Having a good pit strategy in F1 22 is almost as important as your driving skill. When to pit and which tyres to choose is a decision that can win you a race or lose it (looking at you, Ferrari). Here is our F1 22 strategy guide to make sure you don’t end up like the Scuderia.
Image credit: EA / Codemasters
What strategy is the best in F1 22? What is an overcut, what is an undercut and when are they useful? And which are the small strategy tips and tricks you can use to gain those important seconds in the pit lane? In this guide, we will teach you the basics of pit strategy in F1 22.
Before the Race, Make a Plan
Since the 2022 season, all drivers are allowed to freely choose which tyre they want to start on. This adds a major strategic element. Softs are faster at the start, possibly allowing you to gain a few places on the first lap. However, they wear off faster than other tyre compounds and thus force you into an early stop.
Medium tyres grant you greater flexibility as they last longer, and you are freer to choose when to do your pit stop. This is especially important if you aim to do an undercut or overcut, which we will explain a bit more about later.
In rare cases, it can be useful to start on the hard tyres. Mostly that is when you start at the back of the field and try to extend your stint as long as possible in order to do a one-stop strategy.
One or Two-Stop Strategy?
Before you start the race, you also try to sketch out whether you want to do one, two or maybe even three stops. However, that decision becomes significantly easier if you do not race the full distance.
For 50%-races and shorter, the one-stop-strategy almost always is the best choice. Sometimes, the AI will try to do a two-stopper. Don’t get confused by that. Since the race is just not long enough for this strategy to be time-efficient, you will almost always come out ahead of those two-stoppers.
How to Properly Adjust Fuel
Besides the tyres, you also have to choose the proper amount of fuel ahead of your race. In career mode and My Team, it can be very helpful to complete the race strategy program in free practice. Based on your fuel consumption in this simulation, you will be able to choose a personalised amount of fuel before the race which is way more efficient than the standard option.
If you race on a track with a high risk of a Safety Car, you can gamble and load less fuel than you need, which you will then save behind the Safety Car.
F1 22 Strategy Guide: What is an Undercut?
At some point in a race, you might get stuck behind another car. You can try to overtake it through the pit lane by executing an undercut.
For that, you need to pit a little bit earlier than your opponent. As you will have fresh after the stop, you then need to push as hard as possible. The plan is to be faster than your opponent who is still on old tyres. If the undercut worked, they will come out behind you after their pitstop.
To make the undercut work, you have to be sure you do not get stuck in traffic when exiting the pits. Make use of the track map and your MFD to ensure you come out in free air.
Also, keep in mind that while undercuts were a very common strategy in earlier F1 games, they have become harder in F1 22. This is because tyres are colder when you come out of the pits now, due to a rule change concerning the temperature of the tyre blankets. It takes a few corners for you to warm up your tyres and get to race speed. Be careful not to spin or miss a corner due to cold tyres.
What is an Overcut?
The reduced temperature of tyres on the pit exit has made another strategy more popular in F1 22: the overcut. This is the opposite strategy of an undercut. If you notice your tyres are still quick while the rest of the field is already pitting, it is worth the gamble to stay out. In clean air you can then use your tyres until they drop off. Meanwhile, your opponents might lose time after their pit stops while they still try to fight each other or still need to heat up their cold, fresh set of tyres.
Those are the basics of pit strategy in F1 22. But every race and is different and sometimes you will be faced with challenges that require quick decisions rather than good preparation. That is mostly the case when the Safety Car comes out. In order to know how to adapt your strategy when that happens, check out our dedicated tutorial.
What is your best tip for strategy in F1 22? let us know by leaving a comment down below or send a tweet @OverTake_gg!
