F1 2010 Silverstone - Seriously Struggling

[Seftinho]

I'm not the best of drivers, and I play with all assists on bar braking. I do play on legend however and have been finishing around 15th to 8th so far this season.

But I've just got to Silverstone and I am finding this track impossible. I post a lap in the 1:36/1:37 area every four or five laps, which as you'll know is very slow and puts me at the pace of the other new cars. You might say, ok, that's realistic, but I wouldn't be fussed if I was posting these times consistently. My problem is this is the best I can ever do and I do it too rarely. If I go into a race as I am I'll get crucified.

My main problem is is the Racing Line assist. It's messed up for this Grand Prix. It's telling me to brake too late, sometimes it's not even telling me to brake at all (and if I try to follow it full throttle, or even half throttle, I go horribly wide). I've tried taking it off, but I'm just useless without it.

There are just some corners that I can't do without either slowing dramatically or going off the circuit. I'm continuously going wide and/or losing too much time in the corners.

I'm not sure what advice you could give me, but any would be appreciated really. Could anyone upload a video of them doing Silverstone with the Racing Line on?

NB: The setup isn't the problem, I've tried various setups on here as well as the already set Balanced and Very Dry setups. With Balanced I'm finding it easier to stay on the track, however I'm way too slow. With the Dry and custom setups I'm faster, but really struggling to stay on the track and post consistent times. The problem is me, I just can't find the right braking points, I'm not sure whether to brake, then turn, or brake and turn simultaneously. I have no idea how to take the hairpin at the end (half-throttle? Brake and then just turn with no throttle?).

Argh, I hate this track. Why does it have to be my home track as well? I'm really tempted to just skip it (don't know if that's possible, if not I could just skip to race then DNF) but I want to try and do well on my home race.

 

[Alex Guehennec]

Maybe you can practice in Time Trial mod, then choose a ghost you want in the list (choose a laptime you think you can follow), and do 50 or 100 laps
After that the track will be easier

Edit: here a fast guy http://www.youtube.com/user/johnnyw2405

 

[Chris Rees]

The hairpin at the end (luffield) should be just a slight tap on the brakes as you shouldnt be carrying too much speed in because of the left hand corner just before hand. You should be able to get the car to hook up somewhere near the apex or around the middle of the track and have some throttle applied, to the point where your not understeering too wide. Ease on the power for the last quarter of the corner and run out wide on the exit. As a general rule i never try braking into a corner as it causes no end of problems. Try and brake in a straight line as much as possible and then turn in once off the brakes.

 

[haveanicedayman]

I'm the same, I do fine at most tracks and then there's Barcelona and Silverstone which seem to be a new tier of difficulty.

 

[DeepPurple]

I found Silverstone not as hard as Spain. You just have to keep full throttle through most of the first sector bends and bump down a gear to help control the speed.

 

[Seftinho]

Cheers for the advice guys.

I struggled a little with Catalunya as well, particularly the last double chicane where I would often spin it, but after the three practise sessions I found it easier. At the moment with Silverstone I keep having to repeat P3 because I've still not got to grips with the track.

I expect it would be a hell of a lot easier if I was capable of doing manual gears, but I think that's a bit beyond me for now, so would it be easier to adjust the gears so that my car never hits 7th gear? I wouldn't be as quick but would it give me more control?

It's sector 1 I struggle the most on I think, sectors 2 and 3 are OK, although I'm not sure if I'm losing time on the hairpin (cheers for the advice Chris, I'll try that). There's the first half-turn where the racing line is telling me to go full throttle, but I've found I need to brake quickly before the turn, line it up and accelerate again. I think I've got that bit done now, but I'm really struggling to control the car in the next couple of turns, often running wide.

There's a couple of corners in Sector 2 (I think) where I often run wide, but that is braking into the corner. I might try braking straight, turning and then accelerating instead and see how that goes.

 

[ruiabreu]

thanks

 

[Seftinho]

thanks

Er.. no problem?

 

[Dave Holmes]

Cheers for the advice guys.

I struggled a little with Catalunya as well, particularly the last double chicane where I would often spin it, but after the three practise sessions I found it easier. At the moment with Silverstone I keep having to repeat P3 because I've still not got to grips with the track.

I expect it would be a hell of a lot easier if I was capable of doing manual gears, but I think that's a bit beyond me for now, so would it be easier to adjust the gears so that my car never hits 7th gear? I wouldn't be as quick but would it give me more control?

It's sector 1 I struggle the most on I think, sectors 2 and 3 are OK, although I'm not sure if I'm losing time on the hairpin (cheers for the advice Chris, I'll try that). There's the first half-turn where the racing line is telling me to go full throttle, but I've found I need to brake quickly before the turn, line it up and accelerate again. I think I've got that bit done now, but I'm really struggling to control the car in the next couple of turns, often running wide.

There's a couple of corners in Sector 2 (I think) where I often run wide, but that is braking into the corner. I might try braking straight, turning and then accelerating instead and see how that goes.

Howdy,
For what it's worth here's my advice. I'm sure a lot of people may disagree with it but I'm not exactly the best driver in the world either, and it works for me....

First off, even though you may hate it, turn off the racing/corner lines assist & turn your traction control to medium!

Check back to the set-ups for Silverstone and find one you like, then adjust wing angles, balance etc to your liking 90% of the set-up should remain the same - Use entire 1.5hrs Practice for this!

