F1 Fanatic

Geoffrey M. Nificent – Virgin Racing

(Expert difficulty – no assists – pad – 20% distance)

Having played around for a bit on the Grand Prix practice sessions, I figured it was time to jump into Career for my first actual racing experience. I chose Virgin due to my close relationship with the team through the Collantine Cup and after a tricky Practice session went into Qualy without experience with the Options.

I stuck some sexy Softs on and the grip improvement was intense. Instantly put in a PB which put me 21st, 6 seconds behind Vettel in P1 and 0.8 seconds behind Trulli in 19th. So I came in, put some fresh new Options on, fiddled about with the set-up and put in an even better lap of 1:27.831, putting me P19 and the fastest of the newer teams. I was three seconds behind di Resta in P18, meaning I had no chance of going any better and so was ‘best of the rest’. That’s why this game is awesome. I put in my best lap so far and it only put me P19, just like it would in reality. Very satisfied with that.

About to have my very first race start on F1 2011. Going for Options first and Priming it out for the 2nd stint. Cannot wait to experience racing with DRS, knowing that I’m only likely to finish where I started. If there’s a Safety Car during this race, I think I might explode. Let’s see how I go!
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Grand Prix Debut – Round 1: Australian Grand Prix
Qualified: P19
Target: P18
Finished: P18

Woah. What a race.

Got a decent start and passed a Force India and a Toro Rosso into Turn 1, then a Williams into Turn 2, putting me P16. Decided to start the race on Primes instead and it turned out to be the right decision. End of Lap 1 Barrichello passed me and then disappeared into the distance while I held up Sutil and Buemi behind me. I was pushing as hard as I could and managed to hold Sutil off until the End of Lap 3, putting me into within DRS range of him. Heard a exciting little ‘bleep’ in my ear as I crossed the DRS detection point but Sutil peeled off into the pits so I was able to DRS down the straight with no one in front of me. The cars ahead of me were all pitting and I tried to push as hard as I could before my scheduled stop on Lap 7.

On Lap 6, disaster. I got a tankslapper in the middle of the fast chicane and spun, putting me behind Kovalainen and my teammate Glock. I decided to pit straight away and put on the Options. Immediately went 2 seconds a lap faster. I was worried about how long the Softs would last so I was going as fast and smooth as I possibly could, nursing the tyres as much as possible. I was down in 21st now and was resigned to the fact that I wasn’t going to complete my objective of finishing P18. Then, Glock and Heikki ahead both pitted, putting me back into P18 once more. I knew the only chance I had to hold onto this position was to make these options last half a race distance, so I was praying that they would hold on for me. Eventually, I realised I was 3 laps from the end with the tyres slowly going away and with an 11 second lead over P19. With two laps to go, I was still in P18 but with a 7 second lead, but my tyres were holding on. I had 1 lap of fuel in reserve so at the start of the final lap I turned the fuel mixture up and prepared for a sprint to the line, but then as I entered Turn 1, Vettel crossed the line to take the victory – which could only mean that Heikki had been lapped and thus had no chance of passing me! My (personal) victory was assured! I turned the fuel mixture down to ‘Lean’ and cruised around the rest of the lap to finish in P18, cementing my position as best of the newer guys and achieving my team’s objective. Never has an 18th place finish been so satisfying! What a race. Can’t wait for Malaysia now!

The handling is better, you can attack the kerbs harder and so on.. but for me it feels too “soft” to drive.. a bit floaty.
I really like the twitchy feeling you get from deploying the DRS.

Also I like seeing all the helicopters over the circuit

Just had a go on expert for my 1st season and got nailed! Was 6 seconds off the pace so shall go down a level and start again. Cant decide between manual or automatic gears. gamepad is very busy with gears, DRS and kers

I had only been playing F1 2010 for a few days before starting with F1 2011, so I’m fairly inexperienced. PC, steering wheel, no assists (except for pitlane) and Legend difficulty for AI drivers. Started career with Virgin Racing, as I like it more starting career as a backmarker, and it’s also great that it doesn’t have KERS, as it allows me to focus on the driving more.

Had a crash in qualy which left me 24th on the grid, though I don’t think I’d be able to beat anyone anyway. Outbraked a few drivers into turn 3, I was around 18th but went off the track later in the lap which put me in 22th. I fought hard with Liuzzi and Kovalainen and managed to keep them behind for a long time.

