Understeer is the front of the car running wide: you add steering and the car does not turn as much as you asked. The fix depends on where in the corner it happens (turn-in, the middle, or on the throttle) and how fast the corner is. A change that cures a slow hairpin can do nothing in a fast sweeper, and some understeer is not the setup at all. This guide sorts out which kind you have, then gives the setup change for each, what it costs you elsewhere, and the driving causes to rule out first.
Answer two questions about the corners where it happens.
Driver Dojo groups corners by apex speed: slow is under 120 km/h, medium is 120 to 180 km/h, and fast is 180 km/h and above. This matters because wings and ride height work through downforce, which is strong at speed and weak in a hairpin. In slow corners the grip comes mostly from the mechanical setup (differential, anti-roll bars, springs).
Understeer shows up as more steering than the corner's speed and sideways grip would need: the car rotates less than the wheel asks for. One look-alike matters. If the front tyres lock under braking, the car also refuses to turn, but that is a braking problem, and the fix is different (see driving causes).
Move one setting at a time, one or two clicks, and drive a few laps before judging it. Every change below costs something somewhere else, so the cost is listed next to it.
| Setting | Direction | Why | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Off-Throttle Diff | Lower | A more open differential off the throttle lets the car rotate on entry. It only acts while you are off the throttle, so it targets entry understeer without touching your exit. | Too low and the rear can step out while you trail-brake. |
| Front Anti-Roll Bar | Softer | A stiff front bar trades mechanical front grip for quicker response. Softening it gives the front more grip, mostly mid-corner. | Slower, less sharp response to steering. It also shifts balance in more than one phase of the corner. |
| Front Suspension | Softer | Lets the front tyres load up as you turn in. | Less immediate response. |
| Front tyre pressures | Higher | In F1 25 (and F1 24) higher pressure gives the front more bite and runs the tyre cooler. That is the opposite of real-world advice, and copying an older guide that says "lower the fronts" makes understeer worse. | Check your front tyre wear after the change. See tyre wear. |
Skip the wings and ride height here. There is too little speed in a slow corner for downforce to do much, and you would pay the drag on every straight.
| Setting | Direction | Why | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Wing | More | Downforce starts to count at these speeds, and more front wing gives the front more grip. | Drag, so less top speed. |
| Off-Throttle Diff | Lower | Best for entry understeer, as in slow corners. | A looser rear on trail-braking if you go too far. |
| Front Anti-Roll Bar | Softer | More front bite through the middle. | Less response. |
| Setting | Direction | Why | What it costs |
|---|---|---|---|
| Front Wing | More | Front downforce has its biggest effect here and is the first lever for mid-corner understeer in fast corners. | Top speed. Too much front wing can also make the car unstable in fast corners. |
| Front Ride Height | Lower | A lower nose adds front aero load at speed. | The car is more likely to hit bumps and kerbs. |
Two settings are missing on purpose. Driver Dojo does not recommend camber changes, because nearly every quick setup runs the same camber values. It also does not recommend changes to brake pressure.
If the front only runs wide once the power goes down, look at two things before the front wing.
Be aware that Driver Dojo has no separate setup change for exit understeer. Its understeer reading and its front-grip changes target turn-in and the middle of the corner; on the exit it reads wheelspin and oversteer. For understeer on the throttle, start with your throttle timing and the On-Throttle Diff yourself.
Not every understeer is the setup. Rule these out first, because no setup change fixes them and some make the car worse in other corners.
A rough rule of thumb: understeer at one or two corners that comes and goes from lap to lap points to technique. Understeer at every corner of the same speed, in the same phase, lap after lap, points to the car.
Driver Dojo reads the game's own telemetry while you drive, so you do not have to diagnose this by feel alone.
Everything on this page applies the same way to F1 26, the 2026 Season Pack for F1 25. For the other side of the balance problem, front tyres that scrub through understeer wear out faster: see F1 25 tyre wear too high.
It depends on the corner. In slow corners, lower the Off-Throttle Diff for entry understeer or soften the Front Anti-Roll Bar for mid-corner understeer. In fast corners, add Front Wing. Change one setting at a time so you can tell what worked.
Only a little. Front wing works through downforce, which is weak at hairpin speeds, and it still costs top speed on every straight. Mechanical changes such as the differential and anti-roll bar do more in slow corners.
Raise it. In F1 25 and F1 24 higher pressure gives the front more grip, the opposite of real-world advice and of older F1 game guides. The cost is more front tyre wear.
Usually because the throttle comes in before the car has finished turning. If your timing is fine, a lower On-Throttle Diff can help, at the cost of some traction.
Brake bias too far forward can lock the front tyres, and a locked front cannot steer. If the car refuses to turn while you are still braking and the fronts are locking, move Brake Bias rearward or brake more gently. That is a braking fix, not a balance fix.
No. Too much steering lock, too much entry speed and early throttle all cause understeer that no setup change will fix. If it only happens at one or two corners and varies from lap to lap, look at the driving first.