F1 Fanatic

Just thought I’d beat @fixy to this ;)
Absolutely smashed the Young Driver Test, got every Chevron and Every Gold Medal (though that’s not hard at all).
Then started a Career with Caterham alongside the amazing Heikki Kovalainen! :D

Settings
Participation Level – Long Weekend – Full Qualifying
Race Distance – 100%
Camera – Cockpit

Difficulty
Braking Assist – Off
ABS – On
TC – Full
Line – Off
Gearbox – Automatic
Pit Assist – Off
Rules and Flags – Realistic
Damage – Full
AI Difficulty – Legend
Flashbacks – 4 (Just in case)

@shaneb12345678910 – No FP1 or 2 ;)

Ok, so I started my only practice session and it went manic, after the 11/12 chicane I spun off, only to find di Resta, Hamilton and Pic already in the same wall! Hamilton then got stuck at turn 1, and I later found him crawling along the straight at 15mph, but too late. I creamed into the back of him and ended both our sessions. I then realised I hadn’t edited my setup, and that I couldn’t do it in Quali, so restarted and had a really dull FP, except that Kobayashi was quickest from Senna!
Qualifying came and my laps were consistent, but not impressive. I managed to go green on the time to get into Q2 in S1 and S2, but made a mistake ending my hopes. I will start 19th, with di Resta also going out in Q1. Massa just scraped through.

The Grid
1. Lewis Hamilton
2. Nico Rosberg
3. Michael Schumacher
4. Jenson Button
5. Fernando Alonso
6. Felipe Massa
7. Sebastian Vettel
8. Romain Grosjean
9. Mark Webber
10. Kimi Raikkonen
11. Sergio Perez
12. Kamui Kobayashi
13. Nico Hulkenberg
14. Bruno Senna
15. Pastor Maldonado
16. Jean-Eric Vergne
17. Daniel Ricciardo
18. Paul di Resta
19. Bradley Downton
20. Heikki Kovalainen
21. Timo Glock
22. Narain Karthikeyan
23. Charles Pic
24. Pedro de la Rosa

I feel it would have been more random had I made Q2.

I got the game yesterday, have to say that im happy that with the steering wheel it feels nothing like the demo. however I can feel the back getting out from me in a lot corners, this is with abs and full traction control as well. Started my season in the Catherham beside Hekki doing 25% races, full weekend, qualified in 12th and finished in 8th, pretty straightforward race, never had the pace to chase down the guys in front, i spent most of my time defending.

2nd race and i qualified 4th (with the help of online setups) and on the very last corner was 3rd, but after a spin fell to 10th. again defended the entire race.

3rd race qualified in pole and won the race, again spending the entire race defending

one weird AI thing was that in australia i had Felipe behind me, crashed into the back of me and lost his entire front wing, didn’t pit, but stayed out for the next five laps chasing me down and eventually passing me

Race 1 – Australia – Season 3 – Williams

Quali – 14th
I managed to get into Q2 fairly easily however it was very competitive. I was 2 tenths away from getting into the top ten but I qualified 14th. Maldonado qualified in 7th while Hamilton took pole ahead of Alonso and Vettel. Button was down in 11th and the two Mercedes struggled and qualified 15th and 16th.

Race – 14th
My strategy was to start on primes and pit on lap 17 for options. I got a decent start and managed to fight my way up to 9th by the first few corners. I then passed Massa on the straight after the 11-12 chicane. 2 laps later, Webber had a big accident and lost his front wing in and around the third sector. By lap 6 Massa was close behind me and I was close behind Kobayashi. On the next lap I passed Kobayashi into turn 3 using DRS. Alonso was battling with Vettel ahead and into the quick chicane Alonso had to pull out of the throttle as Vettel passed him. This meant he was slow off the corner so I managed to pass him on the straight. I was up to 4th now and was happy with my pace on the prime tyres. On the next lap I could not keep the Ferrari behind me and he passed me using DRS. Massa behind me spun going into the the 1st corner which took the pressure off me. I was in 5th with a 7 second gap to Alonso by lap 11. On the next lap, people ahead of me pitted and I was up to second. Hamilton, who had already pitted, was 3 seconds ahead of me in the lead. On lap 17 I pitted for options and I rejoined in 5th behind Grosjean. However on lap 23 I made a mistake going through the 11-12 chicane and spun into the wall losing my front wing and getting a puncture. Crawled back to the pits and I rejoined in 14th and stayed there. Very dissapointed to do a Maldonado so near the end of the race. But Im happy that the pace of the AI is better and I hope to get a good points finish in Malaysia. Hamilton won with Alonso and Vettel on the podium. Button retired early on and Hulkenburg got disqualified for some reason.

