Discover how to create the perfect F1 24 Formula 2 car setup, and whether you can use our F1 car setups for F2?
Disclaimer: Some of the links on this page may be affiliate links. We earn a commission from any sale after clicking an affiliate link. Find out more.
As with many racing titles, racing slower cars can often be much more enjoyable. This is true of the Formula 2 cars in F1 24. I thoroughly enjoy racing the Formula 2 cars in this year’s game. The reliance on less grip and lower downforce levels, combined with the slower speeds can make for some really fun racing.
But with F2 cars having lower downforce levels and different driving characteristics, can you use our recommended F1 24 car setups when driving a Formula 2 car?
Well, the answer really is no. This is not recommended as there are some key differences between the F1 and F2 cars.
There are some key areas where the Formula 2 cars in F1 24 are different to the lightening fast Formula 1 cars. I’m not going to get into too much technical details.
But what you do need to know is that all F2 cars use the same chassis and engine. Formula 2 is essentially a spec series with each team using a Dallara chassis and V6 single turbo engine.
These cars generate much less downforce compared to F1 cars. This results in a more slippery car to drive in general. You can’t rely so heavily on the car gripping through faster turns, with the rear very willing to overtake the front and put you in a wall.
Regarding car setups, you have pretty much the same options as the F1 cars in F1 24. The main difference is the differential where the engine braking setting is gone.
Starting with the basics, there are some key areas that you will want to change when creating a Formula 2 setup. The cars need a much more balanced aerodynamic setup as the rear of the car has so much less grip than an F1 car. This results in wing angles much closer together than the large gap we recommend for our F1 setups.
With the lack of rear grip and traction, you’ll want to significantly lower the on-throttle differential to help with acceleration from slower speed. And you will want a generally stiffer rear suspension setup. Finally, the brake bias will need a big change.
I will use my Imola car setup as an example when setting up our F2 car. This is a great test track as it has a wide range of corner styles and tests the car in almost every way.
If you bolt on one of our recommended F1 24 car setups, you won’t have a very fun time driving the Formula 2 cars. You’ll find them oversteer-happy, with the car’s rear stepping out through most corners. On the way into corners, you’ll also have a big issue with rear brakes locking up.
For these reasons, I recommend using our F1 24 car setups as a baseline and making some key adjustments to convert them to a Formula 2 setup.
Starting with the aerodynamic setup for the Formula 2 cars, in comparison to our Formula 1 setup, the front aero setup is fairly similar. The big difference comes to the rear aero. Formula 2 cars have much less grip at the rear of the car, so a lot of our adjustments to our setup will be designed to combat this.
I have added around ten points of rear wing angle to our F2 setup compared to the original F1 setup. This will keep the car pointing the right way through faster corners.
As a general rule of thumb when converting a Formula 1 setup to a Formula 2 setup in F1 24, you can keep the front wing the same, and add ten points of rear wing angle. This will get you into a good starting position to make smaller adjustments.
The transmission is the only point of the setup where we have different options. The new engine braking option is completely gone for F2 cars. Much like our aerodynamic changes, our focus here is to promote stability.
I have lowered the on-throttle differential by 30% from F1 to F2. This makes it much easier to find traction at slower speeds and reduces the risk of snap oversteer under acceleration.
I have also increased the off-throttle differential to stabilise the rear of the car once again, this time under braking and corner entry.
The suspension geometry is one part of our car setup that doesn’t need to be changed. You can use the values recommended in my F1 car setups.
In this scenario, I have reduced the front and rear toe for Imola to find a bit more straight line performance and lower drag. As a rule of thumb though, leave the geometry as is.
More changes have been made to our suspension setup. The big notable changes are rear suspension and rear anti-roll bar increases. This stiffens up the car as a whole to provide more grip through a corner.
The changes that we have made to other parts of our car setup have helped with stability. These suspension changes are chasing performance to improve our cornering.
As you move down to the ride height, you’ll see that our Formula 2 setup has a lower ride height. This change can be made at all circuits. It’ll help with more downforce and better top speeds.
I have reduced the front ride height more than the rear to create more rake which can help rotate the car a little better. This combats some of the inherent understeer that Formula 2 cars suffer from.
Braking in a Formula 2 car is a much different experience. When braking hard, it is easier to lock both front and rear brakes, so you need to ensure your bias is set just right.
In an F2 car, you will always need a more forward brake bias setup. Using a bias of below 55% will almost always result in rear locking on corner entry.
I recommend a minimum brake bias of around 57-58% for most tracks, with some tracks benefiting from a setup closer to 60%.
The tyre setup will require some finessing from track to track, but generally, our F2 tyre pressure setup will follow a similar trend to the F1 setups. You can use the tyre pressure setup in our F1 24 setups as a baseline and adjust up or down slightly depending on track and your tyre temperatures.
As you can see from our side-by-side comparison of a Formula 1 and Formula 2 car setup, there are some similarities that are carried across. There are also areas that are very different.
The aerodynamic, differential, suspension, and brake setups all require major changes. However, you can use our F1 setups as a baseline and make the adjustments mentioned in this guide to get a pretty good F2 setup.
You can use the links below to shop for your favourite sim racing products, or for any products that we may have recommended. These links are affiliate links, and will earn us a small commission, with no additional cost for you.
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
View all articles written by Rich
View Best F1 24 Racing Wheels
Best PS5 Racing Wheels
Buying sim racing hardware directly from brands has always presented a small problem, and that is… Read More »Fanatec Offering Free Delivery and Shipping As Standard
SIMAGIC is one of the more popular sim racing brands, thanks to its excellent hardware quality… Read More »Which Games Can You Play With SIMAGIC Racing Wheels?
Asetek is a sim racing brand that has risen from a CPU cooling brand into one… Read More »Which Games Can You Play With Asetek Racing Wheels?
