What do you think about the cars?
At first, it felt so... wow, these babies are sensitive!!! My first few laps at A1-Ring were a struggle, coming from the F3000.
But very soon the sensations were there and I knew I had reached the point of no return...
No way I could go back to driving F3k!!! I love these F1 monsters too much!!!
What do you think about the variable weather?
It definitely spices things up a bit... and forces us to drive in different conditions and adapt our driving and strategy as conditions change.
I like to know the weather forecast two weeks in advance, not necessarily in detail but globally, because I feel it's just not realistic to show up for the race and have no clue about what's going to happen. We all know how hard it is to harness the power of these babies in wet conditions so coming unprepared (which will happen if we don't know the forecast as people will not necessarily practice for all possible conditions) is just a recipee for disaster and ruining the races of others that are prepared.
Having the weather only a couple days before the race does not help either. We all have different schedules, different commitments, and this means that those of us with free time to practice on thursday and friday will have a clear advantage when race comes. Having the forecast two weeks early means that everybody will get a chance to practice in race conditions and be prepared mentally and technically just like real Formula One drivers are informed of the probable race conditions (and unlike us, have nothing else to worry about...)
On the other hand, maybe the forecast could be a bit less precise: It could be fun to know there will be a rain shower... but not necessarily when exactly it will happen...
What do you think about the choice of tracks?
It's great. The more real F1 tracks, the better. Obviously we all have preferences and some tracks suit us better than others, but so do real F1 drivers. Just look at Raikonnen and his secondary residence in Spa...
What do you think about the race length?
We want realistic? We want F1 tracks for F1 cars? So we also want real race length!!!
Too bad the pitstops take so damn long...
What do you think about the league setup regarding teams and drivers?
Good to have teams with paired up drivers of matching strengths and who can practice together. It was great for me to be able to practice with my teammate Will during this first season. It's fun and accelerates the improvement rate. Plus it builds bonds that makes you more dedicated when it comes to being well prepared for each race as we push each other to get better.
What could we do better?
For Quali, I do like the idea of Superpole but only for Top 5. It's fun to shake things around and have the possibility of a different result in Q2, but it takes so very little to mess up your lap, I don't think it's a good idea for a really fast driver who got best lap in Q1 to be pushed all the way back to 10th...
For the weather, we should keep it variable but maybe less detailed if that's possible, so that we know globally what the weather will be like but not exactly when weather conditions might change. This would add a dimension of uncertainty to the race. However, I think this should only happen on a couple of races. Doing it too often would penalize some well deserving drivers and the championship ranking would lose its meaning by not reflecting the true quality of the drivers.
What else do you have to say about this season?
I wish I had been more consistent and less concerned with pace early in the season. Too much hot lapping, not enough race set-up laps...That cost me valuable championship points in Monza and Spa.
Other than that, it was brilliant to be able to concentrate on finishing races and battling with all you guys.
We should all be thankful for the level of dedication and amount of work put in by the league manager.
It's not because he's my brother (poor guy... lol) but Eric did a great job at coordinating everything in order to make sure everything would run smooth.
Thanks to Günthar and all the mod developers for their hard work, thanks to Douglas for the cool flyers and Simon for the commentaries despite some technical difficulties.
What else can I say about season 1? Let's roll on to season 2!!!