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France is steeped in motorsport history, so its absence from the Formula One calendar from 2008 to 2018 was felt by fans. When World Championships returned to France at Paul Ricard in 2018, there was a great deal of anticipation.
Circuit Paul Ricard has a mix of high, medium, and low-speed corners making it ideal for testing, which is what it was used for before being turned back into a racing venue. It boasts state-of-the-art facilities and is ranked as a Grade 1 FIA track. For some, it may seem a bit too sterile at first glance due to the presence of quite a lot of runoff areas in comparison to other F1 tracks. Despite that, it has produced some exquisite racing including Max Verstappen’s 2021 win which helped him secure the World Championship later on that year.
In F1 22, the track is a tricky but flowing little number. There’s also a lot of overtaking on the straights owing to its two DRS zones, so you’d want to have pretty good straight-line speed. Here, we’re going through how to setup your car to get the best out of the French Grand Prix.
To learn the ins and outs of every F1 setup component, go to our complete F1 22 setups guide.
These are the best wet and dry lap setups for the Paul Ricard circuit.
Best F1 22 France (Paul Ricard) setup
- Front Wing Aero: 15
- Rear Wing Aero: 19
- DT On Throttle: 55%
- DT Off Throttle: 55%
- Front Camber: -2.50
- Rear Camber: -1.50
- Front Toe: 0.05
- Rear Toe: 0.20
- Front Suspension: 7
- Rear Suspension: 3
- Front Anti-Roll Bar: 7
- Rear Anti-Roll Bar: 4
- Front Ride Height: 3
- Rear Ride Height: 4
- Brake Pressure: 100%
- Front Brake Bias: 50%
- Front Right Tyre Pressure: 25 psi
- Front Left Tyre Pressure: 25 psi
- Rear Right Tyre Pressure: 23 psi
- Rear Left Tyre Pressure: 23 psi
- Tyre Strategy (25% race): Soft-Medium
- Pit Window (25% race): 4-6 lap
- Fuel (25% race): +1.5 laps
Best F1 22 France (Paul Ricard) setup (wet)
- Front Wing Aero: 40
- Rear Wing Aero: 50
- DT On Throttle: 50%
- DT Off Throttle: 60%
- Front Camber: -2.70
- Rear Camber: -1.80
- Front Toe: 0.10
- Rear Toe: 0.26
- Front Suspension: 10
- Rear Suspension: 1
- Front Anti-Roll Bar: 10
- Rear Anti-Roll Bar: 1
- Front Ride Height: 3
- Rear Ride Height: 3
- Brake Pressure: 100%
- Front Brake Bias: 50%
- Front Right Tyre Pressure: 23.2 psi
- Front Left Tyre Pressure: 23.2 psi
- Rear Right Tyre Pressure: 21.2 psi
- Rear Left Tyre Pressure: 21.2 psi
- Tyre Strategy (25% race): Soft-Medium
- Pit Window (25% race): 4-6 lap
- Fuel (25% race): +1.5 laps
Aerodynamics setup
This is a power-sensitive beast, but one that also requires a well-rounded chassis, and Red Bull have shown that with a good chassis and lower wings, you can extract great lap times.
Circuit Paul Ricard is a difficult track as it features long straights, long sweeping turns, and some slow sections in the first and last sectors. A lower downforce setup is preferred so that you aren’t compromised on the long straights. There are two DRS zones, one on the Start-Finish straight and another on the Mistral Straight between Turns 7 and 8. Even so, the aero can’t be turned down too much as the track has medium-to-slow corners in Sectors 1 and 2. Hence, a balance is needed leaning towards favouring the high-speed sections.
Setting the front aero to 15 and rear aero to 19 is optimal as it is low enough to be an advantage in the straights while still giving good downforce in medium-to-slow corners. The rear aero is slightly higher to ensure stability in the high-speed turns due to the tight and twisty nature of Sector 1, with Sectors 2 and 3 being almost flat out all the way.
In the wet, the aero values increase to 40 and 50 on the front and rear as the grip levels decrease significantly and medium-to-slow corners in Sectors 2 and 3 become increasingly difficult.
Transmission setup
Circuit Paul Ricard usually isn’t much of a tyre killer. However, it’s easy to overcook things in F1 22. The real life French Grand Prix in 2021 showed that it was very much touch-and-go if a two-stop strategy would work, but Verstappen and Red Bull showed that it was the way to go.
