F1 2012 Race pace & Speed through corners

[Amoramay]

Hi,

I have had this game for around 2 weeks now, i was mainly learning to drive without assists for that time, i have got to a point were i can stick the williams on pole at australia in my first season on Pro difficulty. (mid 1.28's) was my time. I actually considered upping to legend because i shouldnt really be sticking a williams on pole if were being realistic.

Then i went to the race, and i cannot keep up with the AI, its very difficult on Pro, a few things stand out as to why im doing this :

1) I have a very bad habit of keeping my foot on the brake pedal slightly which causes me to understeer, I do this because im carrying too much speed through the corner, so i move back my braking point to adjust (so im fully off the brake at turn in) but then my speed is just too slow, so i dont get a good exit. I just cannot find the perfect point, (maybe my brake pressure isn't consistant?) any advice on this?

2) Kinda the same as one, if i brake at my usual point i find myself downshifting far too quickly, (no rythem, or not smooth) Its very frustating, any advice would be helpful!

3) Race Pace, why can i get pole and then not keep up during the race? Is it consistancy during laps? i cannot tell its annoying the hell out of me lol

4) just another question off topic really, when you come to a turn on game, lets say for instance turns 1+2 at Albert park, the first is a right hander leading onto a quick left hander which flows onto a mini straight if you like. Do you turn slowly and smoothly or do you yank the wheel at turn in? (to the desired angle) I seem to hit the apex nicely at the right speed but it throws me out wide.

Sorry for the long post but these issues are really annoying me, im open to criticism if it sounds to you guys that it is simply me and nothing else, if my driving is terrible i need to know so i can learn and get better lol

This games great i just think its one of those games that gets better the better you become, any help appreciated!!

Regards Johnny

 

[Graham Laing]

There always seems to be an imbalance in this game regarding Qualifying Times and Race Pace.

I think part of the issue, in all 3 of the games, but I am not sure it still stands, is session skipping.

You used to never get a full picture of the Qualifying pace of the AI if you skipped to the end of the Qualifying sessions. I am not even sure you should speed up the Q time either. It seems best if you run the whole session in real time.

In addition to this, the Pro level of AI was tweaked in Patch 6. :

Made Pro level AI quicker so that the time gap to Legendary AI is smaller. We’re keen to get community feedback on this change.

There were complaints about the Pro AI being too slow in the race. So CM tweaked the Pro up a bit, making it closer to Legend. This also created a huge gap between Pro and Intermediate, as the lower levels were not tweaked up at the same time.

Regarding Turn 1 @Melbourne. I tend to look for my marker, give a stab of brakes, and throw the car into the turn. You are looking to take a lot of the kerb on the left of turn 2 (avoiding grass if possible), and lot of the exit kerb on the right as you enter the short straight, trying to keep the momentum going.

Consistency is the key too, you kind of get into a metronomic rhythm, a bit trance like, when trying to do all the laps to a similar pace. However you have to be aware of tyre wear and fuel load. I can really lose my mojo for a while if I light a cigarette or take a swig of coffee when driving, the rhythm gets upset.

My tendency is to go pretty hard at the beginning, using rich fuel settings often. Then the middle stint in a kind of consistent fuel saving mode. Towards the end after the last pit stop, I get aggressive again, and should have saved enough fuel to push for many laps.

However we all have our own way of doing things. If you are comfortable with your driving, you should do reasonable times. If you panic and push too much, not playing the long game, you are almost bound to have an accident and ruin everything

 

[Amoramay]

Thank you for the reply Graham,

Its so good you even answers questions i had that i forgot to ask, i do tend to go off alot when pushing too hard, this is my main flaw, especially as i want to join a league when i'm good enough (no flashbacks, Oh dear lol)

The turn 1 answer makes sense, i see this in videos i watch to try and get better, im always just trying to clip the apex. I'll give taking more kerb a try. I actually just had a great race at melbourne with safety car! (really helped me out) and managed my best finish of 5th on pro. This was with alot more caution into the corners, although the AI pace in the last section is ridiculous, it makes it worse as the DRS zone is after that section but they just take +1 second out of my time in the section alone, its hard to get within DRS for the home straight.

The difference between Intermediate and pro is huge, i crush intermediate, but struggle to keep pace on pro, i didn't know about the patch before now.

You last paragraph is basically me in a nutshell, i will try and stay in the rythem as i do tend to push too hard, i find myself pushing too hard on pro due to the difficulty, but wouldnt want to reduce it as there is no challenge there. Maybe trying to stay in a rythem on pro regardless of result would provide more pleasurable gameplay.

thanks for the response

regards Johnny

 

[GUISEPE]

Hi, with my game (set to pro), the pole was 1,26,,7 by hamilton, But i think you should set your car for the race, specially your gear ratio and mechanical grip to not destroy your tyre and be able to attack even after a few laps. If you set your gear ratio with the drs open, you can be very fast on Quali, but you're gonna be too slow for the race as you will be not able to reach a good top speed without the DRS. So set your gear to be competitive without it. You'll loose some top speed for the quali but you'll be much faster during the race.
I'm also agree with Graham about the fuel mix. I start with mix 3 for 2 laps, then 2 for 3 laps & 1 for 5 laps or more before the pit (mix 1 is good to preserve your soft tire). In the last stint, when the Ai push hard, do the same with your fuel mix.
Last thing : Setup your car with the prime tyres ! you have to feel good with them, be able to attack, cause in fact you will do more laps with them during the race.

 

[Amoramay]

Hi,

Thanks for your reply Guisepe, i dont really know what im doing in regards to setup just yet, so i kind of just take the ones from RD setup directory at this moment in time. In regards to your race strategy, Im going to try something siiliar when im back from work. One thing has puzzled me though..