I haven’t started mine proper because I’m just pounding lap after lap on circuits right now as I adapt my driving style to the new handling system in 2012. I still need to perfect my hand-eye coordination when it comes to the feedback I’m getting visually on the car and what my hands should do to respond. There is still a big disconnect between me and the game right now in any car except the Caterham – in which I am a demon. (I did 1 qualifying session and race with the AI on legend – I outqualified Heikki by 1.8s and was consistently 1.7-2s faster lap after lap in race pace)

@bradley13 ah, that’s a pity! :P Seriously, I have the game but my PC is getting repaired right now. I should get it back soon, and then I’ll make this thread mine ;)

Onto Malaysia for me and my Marussia today, completing the weekend either side of the real Grand Prix.

After a bit of fiddling with set up, I quickly felt more comfortable than I did at Melbourne. I’ve always enjoyed the Sepang circuit in previous editions, and I really enjoy pounding around and trying to master the trickier parts of the track (like the devilish penultimate corner) – long, flowing corners are REALLY awesome with the new handling model.

I was pleasantly surprised to find that I could quickly get on the pace, and not just over a single lap but putting consistent stints together within a few tenths. I’m even getting the hang of the brake bias, swapping it back and forth like a pro (sort of). The wear on the hard compound seems consistent too, and I get faster and faster until they start to fall away. I whack on a pair of medium tyres, and after a few laps manage to pop in a time good enough for 19th – not only quicker than my teammate but better than the other teams too!

I wonder if it’s a balancing issue within the game. From 4-5 seconds of the pace in one race, to a couple of tenths up in the next seems odd. And, while I know the baseline set up apparently varies from race to race, the car feels better by miles here despite me using my standard set up (which I tend to use race to race with different wings and only a few other small tweaks).

Still, I’m not complaining – I’m in front of my rivals with a bit to spare! I manage a 1’42.0, a second or so off the real life pace I note.

As per usual in this part of the world, rain is never far away, so it is little surprise when my engineer tells me half way through the session that rain is expected in 15 minutes. That prediction then changes to the more dire “heavy” rain.

Aside from the wet weather test at Abu Dhabi, I haven’t really tried driving in the rain so I decide to stick around. Qualifying looks like it will be mixed conditions so probably best to have a splash around in practice.

I damage my front wing slightly, pit to repair the damage and head back out on options as the grey mottled sky looms ominously. As I head into the first turn, the first drops are falling. The dynamic weather is really fascinating, a cool addition. Initially, it seems to be raining everywhere except around turns 3 and 4. It seems heaviest around the double apex corner on the far side of the track. Within a couple of laps, it’s raining over the whole circuit and beginning to get a bit treacherous. I know quite a few people on the CM forums have complained about the driveability of dry tyres on a wet track, but I thought the balance was really good and it steadily got more difficult to keep pace, and ultimately just to keep it on the track. Within 3/4 laps slowing down and turning in for turn 7 and the turn 9 hairpin is painfully difficult.

As the end of the session approached, I notice the sky getting brighter and as the rain got heavier the sky become more and more blue. Not sure if a bug or what, but it’s not a big deal.

