 22.

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Suspension Geometry

The suspension geometry also follows suit from F1 22. Our Bahrain F1 23 camber and toe setup is almost identical to our setup from last year’s game.

Go all the way right on the camber for both front and rear. And then reduce the front toe all the way and set the rear toe at 0.12°.

This approach will give the best speed throughout a lap, without too much penalty to tyre wear.

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Suspension setup

The suspension setup is one area of car setups that is rather different in F1 23. There are now much more options to choose from when configuring the suspension, anti-roll bar and ride height.

There are 41 options for both front and rear suspension, 21 for the anti-roll bars and 20 for the ride height.

For this F1 23 Bahrain car setup, I’ve softened everything down from the default car setup. Go with 15 on the front suspension, 10 on the rear suspension.

Then opt for 9 on the front anti-roll bar and just 1 on the rear ARB. Finally, set the ride height almost slap bang in the middle at 37 for the front and 40 for the rear.

A softer suspension is beneficial around Bahrain in F1 23, and it will be interesting to see if this trend continues for other tracks in this year’s Formula 1 game.

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Brake setup

The way the brake bias setup works has changed in F1 23, meaning you won’t be able to run 50% brake bias any more. Instead, I’ve opted for a brake bias of 57%. This is to eliminate any rear locking which can happen during a race if you brake a little too hard or too late.

It is hard to lock your front wheels, so you can get away with a brake bias set to 57%. Then keep the brake pressure at 100% for the best braking efficiency.

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Tyre setup

Finally, the tyre setup is on the low side for Bahrain in F1 23. I’ve lowered the front pressures to 22.9psi on the front right and 22.6psi on the front left. The reason that the left tyre pressure is lower than the right is that it is the tyre that wears the fastest throughout a race, so this is designed to protect it a little bit.

Then for the rear tyre pressures, I’ve gone for 20.2psi on both right and left rear tyres.

You can run the tyre temperatures higher in F1 23 compared to last year’s game, with the optimal temperature sitting at just over 100 degrees.

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Overview

And that rounds out our first F1 23 car setup. I’m really enjoying my time with F1 23 so far, and the cars are certainly easier to drive without any assists enabled compared to last year.

This may lead to some more aggressive car setups at future tracks. However, this setup is designed to give you the most balanced and stable car that is still very competitive during a full race distance.

Enjoy this F1 23 Bahrain car setup, and I’ll see you on track.

If you are currently playing F1 24, view our recommended F1 24 Bahrain setup.

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