F1 2011 be careful of 'optimal fuel'

[MS7XWDC]

be careful of 'optimal fuel' .. better to always try to end every race with '+1 lap':

 

[taz1004]

Yea, learned that the hard way.

 

[TGApples]

This has been reported many many times. Don't really know what you expected entering the penultimate lap with only one lap of fuel. I think there's a rounding error that goes wrong internally.

Nice dirty driving to take Massa off however. Certainly worth a penalty. Stupid penalty system didn't award one though. Might post on the official forums complaining!

 

[Wojciech Grabowski]

"optimal" means that you have -0,5 to 0,5. I'm always sticking to +1 or higher.

 

[Michael Brown]

Yeah it's a rounding error. Optimal can mean anything from having enough fuel for the first few corners of the last lap to having enough for part of the next lap. I think it should always be rounded down, to avoid things like that. If you have enough fuel to do 80% of the lap, then your fuel is not "optimal" as there isn't enough for a lap. Instead that would be -1 lap.

 

[Craig Whitmore]

I think we've all had this.

Jeez, why can't they just give us a digital readout?

 

[MS7XWDC]

This has been reported many many times. Don't really know what you expected entering the penultimate lap with only one lap of fuel. I think there's a rounding error that goes wrong internally.

where do you see "1" Lap ??

 

[~cw]

Also discovered this the hard way. Such a stupid oversight.

 

[TGApples]

where do you see "1" Lap ??

Start of lap you have -1 laps. Two laps remaining. 2 - 1 = 1.

 

[MS7XWDC]

Start of lap you have -1 laps. Two laps remaining. 2 - 1 = 1.

sorry, wrong. then how do you explain this? says i have 1 lap fuel left [optimal, right?] before lap 12 starts.

try again with a new excuse:

 

[taz1004]

Happened to me at Spa. I used mix 3 in the middle of the race until it said optimal. Then reduced it to mix 2 thinking that optimal would take me to the finish. I ran out on the start of the last lap. I regard +1 as optimal since then.

 

[AgentMulder]

Another examples of Codies' fine coding at work...

It could be worse though. I've never run out of fuel, mostly because I was made aware of this very early in the games life. There are a few rules of thumb that you can use to help keep your car running.

1. Err on the side of caution.
The only time fuel is going to make a major difference pace wise between two cars is if you and your opponent are matching each other perfectly time for time. Beyond that, the small amount you stand to gain from stretching the "optimal" phase is nothing compared to what you stand to lose from running out.

Any time you flick the fuel up to rich, you really need to be checking all the time, especially for longer races. Once you hit optimal, you have about a two to three lap window. If you stay within this, changing the mix back to standard should be enough to keep you in the game. Four to five laps over means you will need to compensate by running lean mix for a few laps. Depending on many laps remain, going much beyond five laps is tempting fate. Better to play it safe.

2. Conserve when you can.
Sure, the engineer tells you to go lean during a safety car phase, but that's not the only time you can save a bit of fuel. If you're in a really tight battle and don't want to risk running out, adjust the mix when you're pitting in or going into a slow section of the track. This can give you a bit of a safety net in case you overextend your rich mix phase.

3. Be reasonable with your gaps.
I've nearly fallen victim to this a few times. After I pass the guy, I leave the fuel up because I want to build a gap. Thing is, if the other guy is a clean racer, you can stand to turn the fuel down to standard. Typically when the lead car is being caught he'll up his mix to maintain the gap. Even if you pass him and then slow down, he'll still leave the fuel up to try and repass as quickly as possible. By driving defensively and keeping him behind, you'll keep him burning much more fuel. Playing mind games like this not only saves you fuel, but may run your opponent out.

 

[TGApples]

sorry, wrong. then how do you explain this? says i have 1 lap fuel left [optimal, right?] before lap 12 starts.

Don't really know what you expected entering the penultimate lap with only one lap of fuel

Penultimate means the one before the final lap. Lap 11. This is at the 10 second point. At this point you have two laps remaining and the fuel guage reads -1.

I'm not arguing that it's not broken, but I am saying that, even if it was fine, pushing it this much to the limit was silly.

 

[Misty McConachie]

Personally I like that it's not precise, it adds an element of danger in there that's quite fun. I run by a rule of thumb of running lean for as many laps as I run rich, though on some tracks you can get away without doing this.

 

[~cw]

Personally I like that it's not precise, it adds an element of danger in there that's quite fun. I run by a rule of thumb of running lean for as many laps as I run rich, though on some tracks you can get away without doing this.

Very optimistic way of looking at it ;-) Personally I wish they'd gone for absolute realism and had the engineer more tightly dictating your fuel mixture as happens in real life. I know I can adjust my own mixture if I want but I was hoping it would be more realistic in that regard during races. I'm sure drivers in RL mostly abide by the engineer's strategy calls for fuel mix because they want to concentrate on hitting apexes.

 

[Karl Fuss]

Personally I like that it's not precise, it adds an element of danger in there that's quite fun. I run by a rule of thumb of running lean for as many laps as I run rich, though on some tracks you can get away without doing this.

I like it this way as well... brings a bigger 'risk' factor to running optimal fuel level.

I also like to run lean fuel mix when my tyres start to really go off. I usually end up running low mix for the two laps before my stop. I find the lower mix makes it easier to keep control of the car going into and out of the corners. so, if i'm running a two stop race there are at least 4 laps of low mix fuel running for me. this makes it easier for me to run the high mix on fresh tyres and not worry about running too low on fuel at the end of the race.
I do like to see the +1 lap with a couple laps remaining. It means i'm able to run at least the mid mix till the end of the race.

 

[MS7XWDC]

Penultimate means the one before the final lap. Lap 11. This is at the 10 second point. At this point you have two laps remaining and the fuel gauge reads -1.

i know the difference between ultimate and penultimate. it appears CM [and you?] don't know what 'optimal' means.

that very same gauge says 'optimal', right before lap 12 starts.

optimal = best result. by definition.

why doesn't that mean finishing the race without sputtering ? surely that is the 'best result'.


the easy work-around: i treat 'optimal' as 'too low to finish normally' and treat '+1 Lap' as 'optimal'