How to get the best F1 23 Pit Strategy

Want to be a step ahead of your rivals? If you know the right time to pit and make the most of your pit strategy on F1 23, that can go a long way to helping you succeed!

Motorsport is more than just driving cars as fast as possible, it’s also a game of strategy. For longer haul races like a Grand Prix or an endurance race, drivers must perform pit stops. As it’s either quicker than trying to take a set of tyres an entire distance, or just not possible to go without pitting.

But knowing when to make those stops is key. So we have deciphered a good technique that should help you out in all areas.

Make Some F1 23 Pit Strategy Changes

When you load up into a race, you can look at your Race Strategy in the same menu as the Car Setup. You will be presented with two strategies; a Default and an Alternate. The Default will always be quicker for an uninterrupted race, and the Alternate typically features two pit stops. The tracks where making a second stop is even slightly viable are the ones with a lot of corners.

The rule in all Grand Prix is drivers must run at least two types of dry weather compound assuming it doesn’t rain. So it can be Soft/Medium, Soft/Hard or Medium/Hard. You can run whatever pit strategy you like. You can even change the tyres you run in a certain stint. Just make sure you change your pit lap to minimise the estimated race time.

Next thing you want to do is lower the fuel, to save weight. This is track dependent, because if you underfuel at a high speed track like Monza for example, it’s unlikely you’ll be able to find any areas to save fuel.

But if the track is low speed, providing plenty of opportunities for short-shifting and coasting towards the braking zones, you can afford to drop about a lap and a half’s worth of fuel. Maybe even more if there’s rain, and especially if you’re lucky enough to get a safety car period.

There’s no low fuel mix anymore in the F1 games. So you need to find ways of saving fuel without sacrificing too much performance.

Time To Go Racing

Now you can start the race. Once you’re settled in, open the Multi-Function Display, tab over to the Pit Window, and see when you’re set to make your stops. Underneath is the position you’ll likely rejoin in when you pit.

That’s important. Because ideally, you don’t want to exit the pits right into traffic, especially since the tyres won’t be immediately up to temperature. The regulations from 2022 onwards reduces the tyre warmers’ temperature. This means the undercut (pitting before the drivers ahead) isn’t as powerful as it used to be.

But whether you’re attempting to pass someone in the pit stops, always keep an eye on where the clean air could be. If you’re behind someone, it may be worth pitting earlier to leapfrog them but if you are released into traffic, that will immensely compromise you.

The lap you pit can factor towards the end of the race. The earlier you pit, the more tyre wear you will have approaching the finish. That could impact your performance and leave you vulnerable to drivers behind. But on a track with long corners or traction zones, pitting before your opponent can bring about a huge advantage.

So try to get the most out of your tyres in the clean air in the early parts of your stints. Don’t overscrub your front tyres by turning too much, or spin your rear tyres by applying too much throttle without shortshifting. That is how you make the most of your F1 23 pit strategy.