F1 24: How To Be Faster Through Corners

While straight line speed can account for some performance, the corners are where you will be finding or losing lap time. How well you brake along with how much minimum corner speed you carry and your exit all are responsible for your overall lap time.

If you can increase your performance through corners, you will be able to put in faster lap times. Just a 1 tenth improvement at each corner can result in over a second of potential lap time gain.

In this guide, I’ll show you how to be faster through corners in F1 24. I’ll run through my top tips for improving your performance at each part of a corner including the braking zone, mid-corner and the corner exit.

Breaking down the individual parts of a corner

I want to start by discussing each individual part of a corner in F1 24. While a corner may seem like one continuous part of the track, breaking it down into three distinct segments lets us focus on different things at different moments.

The braking zone

The braking zone is part of the corner entry. You will be wanting to brake as efficiently as you can to avoid any instability, and position your car, ready to attack the apex.

Key things to try to do through the braking zone are;

• Always brake in a straight line
  Braking in a straight line will allow your tyres to focus all of their grip on slowing your car. If you are applying any steering input, you are much more likely to lock a tyre, causing you to wear your tyres faster and potentially miss the apex.
• Modulate brake pressure
  When starting to brake, utilise 100% brake input. As your car starts to slow down, gradually reduce the brake pressure to avoid a lockup. Brakes have a higher tendency to lock up when applying too much brake input at slower speeds.

Mid-corner and the apex

After slowing the car, you should start to switch your focus towards the corner apex. This is the innermost point of any turn. Most apexes have a kerb, with some being flat, allowing you to position your car over the kerb.

Other kerbs can be large and cause instability, so it is best to avoid this style of apex. Instead, position your car as close to the large kerb as possible without touching it.

The apex is the part of the corner where you’ll be carrying the least speed; this is called your minimum corner speed. If you can increase your minimum corner speed, you’ll generally be faster through that turn.

Our top tips for mastering the apex phase of a corner are;

• Outside-inside-outside
  Utilise the entire width of the track throughout a corner. Start by positioning your car out wide during the braking phase. Then, cut across the track to the inside of the turn, just touching the apex. Finally, drift back out wide while you start to accelerate.
• Turn your steering wheel as little as possible
  The less steering input you make, the faster your potential minimum speed. Not turning your wheel as much will reduce the angle you take through the corner, allowing you to carry higher minimum speeds. This can be done by aggressively utilising the full width of the track throughout a turn.
• Trail brake to improve turn-in
  Trail braking is an advanced technique, which I’ll talk about more in a minute. Utilising this technique can reduce the braking zone and also improve your car’s willingness to rotate on the entry. This can help you carry more speed through the corner, or utilise a lower downforce car setup.

Corner exit

While the entry and mid-corner phases of a turn will dictate how fast you are into and through a corner. The corner exit is all about maximising your speed down the next straight. This could lead to a successful overtake into the next straight or maximise your defence against a car behind you.

The exit of a turn is also one area where you can easily overwork your rear tyres, leading to excess tyre wear. Managing your line out of a corner and your throttle input will lead to the best exit possible.

Our tips for maximising your corner exit speed are;

• Try to straighten the car as fast as possible
  Accelerating while still applying steering input is a recipe for disaster and can increase your risk of oversteering. Ensuring your car is as straight as possible before accelerating hard can lead to much more stability at the exit of a turn.
• Gradually increase your throttle input
  You want to be as gentle as possible at the start of your throttle application. Accelerating too hard can cause the rear wheels to spin much more quickly. Instead, gradually apply the throttle and increase your input as you gain speed and continue to straighten your car.
• Short shift at slow speeds
  If you’re accelerating from extremely slow speeds, it can be a good idea to short shift. This means changing gear before the optimal rev range. This can dull the power being sent to your rear wheels, making it easier to apply the throttle without your wheels spinning.

Trail braking

I touched on trail braking briefly just now, but I want to delve in a little deeper to explore what trail braking is and how you can easily implement it in F1 24. Trail braking is the process of increasing your steering input whilst simultaneously reducing your braking input. You will probably find that you are already doing this to some degree already!

The benefits of trail braking

Trail braking is a useful technique that is heavily used in sim racing due to a few reasons. By combining both the braking and steering phases of a corner, you are ensuring that you are always maximising the grip usage of your tyres.

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For example, if you brake to the speed you need to take a corner and only then start steering into the turn, the phase between the end of your braking and the start of your steering isn’t using all of your tyres’ maximum grip. Doing this will always leave some potential performance on the table.

Another good reason to trail brake is that it can actually help you rotate your car towards the apex. When you brake heavily, the weight of your car shifts to the front, over the front tyres. The extra weight pushes the front tyres into the track and can give them more grip.

This applies only when you modulate your brake pressure, meaning you won’t be able to start turning while applying 100% brake input. With more weight in the front tyres and less at the rear, your car will be more willing to rotate into the corner.

Applying trail braking correctly

So, what is the correct method of trail braking? Again, I’ll break down a corner into three parts to highlight what you should be doing with your brake, throttle and steering inputs.

Corner entry (Braking phase)

• Approach the corner like normal and brake at full pressure.
• Maintain 100% brake pressure until just before your wheels will start to lock.
• Start to gradually release the brake pressure.

Corner entry (Turning phase)

• As you reduce your brake pressure, start turning in towards the apex.
• Apply more steering input in line with the amount of brake input you reduce.
• Don’t combine too much steering with too much braking otherwise you may lock a wheel.

Apex and corner exit

• Just before or around the apex, you should have no brake input applied and you should be steering at the maximum angle required.
• Clip the apex, or get close if it is a large kerb.
• Open up the steering and start gradually applying the throttle as you straighten the car.

Although you may not need to use trail braking at every corner in F1 24, you’ll find that you do use it at the majority of corners to some degree.

Top tips for being faster through corners

In summary, utilising the tips in this guide will almost certainly help you improve your speed through most corners in F1 24. Below is a roundup of our top tips for becoming faster through corners.

Conclusion

Breaking down the corner into segments is one of the best ways to highlight at which point of the corner you need to find lap time. If you struggle with your corner exit or your braking, you can continue to focus on that part of the corner whilst practising. Implementing all of our tips will almost certainly allow you to be faster through corners in F1 24.

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Article written by Rich

Founder of SimRacingSetups.com

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

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