Ok, here we go.......

Copse R/H:
Slight tap on the brakes just before turn-in, then back on throttle as car drifts wide.

Maggots/Beckets/Chapel Complex L/H R/H L/H R/H L/H:
Full throttle into 1st Left Hander then tap brakes into next Right Hander. Ease off throttle (No Brake) into next Left Hander then harder on brakes into next Right. Final Left Hander is good tap on brakes and the car will drift wide onto Hangar Straight.

Stowe R/H:
Very fast corner - slight tap on brakes then hard on throttle thru corner.

Vale/Club L/H R/H Chicane:
Very hard on brakes into Left Hander then sensitive on the throttle thru Right Hander.

Abbey R/H:
Another very fast corner - slight tap on brakes and then tight thru turn. This leads directly into....

Farm L/H: This is full throttle.

Village R/H: Comes directly after Farm and is hard on the brakes and keep car tight into inside kerbs - leads into the double apex Left Hander of......

The Loop & Aintree L/H: 1st part (The Loop) is strong brake in then feather throttle out of corner thru Aintree at full throttle taking inside kerbs as you go onto Wellington Straight.

Brooklands L/H: Hard on brakes and keep car close to inside kerbs again - Car should drift out a bit so get ready to brake again for....

Luffield R/H: Brakeinto the apex and feather throttle around the corner sticking close to inside kerbs. When car drifts out steady on the throttle until you're straight and then off you go again.......

Hope at least 1 bit of this helps!!!!

 

[Ryan Malley]

Pretty sensible advice there!

 

[Kev Wardle]

its the old old story practice makes perfect......learn the track so its like second nature....turn off racing line leaving just the corners do some more laps then turn off the corners and learn the braking points then your ready to rock and roll....
good luck.....

 

[Dave Holmes]

Pretty sensible advice there!

Thanks! lol

I hope Hamilton wins too

 

[Ryan Malley]

Thanks! lol

I hope Hamilton wins too

No worries, always nice to know if you've gone to that much time posting something beneficial to the community that people have read it!

& he will, no worries in my mind.

 

[Gustavo Sobrino]

if you feel confortable with the racing line, keep it. but try to make an imaginary break zone different of what the game is telling you. ie. in Brooklands the racing line is telling you to break in the first marker and turn in at the second marker.... but that is just wrong, besides this corner is tricky. so what you want to do is break a little earlier of what the RL is telling you and try to mantain the same turn in point. the whole point of this is: Sometimes you just have to practice a lot and if you're using assist youll have to keep an opend mind, because the assists are not always assisting you. You can do it better if you don't totally rely on what the assists are telling you to do. change something, try something new, test the limits of your breaks, grip, aero, ect. it's ok to use 'em but try to bring something from yourself.

 

[Seftinho]

Appreciate all the advice but I really cannot do this track.

I'm going about as fast as I can. I'm not spinning off. I've turned the RL assist off. I'm braking as late as possible. But even with maximum oversteer, I still can't keep to the racing line, and even when I post what I feel is a good lap, it's 2 or 3 seconds slower than everyone else. Once in a blue moon I'll post a competitive time that matches the Hispania's, but that's the best I can do, and in a race I would get destroyed.

I've practised for literally hours and it's just no fun anymore. Is there a way to just skip it? Can I skip to race then retire? Or will I have to crash my car up?

 

[Dimos Kapourniotis]

check also the hardware..is your steering weel fast enough?

 

[stbreaker]

It's true that you're probably going to come between 20-24, but it's all good. What worked for me was to take the custom setup everyone seems to like and turn up the wings to front:3 and rear:2

If you're in a garbage backmarker car, you need to put the throttle map on 'Fast.' Another thing I did that helped a little was to use the adjustable front wing. I turned the aero up just before sector 1 for all those S curves and then turned it back down as I was entering sector 2. Just making those changes and doing a little bit of practice took me from several seconds behind the slowest car to qualifying 18th in the HRT (which would've been fine if it wasn't Cosworth's home race)

 

[Steve Stoop]

the first sector and the final two corners are really key at silverstone imo.
Just finished a race there so it's very fresh on my mind (no assists - it gives you control of the car, esp auto gears may be hurting you here) Got a decent 7th in my sauber vs legend ai.
sry, don't know the names of the corners:

- 1st kink to right, no braking, just lift and backshift to 6 and back on throttle asap
- first left full throttle in 7th, short lift and backshift to 6 before hitting the right turn.
- Take that full throttle in 6, lift, downshift to 5 for right S then medium throttle pressure.
- downshift to 4 for the next right, lift first, then easy on the throttle as you hit the apex, back full on it just before entering final corner before the straight

- end of straight, brake and downshift to 5th, medium throttle thru apex, full on asap
- to the chicane!: downshift to 3, throttle on between corners, easy on the throttle going out, take the kink to the right full throttle
-so onto the next straight, very fast corner no braking just backshift to sixth and asap full throttle again through the left turn.
-onto a slow corner, downshift to 2nd, easy on the throttle, lift, take slow turn right
-accellerate full through the kink left onto straight.
-brake, downshift to 4 midcorner at end of straight, make sure to hit the apex and give a last throttle push before the final right turn, taken in 3rd.

Hope this makes any sense, again sry for not knowing the actual names of the corners. You see that for me it is really important to have manual gears to control my speed through the corners. It will help you heaps if you learn it too I'm sure.