Hi, with my game (set to pro), the pole was 1,26,,7 by hamilton

Why was the pole so low? My time was something like 1:28.300 and the nearest challenger was at least .600 away from me, i play on PS3.

regards Johnny.

 

[GUISEPE]

Ok, i'm playing on pc, maybe there's a difference, on legend they do a 1,25,5 ! Did you installed all the patch, cause the pro level has been up-graded in patch 6 in think.
Be carreful with the setup you can see here. They are often for time trial, good for a super fast lap with a big DRS benefit, but very agressive on tyre if you use it for the race, so don't forget to make compromise for your race.

I was in a same situation when i start the game "the race is damned so hard !" the gear ratio stuff helped me a lot, Now i know when i'm good at Quali, i'm gonna be good for the race too !

Glad to help !

 

[GUISEPE]

Also, don't worry if you think you are too slow in the practice session because they use the DRS. Just drive in race condition to set the car.

 

[Amoramay]

Ahh!! maybe thats were im going wrong! my tyres do wear quickly, which tends to send me off later in a stint. Thanks for the help!! also one other question, are the AI times different on different race lengths? i find on 50% races i tend to stay up near the front much more is this due to the AI doing slower laps? also, my fuel says 58 laps on the setup screen yet im doing 15? and one last thing, how would i check for the latest patch? i know your on PC but if you know how to do that it would be great.

Thank you

 

[Graham Laing]

The AI times should be particularly different with different race lengths, probably the fuel weight being carried it the major factor here.

You are fuelled for a 100% race, and in a 50% race you are burning it twice as quickly.

Guisepe hit the nail on the head regarding gearbox setup. Do most of your practice runs and setting up on Prime tyres, after all they are the tyres you are likely to spend most of the race on. When you use the Options in the race you will have even more grip, and won't have to worry about the setup, as you have already set your car up on the less grippier Primes. So it can only be better not worse.

Again as Guisepe said, it is better being setup for the race rather than Qualifying. So do some long runs with a heavy fuel load in practice, do some low fuel runs too so that you are happy with the handling in both conditions.

Set up your gearbox for the race too. This means initially adjusting 7th gear to the right usually (equally spacing the lower gears), so that at the end of the longest straight on the track, just before braking, you hit maximum revs. You do this without using KERS or DRS on that straight. This gets you to max speed on that straight without any aids, ideal for 90-95% of the race.

This does mean that when you are in the race and use KERS on that straight, you will hit maximum revs a little earlier, and cannot accelerate any more. If it is a DRS zone and you get to use it, you will max out even earlier, maybe 2/3 of the way along that straight. This is a compromise, where you have given up a bit of top speed under DRS/KERS conditions, but actually for all those other laps where you don't get the an opportunity to DRS overtake another car, you will always get max speed on the straight.

When you think about it, when you are racing, how often do you actually get the the chance of a DRS overtake? Not that many generally.

Look at Melbourne for example, the AI are mighty in sector 3, but most of your overtaking opportunities are in sectors 1 & 2. So many times you get in the DRS zone there, and they are so fast through the last corner onto the straight, that DRS doesn't help much, you run out of straight before you can overtake. But after turns 1 & 2 it's a different story, especially in the braking zones.

So, you have now set the 7th gear up, some people will now setup 1st gear for the slowest corner on the track. It's not something I particularly worry about, because I use the throttle carefully, or short-shift up to the next gear (early) to maintain traction. You can then equally spread the other gear ratios if you want, and leave it at that.

I go one step further after equally spacing the gears, and setup one or two other gears for particular corners, if possible. I really hate having to change up to the next gear, just before the braking zone for the next corner. So I might set the gears so that the gear change is earlier, or more likely later, so it's not required.

For example, if I have to change up the 5th just before a 3rd gear chicane, I would extend 4th gear, meaning I just brake and drop to 3rd. Much better than just changing up to 5th, then braking and dropping 2 gears to 3rd.

Anyway ..... I am droning on here ..... and didn't mean to

Oh ..... sorry I know nothing about how you check for or install console patches

Cheers

 

[GUISEPE]

Ahh!! maybe thats were im going wrong! my tyres do wear quickly, which tends to send me off later in a stint. Thanks for the help!! also one other question, are the AI times different on different race lengths? i find on 50% races i tend to stay up near the front much more is this due to the AI doing slower laps? also, my fuel says 58 laps on the setup screen yet im doing 15? and one last thing, how would i check for the latest patch? i know your on PC but if you know how to do that it would be great.

Thank you

If your xbox is connected to the net, i think it's automatic (it was on my ps3). So, if you're not connected, you had no patch.

 

[Amoramay]

Thanks to both of you, I had a 50% race from my original Pole and finished 7th, but overall i realised that the pace is more realistic on 50% races. From now on all i will do is those.

As for setups, Great infomation, i've now realised that i never use practice properly, i just drive round and gain no information regarding car setups or race pace at all, i never thought i would be capeable of setting the car as it all seemed so technical & complicated! Graham has made it so much simpler, i fully understand what you mean about gears, The sharp left after the double right hander at Malaysia springs to mind, im always changing into 7th just before that corner, i need to up my 6th gear to adjust instead of putting up with the extra gear changes into such a tough corner.

Great information guys, makes me glad i joined RD very helpful!

regarsd, Johnny

 

[Kroze]

Yeap, this is nice one. I have played it, this is suggested me by my friend which is vary close. Genuinely, I'm not vary fond of gaming, but this one was nice.


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