#1 Le Fanatec ClubSport GT Cockpit

Let’s start with Fanatec, a well-established brand in the sim-racing market. They offer a wide range of racing peripherals, and since joining Corsair, they’ve been doing even better.

Fanatec recently added the ClubSport GT Cockpit to its range, a chassis originally developed by Corsair for insertion in the sim-racing market, but which changed its name after the Fanatec takeover. Anyway, that’s not the point.

The ClubSport GT Cockpit is a chassis, as the name suggests, designed primarily for GT racing. Nevertheless, you can configure it for F1 racing without any problem, as the structure allows for this.

It’s a tubular chassis, fully customizable, with integration of all necessary peripherals. It is natively compatible with Fanatec equipment, but can also accommodate products from other competing brands, which should appeal to drivers who already have a different ecosystem.

On the GT Cockpit, you’ve got brackets for everything: base and bottom bracket decks, brackets for monitors and other accessories, bucket slides and so on. It’s a complete chassis, modern, robust and, above all, visually stunning.

Now for the price. The ClubSport GT Cockpit retails for €915, without accessories. This means you only get the chassis for this price, to which you’ll need to add a bucket seat. That’s fortunate, because Fanatec also offers a bucket seat for €340, as well as an external monitor mount if you need more screen space. Incidentally, the GT Cockpit includes a screen support if your screen is no larger than 49″ in Ultra Wide.

The ClubSport GT Cockpit is available in two colors: black and white. It’s a versatile chassis, easily adaptable to your preferred discipline, whether Formula, GT, endurance or rally.

#2 Track Racer Alpine

Another major player in the sim-racing industry, mainly in the cockpit segment, is Trak Racer. The company is Australian, and has been present on the world market for some time.

Its catalog covers several motorsport disciplines, including F1. For this list, the Trak Racer Alpine makes perfect sense, as it’s a hybrid chassis that you can take with the colors of the Alpine F1 team.

The cockpit structure is tubular, with an emphasis on customization and tuning. You’ll find decks for various bases, including Fanatec (front- and bottom-mounted), as well as other manufacturers of sim-racing peripherals.

The pedal support is also adjustable in several planes, as is the bucket seat with its slide rail. The advantage of the Alpine is that it’s a hybrid chassis, adaptable to several motorsport disciplines. It’s even more advanced than Fanatec’s ClubSport GT Cockpit, as you can lower the seat to raise your legs, taking up an F1 position.

The Trak Racer Alpine is available in a bare-bone version, like the Fanatec. This means you won’t get a bucket with it, just the chassis. This is of course reflected in the price, as the bare cockpit costs just €999, and Trak Racer tubs range from €220 to €400. Obviously, there are other options in the brand’s catalog to complete your setup, such as mounts for monitors, PCs, keyboards and mice and the whole shebang.

#3 The Formula range from Playseat

Like Trak Racer and Fanatec, Playseat is a major player in the sim-racing industry. The Dutch brand focuses on chassis, and this makes it one of the world’s market leaders.

Playseat’s range of cockpits is pretty extensive, with models to suit virtually any virtual driver. What interests us today is the F1 chassis. Playseat’s catalog includes 3 Formula-specific models.

We have the Formula Instinct, an entry-level model designed to satisfy riders new to sim-racing. The structure is tubular, with a deck for the Direct Drive base, one for the pedals and an adjustable bucket. You can add accessories such as a screen mount from the brand’s catalog. The Formula Instinct remains a good option for those with a sim-racing setup, let’s say entry-level. Given its design, this cockpit isn’t really designed for high-torque bases, and this is also reflected in the price. If you want this chassis, expect to pay €600 at Playseat, with a white color only.

A step above, we have the Formula. It’s a chassis that resembles the Formula Instinct, with a few immersion enhancements, notably the seat. The Formula’s bucket is virtually flush with the ground, with a rearward tilt. When you’re seated, your legs naturally move upwards, just like in a real F1 car. The chassis structure is no longer tubular, but with plates, adding rigidity to the package. Visually, the Formula is minimalist, with a central support for the base that rises between your legs, a bucket and a deck for the pedals. And that’s all there is to it. Pricing starts at €999, and only one color is available: black.

Let’s finish with the Formula Intelligence, Playseat’s top-of-the-range model. It’s a chassis that draws a lot of inspiration from single-seaters, with a tubular structure that wraps around you and a very low seat, with the legs up too. The Formula Intelligence is available in 3 colors: red/black, all-black and white/black with F1 logos on the sides. It’s downright beautiful, highly immersive and, above all, expensive. The bill climbs to €2,500 for this cockpit, excluding accessories.