What are the Best F1 Cockpits and F1 Sim Rigs?

An F1-style cockpit tends to indicate to me that, of course, you’re an F1 fan. And when you go looking for one, what you’re really after is the formula single seater arrangement – leaning back, sitting lower, legs slightly more raised than a typical 8020-style cockpit. I’ve always thought the F1 rigs are closer to lying in the sim rather than sitting on it, but that’s the correct style for an F1 sim race. If F1’s your thing, the selection below is the best of what’s on the market today.

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What makes a good F1 cockpit? | Trak Racer TR5 | Playseat Instinct | TRX V2 | TRF and AMR26 | Alpine TRA | Sim-Lab AMG | Playseat Intelligence | Formula seats | Compatibility

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What makes a good F1 cockpit?

Let’s start with the seating position.

Stiffness is really important (very low to no “flex”). Braking in an F1 position should be a bit like using a leg press machine – you may not use the full force of your load cell, but 80 to 100 kg through the brake pedal face is realistic.

If the chassis flexes under that sort of load, you lose some of the realism and your braking becomes less consistent. Back in the day I had an RSeat RS1, and there was a lot of flex in the pedal base – I measured it to about four degrees under full load. It seems the manufacturers have got that message – Playseat now builds a flex-free pedal plate into the Formula Intelligence, and Trak Racer says the TRA’s pedal plate stays rock-solid under heavy braking. Basically the current generation of cockpits for F1 are far stiffer than the rig I started on.

The advertising power of the F1 brand has made F1 a very common entry point to sim racing over the past couple of years, and that, in my opinion, is why the Playseat-style tubular chassis is the popular option.

The other thing about this style of chassis is how much easier it is to assemble. Provided your wheelbase is compatible with the rig’s wheel deck, you bolt on the base, the pedals, the monitor on its stand, and go racing. The accessories tend to be packaged in or easy to find – a compatible monitor mount is often included or even welded to the chassis now. 8020 is much easier these days but for single seater racing I think tubular has won the day.

Trak Racer TR5 – a solid beginner rig

The TR5 is the smallest sensible spend that can handle the torque of a direct drive base. $599 USD gets you a carbon steel tube frame with reclined and upright driving positions, a backrest that adjusts from 85 to 145 degrees, and a wheel deck rated for wheelbases up to 25 Nm.

Naturally it works with PC, PlayStation or Xbox – console racers are a big and growing part of this market. The budget tubular rig market has evolved – the TR5 is fatigue-tested to 150 kg static across 16,000 cycles. This is a candidate for your first rig, and it’s a good one. The trade-off is exactly what you’d expect at the entry point – a big DD base and heavy load-cell braking will find its limits before the more expensive kit does.

Playseat Formula Instinct – the F1-licensed starter

Playseat’s Formula Instinct carries the official F1 licence and an authentic F1 position – and at $599 in the US, or £519 in the UK as I write, it sits right alongside the TR5 on price. The patented X-Adapt quick-release handles the wheel-support adjustment, and the pedal mount adjusts for angle, height and length, so it fits drivers from 120 to 220 cm tall. At 23 kg it’s light enough to move out of the way when you’re not racing, which suits anyone who can’t leave a rig set up in the middle of the room all week.

Playseat rates it for a direct drive base, too. Just know that light and stowable is the opposite of mass and stiffness: the (really) heavy-braking crowd should look further down the page.

Trak Racer TRX V2 – the Formula and GT switcher

The TRX V2 is the tubular rig that I consider to be a bit more “hybrid”. It’s priced at the time of writing at $999 USD, comes with six liveries (Black, Bull Blue, Silver Arrow, Tifosi Red, Sunset Orange and Alpine Racing), and a chassis that switches between Formula and GT seating positions, hence the hybrid moniker. You get adjustable seat, pedal and wheel placement throughout.

For PC, PlayStation and Xbox gamers alike, it has the same easy tubular assembly as the rest of the range.

Trak Racer TRF and the Aston Martin AMR26 – for the dedicated Formula One driver

The TRF is the dedicated formula cockpit – built to replicate the low-slung seating position and cockpit geometry of a real formula car, body fairing included, with no concession towards GT sim racers at all. The AMR26 wears an official Aston Martin Aramco Formula One Team licence and livery. Both are $999 USD as I write. The purpose-built integrated single monitor stand adds $109 and takes screens from 32 to 49 inches including ultrawides – and a single 49-inch ultrawide is exactly what I’d run on a rig like this, for pure “let’s go racing” simplicity – “I know which sim I want to run; I just want to go racing without fiddling with hardware and firmware settings all day”. These two are for the F1 fan who wants the position and the full “belt and braces” F1 feel.