So feeling confident after my strong showing in practice, it’s time for qualifying. Rain is again predicted, so I decide to head straight out on options. I love how the pressure ramps up in these qualifying sessions, it’s something missing from all the other console racers I’ve played that are basically just sprint races. The pressure is obviously getting to me as I make mistakes on my first two flying laps, and annoyingly I am hooked up on the third but run out of fuel on the back straight. Back into the garage for some new tyres. You can really feel the ultra grip of the fresh rubber, but I annoyingly I make ANOTHER mistake on my first flying lap! Ultra grip wasted. I’m in last place, only a couple of tenths off my teammate and certain I can do better. My engineer has warned me rain is on the way, and there’s only four minutes left on the clock as I head out on my used options for one last run. The team have given me 22nd as a target, which is also where Timo currently sits. On my outlap, my heart sinks – it’s raining at turn 7!

Dialling the engine up on the back straight, I’ve nothing to lose. The lap feels great, but I’m tensing up as I approach the rain front. I’m green in S1, and manage to make it through the apexes of turn 7 and 8 unscathed and unslowed. It’s raining on the entire final half of the track now, but luckily it is light enough that it seems to make no difference to my grip. I’m green in S2, the horrible turn in for the penultimate corner feels satisfyingly good. Swap the brake bias up front for the final hair pin, and I’m P22! Another target met!

Onto the race, and another bad start. I lose out two Timo and Narain, and head into the first turn in last place. As the right sweep fades I’m still behind, but into the tight left I get back past them both plus the other HRT. The next few corners are pretty hectic. Two cars spin out and a Williams heads into the gravel. With cars taking evasive action all over the track, I’m up to 12th by the time I head onto the back straight!

I’m swamped into the hairpin, with a Toro Rosso taking me on the outside but a couple of other cars having a go. Senna slipstreams past me before the first turn, but I outbreak him to get back in front. He hassles me for the rest of the lap, before I run a touch wide at T11 and he bolts past.

I manage to hold onto 14th for another lap, but as soon as the DRS is enabled I start falling backwards. Alonso, who must have been one of the first lap casualties, bullies both me and Kovalainen out of the way out of the final turn – he won the first race, so no doubt has the red mist finding himself at the back.

A few laps later, and I’m 19th and running a good pace. I’m holding a good gap to the rest of the backmarkers as the pitstops approach. I notice Kovalainen pits early, and that releases Petrov to start hassling me as we head towards my planned pit window on lap 12. The tyres still feel ok, but I decide to pit as planned just in case anyone gets me on the undercut. A couple of my rivals pit on the same lap, but most wait until the next lap. After my outlap, I come out sandwiched between de la Rosa and Petrov, but manage to get past the Russian on the run up to turn 4. Only Narain hasn’t pitted, having run the alternate prime-option strategy as he did in Melbourne.

The Caterhams both seem to have better pace on the primes, and despite running higher revs I can’t hold them off for long. As the leaders begin filtering through, the blue flags are causing chaos as usual. Me, the Caterhams and de la Rosa swap places for a few laps as Hamilton, Button and the rest storm through. It’s pretty brutal. I get nudged out of the way by Rosberg, and just ahead of me I watch Massa spin Pedro around!

After this calms down, I’m behind the Caterhams but running 21st as Narain has now pitted and is some way back in last – my pre-race target! I just need to hold on for the last 10 laps.

It’s an entertaining few laps, as I have de la Rosa and Glock taking it in turns to hassle me while Petrov is not far up ahead. I seem to be a bit better with the blue flags than the others, so that offers some respite and Petrov is getting closer and closer. 3 laps to go and Petrov has particularly trouble letting a Toro Rosso past, I’m just 1.3 seconds behind him! I turn the engine up into the penultimate lap.

Then – disaster. I’m approaching the DRS-enabling 1 second, and my girlfriend asks me some inane question – “So what’s the steering wheel like then?” or something along those lines.

Suddenly distracted, I lose it into turn 11. Almost spinning, I lose a ton of time and Glock blasts past me into 21nd. Dejectedly, I finish 22nd and miss my target. My girlfriend doesn’t understand why I’m so upset with her and just wants to watch Downton Abbey, my team are unsurprisingly disappointed and me, I just feel totally dejected – a disastrous finish to an such a promising weekend :(