Jarno Opmeer's Bahrain setup will shave seconds off your lap, if you can handle it

F1 2021 setups are pretty personal things. What goes for one driver does not always translate to someone else.

We provide setups for each track in F1 2021 that are balanced, and a good baseline to tweak to personal preference. But what about the absolute best?

There isn't yet a "meta" setup for F1 2021, and with the Performance Patch expected in October we could soon be switching up setups but we took a look at the F1 Esports 2020 champion Jarno Opmeer to see just what he was using around Bahrain.

A tricky setup to use

As you might expect, the F1 Esports champion has a setup that is a handful to drive.

There is a ton of rotation on the brakes, which will frequently lockup if you don't have an ideal feel on the brake pedal. Out of the corner there is even more rotation, so you'll need to take steering angle out much earlier than you expect.

It's got a very balanced aerodynamic balance, but you'll find it extremely tricky on worn tyres to keep the rear in check through the long turn 11-12 section.

So what settings is he using? Let's take a look at the setup that got Jarno a 1:24.063 lap time!

Jarno Opmeer's Bahrain setup

It starts with a 6-7 wing setting, which gives you the turn-in stability but that rear wing will require you to have some highly precise steering and throttle control when trying to take those higher speed corners. If you miss your turn-in point its all over.

The transmission is set to 90% on-throttle and 55% off-throttle. That balance will chew through the rear tyres if you are overly aggressive and can quickly result in problems when you are transitioning onto the throttle on corner-exit.

The suspension geometry is pretty normal actually. With -2.50 on front camber, -2.00 on rear camber, 0.06 on front toe, and 0.20 on rear toe.

Suspension is 2-5, anti-roll bar is 2-5, and ride height is set to 2-6. These settings actually match ours! But combined with that lower rear wing it creates a lot more rotation.

The brakes are set to 100% brake pressure and 55% brake bias. Like we said, this results in huge lockups if you aren't perfect with your trail braking. It makes turn 10 even more of a nightmare for mortals like us.

Finally, tyre pressures are set to 21.4psi on the front and 22.3psi on the rear.

Load it up and see if you have the skill to get the most out of this setup, and maybe there are some aspects of it you can build into your own Bahrain races!