F1 2019 Game: Hungarian Grand Prix Setup Guide

The Hungaroring has been an unchanged fixture on the Formula 1 calendar since 1986. It is a testing, technical circuit that demands precision from the driver and sublime balance from the car.

It is a testament to the difficulty of this track that only a handful of previous winners have not been World Champions.

There are very few overtaking points on this track, so qualifying and looking after your tyres are crucial. But doing that is very tough. With a lot of prolonged corners the front-left takes a real pounding here, so finding a setup that protects that tyre while producing one-lap performance is the key.

Aerodynamics

Hungary's twisting circuit requires a solid amount of aerodynamic performance, but those that put Monaco-levels of wing on are leaving speed on the table and turning their car into a boat down the pit straight.

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We have gone with a 6-8 wing setting which provides enough turn-in bite and rear stability while not slowing us in the high-speed areas.

Transmission

The more corners there are the more acceleration zones there are, which means you want to provide some protection to the rear tyres by unlocking the differentials.

We are using a 60% on-throttle differential so that we can ride some kerbs and not have the car spin on acceleration when we are on uneven surfaces.

Off-throttle differential is set to 70% to allow the tyres to rotate at different rates when cornering, preventing us from dragging the outside tyre too much.

Suspension Geometry

Suspension geometry is a tricky one for this circuit. With all the corners you'd want to add camber and lean on the rubber for performance. On time trial you can do that but for a race you need to prolong tyre life otherwise you'll be three-stopping and constantly get stuck in traffic.

To do this we have moved front camber to -3.20 and rear camber to -1.60. Toe is similarly set to the left with 0.07 and 0.26 values.

Suspension

Soft suspension is the order of the day on F1 2019, and with a lot of kerb riding requires a stiff car will fire us off into another dimension. The 1-1 setting is a common one this year and Hungary is no different.

The anti-roll bars are set to 4-4 to keep the car responsive through the middle sector chicane and esses but not eat too much life from the tyres. If you find the car to be too slack on turning in this sector then stiffening the front anti-roll bars should be the first correction made.

Ride height is set to 3-3 to keep the centre of gravity low and provide some more responsiveness when we change direction.

Brakes

Brake pressure directly effects stopping power. We have set a 90% pressure for this circuit but that depends on using the ABS assist. If you don't use that assist this is likely to cause too many lockups so look to use an 80-82% pressure.

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We've moved the brake bias rearward to 54% as this helps keep the front responsive when braking. It does somewhat lessen stopping power but if you want to make a pass you can bump the bias forward in-race to help a little. 

Tyres

Tyre pressure is a balance of responsiveness over wear. We have lowered the pressures to help control temperature and lower wear. We have set the front tyres to 22.6 psi and the rears to 20.7 psi. This helps protect the front-left while improving traction a little.

So that's our setup for the Hungarian Grand Prix. It's a tricky circuit but this setup provides consistent balance and predictable response through the corners. There are no snaps of oversteer here and it keeps strategy options open unless you have a very harsh driving style.