Melbourne is a classic Grand Prix location. However, it has had a makeover for 2022. Take a look at our F1 22 Australia setup guide to learn what settings to use to get the most out of the new-look Australian Grand Prix.
Image credit: Codemasters / EA
Ever since 1996, the Albert Park Circuit in Melbourne has been the destination for the Australian Grand Prix. While it has been the season opening race for most of the years since then, it is now the third race on the calendar. Despite the loss off status, it’s still a fan favourite.
While it is generally viewed as one of the easier tracks to drive, it can be deceptive. What’s more, the circuit has received a significant makeover for the 2022 season. With that in mind, here is our F1 22 Australia setup guide to help you to maximise your results down under.
F1 22 Australia Setup Guide: Aerodynamics and Transmission
In Australia, as at most circuits, your wing levels are a matter of compromise. Due to the changes to the circuit, it’s more important than ever to run your wings as low as you can. This is because doing so limits drag, and the new version of the track has many flat-out sections.
However, there are also some very fast corners which require a decent amount of downforce. As such, we recommend running 17-31 on your front and rear wings. This gives you the downforce you need to avoid chronic understeer, without leaving you a sitting duck on the straights.
If a drivable setup is what you’re after, then it’s almost always a good idea to run an unlocked on-throttle differential setting of 50%. This goes a long way to ensuring a planted rear-end out of low-speed corners. As for the off-throttle setting, it’s more a matter of personal taste. We’ve gone with 60% for Melbourne, but feel free to experiment here.
Suspension Geometry and Suspension
Next up is the Suspension Geometry section of the setup. This features your camber and toe angles. These can be pretty difficult to wrap your head around, but in general there is a solid formula which works pretty well at most tracks.
For your camber settings, -2.50 and -1.00 will help to prevent the car from getting too twitchy. Additionally, these settings put less stress on your tyres. As such, running camber all the way to the right is good over longer race distances.
As for toe, it’s the rear toe setting that is the important one. For this, running 0.50 provides a significant boost to your rear stability. As for the fronts, 0.05 gave us the best results.
Then there are the settings for the suspension itself. There are a few bumps and kerbs to contend with in Melbourne, and its important to take those into account here. For your front and rear suspension stiffness, we recommend running 3-1. Going a bit above the minimum for the front stiffness helps to allay any understeer that might arise from the low wings. However, much stiffer and things get a bit tougher to handle.
Anti-roll bars are important to promote your car’s stability. To achieve the best results here, our F1 22 Australia setup guide has 3-9. This is often a good balance at most circuits. With the ride height, the kerbs and bumps once again come into play. 5-7 should be just about high enough to help you avoid the worst of them.
Brakes and Tyres
Now it’s time for the simpler parts of the setup. For your brakes, running 100% brake pressure is a good idea to help maximise your performance in deceleration zones. To accommodate for the high pressure, a brake bias of 50% spreads the workload over the front and rear wheels evenly. This should help prevent front locking.
Finally we have the tyres. Tyre pressures in F1 22 are generally about finding the highest pressures you can get away with without your tyres overheating on longer stints. For Melbourne, we’ve found the limit to be at the 23.8psi mark for the fronts. For the rears, 22.0psi is the most you can easily get away with. As ever, should you find your tyres overheating, lower these values.
Did you find our F1 22 Australia setup guide helpful? Tell us on Twitter at @OverTake_gg or in the comments down below!
