F1 Fanatic

Race 3 – China – Caterham

Race:
After a good qualifying session, I was feeling good going into the race in my 16th place. My quali objective had been 18th, and my race objective was now 15th. It was going to be a tough ask, but with a couple of DNFs, it was definitely possible. I had pace.
The track began damp, it had been raining earlier, which meant that the whole grid was on inters, but there was no rain forecast. Again, like with the other races, I got a decent start, and once again up into 9th/10th. I was actually pretty fast, surprisingly. My pace on the damp track was better than those around me, and around lap 5 the track was dry enough to switch to slicks.
I raced into the pit lane, sticking on the primes. My logic was that with the inters removing the rule of both compounds, that I could do a 1 stop, with two stints of primes to carry me to the end.
I raced on, fighting for my spot, though it was getting difficult, as the race went on I just didn’t quite have the pace of the cars following me, especially when they were on options, and come lap 20, I pitted for options. In hindsight, I’m really not sure why, had I done 5 laps more at least, then the race could have been better, but then again it could have been worse, I guess.
Having held up Vettel for a lot laps, he was now released as I went into the pits. I think he was one of the few drivers, with me, to have put primes on after the inters. I came flying out of the pits, and was really happy with how the car was handling, I could push harder now, knowing that I would have to do one more stop but I could fight harder with the cars around me.
I can’t quite recall this stint, but I remember the tyres dropping off, with around 20 laps to go, I pitted and stuck the primes on. Everyone else had options, and I was pretty sure that they would have to stop again…or at least I was hoping, considering that I was now down in a lowly 16th place, being closed in on Senna. I managed to pick up the pace to slow his progress and get a few of my personal best laps too.
To my joy a few laps later, everyone began pitting and I was suddenly in 10th place!…Though this wouldn’t last for long. I was quickly passed by faster cars, and on the penultimate lap, I was passed by Massa, and it looked like I was going to fall to 17th, with three fast cars behind me (Senna, Webber and Di Resta). However, even though Massa had pulled a gap on me, he had spun just before the really long straight, allowing myself, Di Resta, Senna and Webber through. I turned the engine up for maximum speed on the straight and sped over the line to finish in a fantastic 13th place!

Result:
1. Alonso (Definitely looks like the best bet for the title)
2. Kobayashi (Possibly a dark horse with his second podium!)
3. Maldonado (Came from nowhere, great result)
4. Rosberg
5. Schumacher (Solid result for Merc)
6. Raikkonen
7. Hamilton
8. Button
9. Vettel (Finally scoring points, despite being held up. Still not great though)
10. Perez
11. Vergne
12. Hulkenberg
13. Franklin (Not quite points yet, but good result!)
14. Senna
15. Webber (Another terrible result)
16. Di Resta
17. Massa (Shouldn’t be driving a Ferrari)
18. Grosjean (Not a great weekend for the French driver)
19. Kovaleinen (Better than in quali)
20. Pic (Consistently beating his team mate)
21. Karthikeyan
22. De La Rosa
23. Glock
24. Ricciardo (DNF)

Driver’s:
1. Alonso – 65
2. Kobayashi – 42 (Massive surprise!)
3. Schumacher – 35
4. Raikkonen – 28
5. Hamilton – 26
6. Button – 25
7. Rosberg – 23
8. Grosjean – 20
9. Maldonado – 17
10. Di Resta – 10
11. Perez – 5
12. Massa – 4
13. Vettel – 2 (…Poor)
14. Webber – 1 (Very poor)
15. Vergne – 0
16. Hulkenberg – 0
17. Franklin – 0
18. Senna – 0
19. Ricciardo – 0
20. Pic – 0
21. Kovaleinen – 0
22. Karthikeyan – 0
23. De La Rosa – 0
24. Glock – 0

Constructor’s
1. Ferrari – 69 (Alonso carrying the team, massively)
2. Mercedes – 58 (Looks to be a very solid team so far)
3. McLaren – 51 (Potential, but lacking)
4. Lotus – 48
5. Sauber – 47 (Huge potential)
6. Williams – 17
7. Force India – 10
8. Red Bull – 3 (Seriously? I should be in that car if they can’t score more points)
9. Toro Rosso – 0
10. Caterham – 0 (Needs to develop more to get points)
11. Marussia – 0
12. HRT – 0

Next race coming soon!