BWT Alpine TRA – the hybrid in aluminium profile

As you know, Trak Racer is the Official Simulator Supplier of the Alpine F1 Team, and the TRA is the aluminium-profile item in the lineup. $1,399 USD buys the setup with a pedal plate that features rapid tool-free angle and distance adjustment to switch between Formula and GT setups.

The wheel mount flips between flat and upright orientations, and the seat slides and reclines on quick-adjust levers. Think of this hybrid cockpit as the bridge between the tubular quick-start rigs and the 8020 world: profile stiffness but without the convenience of tubular. This would be a good long-term rig, or ideal for when you want to run at Le Mans in a GT3 car instead.

Sim-Lab Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS cockpit – the 8020 formula

Sim-Lab’s Mercedes-AMG PETRONAS cockpit is the premium 8020 route to the formula position. At the moment it’s EUR 988 for the officially licensed frame in Sim-Lab’s usual super-rigid aluminium profile construction, with front, side and wheel-deck mounts included.

It’s stiff enough for serious load-cell braking, which is the reason to go 8020 in the first place. The EUR 988 is for the frame only – the matching AMG seat and its mounting kit are separate purchases, so price the whole build on the website before you commit.

Sim-Lab discount code: use SIMRACINGCOCKPIT at checkout for 5% off at sim-lab.eu.

Playseat Formula Intelligence – is money no object?

The Formula Intelligence is the top of Playseat’s F1-licensed range, at $2,499 in the US, or £2,149 in the UK, as I write. The frame is reinforced for professional-grade braking, the pedal plate is flex-free and rated for heavy load-cell and hydraulic brakes, and the screen goes on Playseat’s separate TV Stand XL. There’s a nice touch here too – the seat section slides open so you can climb in standing rather than folding yourself over the fairing (which makes me look like an idiot every time).

At this money you’re into full 8020 custom-build territory – so this is for the serious buyer who wants stiffness and the F1 look without giving up the quick start.

The formula seat on its own

If the rig you have is fine and it’s the position you’re missing, the seat on its own is a much cheaper way forward. On a simulator, of course, you don’t really need to worry about the implications of having a crash, but posture really matters. Mine is a Sim Dynamics race seat that came from Motordrive here in the UK – a bit of a special one, embroidered and customised. The key thing with a racing seat is comfort and support, so you need lots of lower-back support. I actually have a separate cushion covered in the same mesh as the seat, and sometimes it goes underneath me for a little extra height, sometimes I sit lower with it just at the base of my spine. It really just depends how I feel on the day.

I’ve never come across a race seat that doesn’t fit a rig, because they all share the same base and mounting dimensions, which is super handy. On an 8020 aluminium-profile frame all you need is a pair of decent seat brackets. You’re not tied to the sim racing brands, either – a proper motorsport seat, like a Sparco, mounts the same way. What you do need to check is the width between the bolsters, so measure yourself and compare that with the seat’s quoted sizing before you order.

Trak Racer’s HSX Hybrid Formula bucket – a fibreglass shell developed with Alpine F1 engineers, hybrid Formula/GT position – is $399 in black or $449 in the official BWT Alpine livery (that’ll be the licensing cost).

The HCF is the same idea in motorsport-grade carbon fibre, with integrated harness slots, at $899. Both side-mount to Trak Racer’s tube and extrusion frames and to other branded rigs (it’s a standard mount and width pattern). Seat sliders are sold separately, so add them to the order.

The Advanced Formula Seat is the one I’d point most people at first. At $599.99 CAD as I write, it has the angled formula recline you’re after, with leatherette cushions and a suede centre. It ships with the seat sliders and an Advanced Side Bracket in the box, so it goes onto an aluminium-profile rig straight away.

If you’d rather spend more, there’s the Sparco GP Formula Seat, which has a fibreglass shell. It’s $1,069.99 CAD at the time of writing, and the Advanced Formula Side Brackets are included, though you’ll need to fit them yourself.

Compatibility and the rest of the rig

The universal decks on these rigs carry Fanatec from the CSL DD through to the DD+, Moza R3 to R21, Simagic, Simucube, Thrustmaster and Logitech – but check your specific base against the rig’s compatibility list before ordering, and budget for a motor-mount adapter if one is named. Our direct drive wheels guide covers the bases themselves.

Heavy load-cell braking is the whole point of F1, so mind each rig’s pedal-plate rating – our sim racing pedals guide is the place to choose the set. The tubular rigs here (the TR5, the TRX, both Playseats) are console-friendly, and our PS5 sim racing buyers guide covers the Sony side of the garage.

For screens, a single ultrawide keeps things simple, and you can always step up to a freestanding triple stand later – our gaming monitors guide has the current picks. Our best sim racing cockpits guide covers the wider 8020 and steel tube market, and the F1 wheels guide finishes the formula build. If F1’s your thing, definitely have a look at the selection above – enjoy!

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