Adding a racing wheel to race F1 22 with really increases immersion. Here are our favourite recommendations for the best F1 gaming setup for various budgets.
The F1 series of games by Codemasters have really improved year on year for the past decade. This has helped bring many racing fans to the world of sim racing games, and Formula 1 in general.
The F1 game series such as F1 22 can be played and enjoyed on Xbox or PS5 with a controller. But to get the highest levels of immersion and most enjoyment out of the F1 games, you should look at adding a racing wheel to your F1 gaming setup.
By adding a racing wheel and pedals to your gaming setup, you are getting closer to experiencing what it would be like to actually race a car. While you won’t quite be able to replicate travelling at 200mph wheel to wheel in your living room, a racing wheel setup will increase your level of control and immersion.
In this guide below I’m going to run through the best options for adding a racing wheel and pedals to your gaming setup. I’ll include our recommendations across a range of categories including various budgets and consoles. I’ll also look at the best sim rig options so you can easily mount your racing wheel.
Top tip: Check the racing wheel you are looking to buy is compatible with your console. Many racing wheels are only compatible with either Xbox or PlayStation and are rarely compatible with both. If in doubt, check out our specific PS5 and Xbox categories below for recommendations on the best console-specific racing wheels.
As mentioned above, when choosing a racing wheel for Xbox One or Series X|S you need to ensure it is Xbox compatible. Luckily, some of the best racing wheels are Xbox and PC compatible, so you have a good range of choices.
For my recommendation for the best F1 gaming setup on Xbox, it has to be a combination of Fanatec CSL DD wheel base with the McLaren GT3 V2 steering wheel.
This is the setup that I have been racing on F1 22 with for a long time now. And the McLaren GT3 V2 steering wheel was designed with Xbox compatibility in mind.
There isn’t a bundle available for this recommendation, so you will have to purchase each element separately. However, you can order them all from the same shop to ensure they are delivered together and to make the process easier.
The wheel base that I am recommending is the cheapest direct drive racing wheel that is Xbox compatible, and it’s also one of the best at its price range.
Being direct drive, the Fanatec CSL DD offers much superior performance than other racing wheels in this price range. The direct drive technology produces force feedback up to 5Nm, which is strong in comparison to other products.
It also provides a great level of force feedback precision and detail ensuring you feel exactly how your car is behaving over the road surface.
The McLaren GT3 V2 steering wheel is a fantastic F1-style wheel rim, providing a lot of performance and function within its design.
This steering wheel was designed specifically for Xbox consoles and comes with Xbox buttons on the wheel face. You will also find a range of rotary dials along with a bright OLED screen on the front.
These can all be customised for different inputs when using this wheel with a PC. This wheel is fully Xbox compatible, however, due to Xbox’s own limitations on controllers, some of the inputs don’t work while connected to an Xbox console.
This is unfortunately true across all racing wheels when connected to Xbox consoles and is a software compatibility issue which Microsoft will hopefully update soon.
Despite this, the McLaren GT3 V2 offers open-wheeled F1-style racing at a relatively low cost. This steering wheel works perfectly with the Fanatec CSL DD, includes a quick-release allowing you to remove the wheel rim quickly. And it will also work with other Xbox-compatible Fanatec wheel bases if you wish to upgrade in the future.
Rounding out our hardware recommendation for Xbox sim racers are the Fanatec CSL Pedals.
These pedals come in a variety of configurations, from two pedals to three, and you can also upgrade to include a much more realistic load cell brake pedal.
However, the configuration I’m recommending here is the base two-pedal set. This is the cheapest configuration of the bunch which keeps our budget down. And it also offers the perfect set up for Formula 1 racing.
It comes with just two pedals, a throttle and a brake pedal. Both pedals use contactless hall-effect sensors which means the amount of touching parts is reduced. This gives much more durability as parts won’t wear as much.