@graham228221

Bitten by the weather bug Shane :( For me dry-damp-wet transitions are ok, but wet to dry conditions are almost impossible to get right. Fingers crossed for a patch soon.

Haha yeah mate, well and truly bitten :) I just hope that the AI can make wrong choices with regards to choosing tyres in changing conditions. After the first lap, every single driver drove into the pits to change to slicks and of course it was the right decision. They seem to be one step ahead of you all the time.

I also think that a parade lap would be a really cool feature for the next game. If you watched the german GP at nurburgring in 2007, Marcus Winkelhock pitted for full wets on the parade lap and he ended up leading the race. So it would be cool to see what parts of the track are wet before you start the race or perhaps the race engineer could tell you.

Race 4 – Bahrain – Season 3 – Williams

Quali: 5th
The quali was fully wet. Yes thats right, rain in Bahrain. Well done codemasters. It seems as though they want to include the bloody dynamic weather in every race weekend :/

Anyway my pace was surprisingly good in the wet and was very happy to get an excellent fifth. Webber took pole with Alonso and Hamilton behind. Maldonado was in 13th. Raikonnen was the fall guy in Q1 and he would start 18th.

Race – 11th
Through the first corner I got up to 3rd as I passed the two Mclarens and then coming up to turn 3 I did a double overtake in the inside of Alonso and Webber to take the lead. From then on I managed to keep Alonso at bay although it was very tough. On lap 9 I was swamped down the straight as Alonso and Hamilton overtook me using DRS. On the next lap Massa passed me with DRS however I repassed him on the outside of turn 4 which was pretty cool. I then hit a curb too hard and spun which dropped me down to 8th and I then pitted for primes. From then on it was just me holding up everyone behind and getting swamped down the straight with people using DRS. On the last lap I ran out of fuel near the last corner which meant Maldonado got through and I fell out of the points. A pretty miserable end to a silly race by me with lots of mistakes. Although I wasnt helped by runing a default setup as my setup got wiped for some reason after quali. Thanks again codemasters. Hamilton won with Alonso and Button behind. Maldonado was 9th.

Caterham – Expert – 50%

Australia- Started 17th Finished 14th

Before the race even started i knew i was on the back foot as my gears were wayyyy to long, however i got a decent start and was up to 15th by T3 however multiple broken front wing allowed me sneek up to 9th where i held until the pits where i was held for 10 secs :( I fell to 16th but fought back to 13th only to run out of fuel and fall back to 14th. Nevertheless happy with my pace on a circuit that isnt my favourite :) Practice for Malaysia is goin well with 3rd fastest in practice on a 1:37.6

Season 1 (Marussia)

Race 5 – Spain

Finally, a proper racetrack!

After the disappointment of Bahrain, I’ve got a better feeling about Catalunya. Thankfully, it also looks the weekend will be mostly dry, most importantly no rain forecast for the race itself.

Practice starts and I’m straight out on the primes to hammer out some laps and get my set up down. Again, I can’t quite get 7th gear long enough but otherwise it’s pretty easy to treat my usual set up to match the flowing circuit.

This circuit really showcases the handling, which I still think is a big improvement. I hear that CM are upping the level of grip offline, which I think is probably an ok idea as long as they don’t go over the top and keep the ‘slow in, fast out’ style of driving. The 3rd corner is awesome; get it spot on and it can be taken flat out even in my lowly Marussia, but if you get it a bit wrong you’ll understeer wide – it feels rewarding and realistic. Even the clunky chicane at the end of the lap is good fun when you get it right, but it’s like threading a needle and so easy to get wrong if you’re really pushing.

I love how the tyres react individually this year. You can watch the front left heat up around the long right handers, and it wears much quicker too.

As usual, my practice time aren’t brilliant but I’m ahead of my teammate and sure I have more pace to find.