Anywhere between 50 and 60 per cent for on and off throttle differential settings would work in the wet and dry. Just remember that Sector 1 will need good outright traction out of corners as it leads up to the DRS zone of Turns 7 and 8, but Sectors 2 and 3 are more geared towards sustained traction for the long flowing corners and straight sections. Hence, the dry differential for on and off-throttle are both at 55% which will improve traction in Sector 1 without sacrificing slow rotation on turn-in.
The wet differential for on-throttle is 50% and off-throttle is 60%. This is to combat wheel spin on acceleration out of corners and control oversteer on turn-in.
Suspension geometry setup
Whilst we have mentioned that it is easy to overdo it on tyre wear at the French GP, it isn’t anywhere near as much of a tyre killer as the likes of Silverstone or Spain.
Since tyre wear isn’t a major concern here, turning up the camber to help with turn-in is a good idea. Front stability is essential at this track, so setting the camber values to -2.50 and -1.50 in the front and rear in dry conditions will help you in the slower corners in Sector 1 leading up to the Mistral Straight, Chicane Nord, and the final corners in Sector 3 (T12, T13, and T15).
In the wet, set the front and rear camber to -2.70 and -1.80 to help in cornering by increasing the contact patch area of the tyre.
For toe in and toe out in the dry, set it to 0.05 and 0.20 in the front and rear as the car should still be stable. In the wet, however, turning it down a bit to 0.10 and 0.26 in the front and rear will help improve stability in the trickier conditions.
Suspension setup
Circuit Paul Ricard is a much smoother track than most on the calendar. In real life, it is predominantly a testing track, thus ensuring that it is smooth is a priority. You can certainly get away with a slightly stiffer suspension setup as a result.
Set the suspension to 7 in the front and 3 in the rear. The rear is a bit lower to accommodate for the suspension squatting on account of the rear wing downforce. Anti-roll bars are set to 7 and 4. Signes corner is taken flat out at about 290 km, if you find the car to be oversteering more than you’d like, increase the rear suspension stiffness a bit along with the anti-roll bars to a value that you feel confident driving with.
In the wet, the front suspension is upped to 10 while the rear is softened to 1. ARB inherit the same values as the suspension in the wet.
A low ride height will aid in straight-line speed on the Mistral Straight – the key overtaking zone – as you head into the Chicane Nord and Start-Finish straight. Hence, front and rear ride heights are at 3 and 4.
In the wet, the rear is lowered a bit to 3, with the front remaining the same at 3. However, increasing the ride height a bit will give your car a bit more ground clearance and ensure that it is more aerodynamically stable in the tricky conditions. Thus, it can be raised a bit if necessary.
Brakes setup
Given the high speeds you will find yourself doing and the smooth track surface at the French GP, keep brake pressure at 100% in the dry. Brake bias is set to 50% to prevent front locking at Turn 1 or approaching the Chicane Nord. Hopefully, you can go deep on the brakes into the Chicane Nord on the Mistral Straight.
This setup remains unchanged for wet conditions.
Tyres setup
Keeping in mind that Paul Ricard track isn’t particularly harsh on tyes, you can afford to turn up the tyre pressure. This will give you a slightly higher straight-line speed which is important considering the main overtaking zones are at the end of the DRS zones of Turn 1 and the end of the Mistral straight. You will want as much straight-line speed as possible. In the dry, the front tyres are at 25 psi, and the rear tyres are at 23 psi.
If it’s a rainy day in Le Castellet, and given that you will probably need to make the intermediates or wets last a bit longer, you’ll want to bring those tyre pressures down a bit to preserve the inters and wets, so keep the pressures at 23.2 in the front and 21.2 in the rear.
Pit window (25% race)
Starting on the softs and pitting in between laps 4 to 6 is the sweet spot as you get to use the softs to make overtaking moves in the opening laps before switching to a more robust tyre. Switching to the mediums then should last you until the end of the race and enable you to further your advantage.
Wet weather running is focused more on the transition period so keep an eye out for drying conditions to pit a bit earlier. For a fully wet race, focus more on preserving the tyre and making sure they don’t overheat.
Fuel strategy (25% race)
+1.5 is plenty considering the majority of the lap is spent at full throttle. This remains the same for both wet and dry weather running.
Those are the F1 setups that you need to get the best lap times possible from the Circuit Paul Ricard. It’s fast, it’s flowing, and quite a pretty track too, so when you nail the setup and race plan, it certainly won’t serve up a borefest!
Have you got your own French Grand Prix setup for F1 22? Share it with us in the comments below!
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