When it comes to sim racing on a PS4 or PS5, the same applies as above, you need to ensure you purchase a PlayStation compatible wheel. Most brands have a PlayStation version of their Xbox compatible racing wheels, so you have just as much selection.
Our best F1 gaming setup for PS5 and PS4 recommendation is a bundle that includes everything you need to go racing. The Fanatec Gran Turismo DD Pro bundle includes a steering wheel, wheel base, pedals and table clamp.
This racing wheel bundle has been designed alongside the developers of Gran Turismo, hence the GT logo on the steering wheel. this ensures that the racing wheel will be compatible with all PlayStation racing games moving forward including Gran Turismo 7 and F1 22.
The bundle itself includes everything that you need to go racing without purchasing any more products, and it is all plug and play compatible.
Simply connect your steering wheel and pedals to the wheel base. Connect the power to your wheel and the wheel to your PS5 or PS4 via USB cable and you are up and running.
If you don’t fancy the look of the Gran Turismo licensed steering wheel, the great part of a Fanatec set up is that you can swap steering wheels. This means you can purchase a second steering wheel that is a little more Formula 1.
The steering wheel I’d recommend looking at is the new and improved F1 Esports V2 steering wheel.
This steering wheel has been around for a couple of years and is the official steering wheel that is used in Formula 1 Esports events. It is officially licensed by Formula 1, and features a very motorsport-like design. You have a selection of push buttons on an aluminium front plate, customisable LED lights and an integrated LED display.
This version is the upgraded version 2, which features an interchangeable quick release, upgraded magnetic shifter paddles, and improved electronics.
For a more in-depth breakdown as to why this is our recommended F1 gaming setup for PS5 and PS4, read our in-depth PS5 racing wheel buyers guide.
If you are looking to race the F1 games on a budget, you don’t necessarily need to compromise too much on your racing wheel quality.
There are a good amount of budget racing wheel options around in 2023, with some feeling like premium wheels, despite carrying a budget price tag.
You may not be able to get direct drive levels of performance if shopping on a limited budget, but the racing wheel below does give good performance within its price range. And more than enough immersion to feel much more involved when racing F1 2021 or F1 22.
Logitech has been producing great-quality racing wheels at budget prices for an extremely long time. Their latest racing wheel, the Logitech G923 is no exception.
The G923 is an evolution of the ever-popular G29 that was released a few years ago. It carries a similar design but features more advanced and improved technology, which in turn creates a better sim racing experience.
The latest Logitech racing wheel utilises a new technology named TRUEFORCE, which is designed to emulate the vibration you would feel if sitting inside a real race car. There are vibration motors built into the steering wheel itself which vibrate more or less as you rev your engine.
This latest feature builds upon the already great force feedback that the Logitech racing wheel lineup offers. While not using direct drive technology, the G923 uses gears to transfer force feedback from the motor to your steering wheel.
This ultimately means that this racing wheel isn’t quite as strong as the CSL DD or GT DD Pro that I mentioned above. However, at around half the cost, this still makes the G923 a fantastic option at a lower budget.
If you have a slightly increased budget and are looking for a racing wheel slightly more powerful and feature-full than the G923, then I’d recommend once again looking at a Fanatec setup.
After the introduction of the CSL DD and GT DD Pro wheel bases, Fanatec has had a stranglehold on the best mid-range racing wheel on the market.
Within its price range, there really are currently no better racing wheels than either of these two direct drive wheels that Fanatec offer.
Ultimately your choice on whether you go for a CSL DD or GT DD Pro will be determined by the console that you’re racing on. As the CSL DD is only Xbox and PC compatible, while the GT DD Pro is PlayStation and PC compatible.
The benefit of opting for the Xbox compatible wheel base, the Fanatec CSL DD is that you can choose your own steering wheel. This will allow you to choose an F1 style steering wheel like the McLaren GT3 V2.
While opting for the Fanatec GT DD Pro gives you a product bundle that you can’t customise. This is good because you will be saving a little money over buying all of the components separately. However, if you then wanted to add an F1 style steering wheel rim, you would need to purchase that separately.