There is a 40% chance of rain for qualifying, so I head straight onto the track in Q1 on options to make sure I don’t get caught out if it’s raining.

My first lap feels ok-ish, but I have enough fuel for a second flying lap. I’m up by 0.5s in the first sector, but on the run down from turn 4 there’s a Caterham on a slow outlap. He’s sitting on the racing line, so I jink left – just as he does the same!

I have to swerve on the grass, and only just avoid spinning into the barriers. Lap ruined. I’ll definitely be having a word with the stewards.

Back into the garage to fit a fresh set of options, then back onto track. I’m currently in 22nd, with a target of 20th.

The lap feels great, the corners flow into satisfying combinations and, luckily, no traffic this time.

I cross the line, and I’m into 19th! My time is two tenths ahead of Petrov, and I head back to the pits feeling very pleased with myself.

I watch the timing screen for the rest of session, heading out with two minutes left on worn options just in case anyone were to threaten my time. No one seems to be improving, so head I come straight back in to celebrate.

I have a few days away before the race, so give myself a few time trial laps to settle back into the track.

Lined up on the grid on options between Vergne and Petrov (on primes), my race target is 18th. The lights go out. I make decent start, taking Vergne. But Heikki has a stormer and is ahead of me into turn 1, so I’m still 19th.

Turn 3 and three cars run wide, then I gently tap Kobayashi into 5 and he spins, moving me into 15th. I quickly take stock of my immediate rivals, Heikki is two places ahead and I’m surprised to see my teammate Timo right behind.

I’m able to hold my own until DRS is enabled, but then the faster cars behind begin picking their through the field. Timo quickly falls back and then Senna and Di Resta attack me, both overtaking under DRS on lap 5. Heikki ahead is able to defend a bit better, presumably with help of KERS, and lasts until lap 7 before he is in front of me (albeit 8 seconds ahead).

I have chosen to pit early, as in Bahrain, so come in a lap earlier than everyone else. I’m in 18th by then, having been overtaken by Ricciardo.

I don’t have the greatest outlap, making a couple of mistakes on the cold primes, and De la Rosa emerges from the pits just ahead of me. I’m 22nd after everyone but Petrov has pitted.

I’m pretty isolated too, De la Rosa seems to have much better pace and with a few laps he is 5 seconds ahead with the Caterhams both further up the road. 10 seconds behind me Glock and Narain are battling it out.

The rest of the race plays out without much pressure and without much incident, it’s just a case of putting in consistent laps. I say it again, getting rid of tyre scaling was a great decision – lapping consistently, and relatively conservatively, for 22 laps on one set of tyres is a great challenge.

The blue flags cause the usual inconvenience, and I occasionally make up ground on De la Rosa but he remains out of reach.

Schumacher and Heikki must have a coming together at some point, as both retire at the same time. Later on there are some yellow flags and I spot on the minimap someone well off the track at the hairpin (they blink out of existence soon after). A lap later I find out that it’s Mark Webber.

So I’m into 19th. Narain and Timo both seem to turn the wick up in the last five laps, and they make up a fair bit of ground to get within two seconds of me with three laps to go. Luckily I have some fuel in hand so I can turn my own engine up too. That, and Alonso lapping us for the second time, means they don’t get close enough to mount any proper attack.

So I finish 19th, my best result so far. It means I’m into 22nd in the standings and back ahead of Timo overall. I missed my race target by one spot, but still I’m pretty happy with the race.

A quieter race then, but no less entertaining for me.

Onto the mean streets of Monte Carlo. The weather forecast is for dry practice and qualifying, and torrential rain in the race.

At the sharp end of the grid, a home win for Alonso puts him into joint second with Button. They both trail Hamilton by 11 points. Lewis had a great start to the season, winning thee first two races, but has dropped off recently with particularly poor qualifying performances.

Absolute Disaster…. power cut during an Autosave…. hello Day1 at Abu Dhabi :-(

Ah man, that sucks guys! I’m going to be really paranoid with mine now :/

Season 1 – Marussia
Race 6 – Monaco

Man, Monaco sucks. I hate it :(

I admittedly restart Practice numerous times – an hour just isn’t enough time to get into some sort of rhythm here, let alone find a decent set up. And with the race due to be wet, I need time to practice with the compromised set up I’ll be using in qualifying and the race.