I had started on primes so I was driving slowly and saving tyres, as I had a strategy that involved going on primes longer than they’re supposed to last. Spun a lap before the pit stop, which damaged my front wing which had to be changed. Then I managed to put in a few good laps on options and it was looking good for 22nd. But then it all went wrong.

It’s really annoying being lapped all the time and I managed to get 4(!) drive through penalties in the second half of the race. Also had two spins, then another wing damage and finally, after my 2nd and last pit stop, spun and crashed with Alguersuari, ending his race, which brought out the safety car. A lap later I caught the queue but it was race over already. 24th and 7 laps behind, I wasn’t even a classified finisher because of the 90% rule, but I’m satisfied with it as it was my first long race and I’m still not able to push the car to the limits anyway.

It’s also very exhausting, my back hurts as I have to have steering wheel positioned very high, and I was just overall exhausted. Takes a lot of concentracion as well and I began to lose that as well towards the end.

It’ll take some races to get to grips with it, but I can surely say that F1 2011 is awesome!

Career 1
Season 1 – Virgin Racing
Race 1 – Australian GP
100%, highest difficulty
Qualified: 24th
Target: 20th
Finished: DNF (not within 90%!)

Spain
I use to struggle on Spain quite often on F1 2010, but AI are more realistic on 2011, so I was able to qualify my Williams in 12th. Start of the race I stayed between 11th and 12th. Pitted on lap 8 for Options and came out 8th. Chased down Alguesari in the final laps, and on lap 13, overtook him on the main straight with DRS to achieve 7th
Q = 12th
F = 7th

After 5 Races:
1st – Alonso – 74pts
2nd – Button – 62pts
3rd – Webber – 59pts
4th – Tomson – 59pts
5th – Hanilton – 50pts

1st – Ferrari – 114pts
2nd – McLaren – 112pts
3rd – Red Bull – 102pts
4th – Williams – 59pts
5th – Mercedes – 57pts

Career 1
Season 1 – Virgin Racing
Race 2 – Malaysian GP
100%, highest difficulty
Qualified: 19th (started 24th)
Finished: 24th, +5 laps

I’m much faster now, with some more experience, so I’m starting to be able to push the car to the limits, though I’m yet to be consistent. I managed 19th in qualifyng, which was fantastic, though I had to start last because of a penalty.

I was last a few laps into the GP when a fairly unusual bug ended my race: http://twitter.com/EnigmaF1/status/117686091229839360

So I restarted the race. I crashed on lap one and thought I’d restart again :P

Then I got a better start, moving up to 19th, and I managed to keep a few guys behind for many laps. I was overtaken a couple of times but managed to repass and outbreak immediately. I was on primes so I was slower then those around me. Glock managed to pass me on the lap he pitted. I was on prime tyres, full tank of fuel, in a Virgin car and with more rear wing to reduce oversteer, so you can imagine how much time I spent on full lock into turn one on each lap.

The race got a bit quiet, apart from cars lapping me quite often. I did quite a few mistakes, had around 10 spins throughout the race and I probably went on grass/gravel every other lap or so, so I need to improve on consistency a lot, though I’m happy with my progress in terms of speed.

I also realised I can make strategy for less laps then the race is long, as I won’t do them all as a backmarker anyway.

I pitted on lap 32 I think, and the difference in speed between used primes and fresh options was immense. I could get much more aggresive with steering which helped with understeer a lot.

I started catching the guys in front, being on options, and I managed to get from 24th to 21th in three corners – I used traffic to great advantage, as we were being lapped by around 5 cars at the time. It was looking good, just like in Melbourne, but it all went wrong again – I managed to spin thrice (!) within two corners, still not sure how I did that but it cost me massively. I also got a drive-through for colliding with Maldonado, as I lost traction when I was accelerating alongside him.

I finished within a lap of Kovalainen, with 21st fastest lap and 5 laps behind the winner, meaning I was a classified finisher this time! Again, there were no retirements which I find rather strange.

So, I’m happy with my speed, I’m a lot more confident with the car and I can push it more, though I can still improve on that, and I need to improve massively on consistency. It’s very exhausting, I got all sweaty and actually drank a litre and a half of water right after the race, so it’s actually a good workout I reckon.

@mnmracer thanks for answering!

I have racing line, ABS & Brake assist off. I still use full TCS. Have considering turning it off, but when I played without it on the last few days on f1 2010, I was constantly spinning, and can’t be bothered to practice without it :)