Both the CSL DD and GT DD Pro offer comparable performance, as they are essentially the same wheel base underneath. They both create 5Nm of torque in their base form, with the option of adding a boost kit to jump this up to 8Nm.
If you are looking for the best F1 gaming setup you can find, then I would highly recommend looking at a powerful direct drive wheel base. The Fanatec CSL DD and GT DD Pro I recommended above in our intermediate category are great wheel bases. But you can find direct drive wheel bases that offer up to four times the strength and performance, as long as you are willing to pay for it.
The Fanatec Podium F1 is a high-end racing wheel that is officially endorsed by Formula 1 themselves. It utilises the powerful Fanatec DD1 wheel base which creates 20Nm of torque. And it pairs it with a Formula 1 branded variant of the ClubSport Formula V2 steering wheel.
This combination is a match made in heaven. You have one of Fanatec’s most powerful wheel bases paired with their most premium Formula 1 style steering wheel. You also get the Podium Advanced Module included which features premium shifters and a dual-clutch mechanism, just like the one found in real F1 cars.
This bundle is completely PlayStation 5 and 4 compatible, and the wheel base itself is also Xbox compatible. This means that if you want to use this racing wheel on an Xbox, you just have to connect an Xbox compatible steering wheel like the McLaren GT3 V2 mentioned above.
While this bundle doesn’t include pedals, I would recommend looking at the Clubsport V3 pedals that Fanatec offer. These are the highest spec pedals that Fanatec offer and feature some of the most advanced pedal technology on offer from the German manufacturer.
With these pedals, the DD1 wheel base and the officially licensed Formula 1 wheel rim, you will have one of the most powerful high-end F1 gaming wheel and pedal setups you can find.
All of the recommendations above will work perfectly with F1 2021 and F1 22. They will boost your immersion and in most cases will improve your level of control and lap time.
If you’re looking for a breakdown for the best F1 22 racing wheels, read our ultimate F1 22 racing wheel guide here.
Budgeting for a racing wheel setup can be tricky. Not only do you have to work out how much a racing wheel and pedals will cost, but you also need to look at how you mount your racing wheel and cost in a rig.
You can get a budget-friendly racing wheel from around $/€/£250 and mount it to a desk. This will give you the most cost-effective F1 gaming setup.
Another option is to buy a wheel stand to mount your racing wheel to, which start from around $/€/£100. This will give you a sturdier mounting option.
Then you can look to purchase a high-end racing wheel and a full sim rig. Sim rigs start from around $/€/£200 and can go up to and over $/€/£1000 for professional options.
As a guide, I have laid out a few options below for rough price guides for an F1 gaming setup.
You can mount your racing wheel to your desk and race from an office chair. However this won’t give you an overly realistic driving position, and if you have a chair that is on casters, you may end up flying backwards across the room every time you stamp on the brake pedal!
The APEX Wheel Stand by GT Omega is a great budget option for mounting your racing wheel and pedals. It provides a solid platform to base your f1 gaming setup around, and all you have to then do is pull up a chair.
The best part about the GT Omega APEX is that it can fold away to easily store out. This means you won’t have a permanent space in your room taken up by your racing setup.
A sim rig like the Next Level Racing F-GT is the natural step up if you are looking for a more permanent solution. The F-GT acts as a full-sized sim rig, giving you flexibility in your seating position.
The seat can move from a GT-style racing position to a more reclined F1 style position. This is great if you regularly jump from different sim platforms such as F1 22 to Assetto Corsa Competizione.
If you are looking at purchasing a stronger direct drive racing wheel, you will need a stronger sim rig to be able to handle the forces. The GT1 Evo by SIM-LAB is a fantastic first aluminium profile rig for any sim racer.
It is built entirely from aluminium extrusion, giving you a wide amount of flexibility in the positioning of your rig. You can also attach almost any racing seat to the rig, including options from SIM-LAB to give you a professional sim rig platform.
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.
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