It feels great stringing a few laps together, but sooner or later I always seem to make a mistake. Usually into Sainte Devote or Rascasse, both corners I end up giving a lot of respect after understeering into the barriers uncountable times. Eventually I get to point where I’m somewhat happy, able to put together 10 or so clean laps.

Qualifying goes better than I expected. The key seems to be getting out at the very start of the session, clean air is everything. My first lap, on the option tyres, is great – I love careening through Massenet and Casino, it really feels like you’re on the edge when it’s going right. I get a 1:21.8. On my in lap, Webber has stopped at the Nouvelle Chicane. He doesn’t look damaged, but he’s not moving. He’s awkwardly placed and would surely render the chicane impassible at speed, so I hope he stays there as I’m currently in 6th!

There always seems to be more time left on the table at Monaco, so I head out for another run on a fresh set of options. By the time I’m back on the track everyone except Webber has set a time and I’m 18th.

There’s just no room to set a proper flying lap. Webber sets his lap and I’m in 19th. Kovalainen is in 20th, a tenths back. I have yet another pang with the barriers a Rascasse, and head back to the pits.

I seem pretty safe in 19th, so I just head out on primes for the rest of the session to get in some more practice. Rosberg stops at the exact same place Webber did earlier before the end of the session, and remains there for a good 3-4 minutes until the chequered flag.

I line up on the grid in 19th, just behind Alonso, which is a surprise after his recent strong showings. Button is on pole, ahead of Webber. I’m on primes, hoping to put off my pitstop until the rain starts (55% chance of rain).

I have a decent start, getting ahead of Alonso before he uses KERS to get back in front. But I’m on the inside into Sainte Devote, and emerge ahead. On the way up the hill, somehow the cars in front of me are FOUR wide! That obviously doesn’t last long so I’m able to make up more places. I turn my fuel mix down, as I’m not really at risk of being overtaken and I could probably use it later during the pitstop phases.

I manage 6-7 laps without anyone getting past, although they give it a good few goes and a few front wings get destroyed in the process. Grosjean up ahead loses his front wing somewhere and I have to make a hair raising pass out of the swimming pool. I’m in 14th at this point, with a bit of a train behind.

Finally I make a mistake on lap 8 and Ricciardo forces his way past. Alonso is next, but can’t get past despite several attempts into Nouvelle. He pits, along with most of the others behind me on lap 12.

Things start getting a bit chaotic now, as the leaders start lapping us backmarkers. I end up damaging my front wing into Rascasse on lap 14, so head into the pits – ruining my plan to hold off pitting until the rain comes. As I head back out, I’m disheartened to see drops of rain beginning to fall.

The whole race just seems to lose it at this point. I come of the pits in 21st, just behind Petrov and in front of De la Rosa. He gets a drive through soon after, although I’m not sure why. Petrov started on Primes and hasn’t pitted yet, so on my new options I’m putting pressure on him.

I get DRS on the start-finish straight, but mess up into Sainte Devote and lose my front wing totally. My race more or less over, I head back to the pits. I notice yellow flags in sector 2.

I try to take it easy into the Nouvelle Chicane, but underestimate how totally useless my front brakes now are without the front wing and just go straight on. The cause of the yellow flags is revealed to be a pretty big pile up of cars just before Tabac.

Unfortunately, I get a seemingly random black flag at this point and ghost through 7 or 8 cars all creeping away from a stricken (and also ghosted) Force India.

No idea whether it was the corner cut, which was totally unintentional, or not lifting off for yellow flags or what that warranted my disqualification.

Can’t say I’m wholly disappointed to be honest. I finish 22nd and get a cutscene I haven’t seen before (walking into my garage, head down). Onto Montreal, and a track I think I’ll enjoy much more!

Hamilton picks up the win, ended a lean spell and putting him back in control of the championship.

@olliekart

Will do race tomorow and will be on my YouTube Channel (Hopefully) :)

A link to your channel?