F1 2010 F1 Driving and Setup Guides

[xreyuk]

Hey guys,

I've just bought a wheel and I'm interested in learning how to drive properly.

Does anyone have any links to driving guides, or books I can buy that will teach me about racing a car, and an F1 car correctly?

I'd also like to learn about how changing things in setups will change the way the car will handle. If anyone has any links to books or guides, I'd really appreciate it

Thanks
xreyuk.

 

[Nicolas van de Velde]

You can start by reading the guide written by RD member David O'Reilly, which can be found at the top of the forum.
As for books specific for F1 and driving techniques I can't help you out with that, I only watch F1 =)

 

[Roy Sutton]

If you have never used a wheel before on any racing game then my tip would be to set the AI on easy and go on a track that has few corners like Monza, when your ok with that track try Hockeniem because that has a technical sector that will help you prepare for other tracks like Melbourne, Budapest and the dreaded Monaco etc.

Its not hard to learn to use a wheel and once you have, you'll not want to use a pad or keyboard ever again. Setting the wheel up is most important though, this setup for the wheel works very well.

Steering Dead Zone: 0%
Steering Saturation: 100%
Steering Linearity: 50%
Throttle Dead Zone: 0%
Throttle Saturation: 100%
Brake Dead Zone 0%
Brake Saturation: 100%

if your keeping your foot near or on the brake you could add a little to the brake dead zone like 5% so that should you add a little pressor by accident it doesn't slow you down (easily done in the heat of the moment).

The next thing is setting up your car, you can use the engineers setups which are good but there not good enough. A setup that works is a setup you feel confident with and although the engineers setups will do the trick you may not be fully confident with them. The big thing to remember when setting up your car is that the setup will never be perfect. For example Hockeniem is a fast track but the technical sector is a little slower (not as technical as it was back in the early 1990's but still can catch you out). Setting up your car for this track can be challanging because you need good speed but also you need to be able to get through that technical sector, balance is king in F1 and all drivers push to get the balance to there liking. So the Hockenhiem track, you have set your car up for speed but find the technical sector a little harder than you would like, what to do. You can add some wing and loose some top speed, you can focus on getting your car setup for the techical sector and then work from there to balance it out over the rest of the track. But on all tracks you will find thats its about give and take. Some parts you will have dialed the car in very well while others you need to be extra carefull. But for help on setups you can take a look through the setups forum (link bellow), there are setups for every track dry or wet. But don't expect a setup that was done in time trial to be perfect because it will not, with sims like tyre and fuel on you will notice straight away why i say that.

Car Setups Forum:
http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-2010-setups/

Because your just starting out with the wheel, turn on the corner/racing line. This will help you learn the tracks, braking points and most importantly where you should be on the track for each corner. As you get better you will start to notice the racing line is not exactly perfect as you can brake much later and accelerate much earlier in many corners, so although the racing line is good to learn with it should be turned off as soon as possible. The last thing i will say is only turn aids off when you are ready, the sooner the better but its no good if your just getting use to a wheel because its can be challanging enough with all aids on. But once you are happy you can drive and deliver competative lap times and be consistant with them, then your ready for a new challange and turning aids off at this point will be hard but very rewarding in the long run. Not only does it help you feel more confident and happier, you see exacly how well the setups you did with aids on really work because a under or oversteering car will be hard to see with the aids on but with them off you will notice it straight away. Also you can sign up for league races here at this very forum and have a lot of fun. Before all of that happens though start practising, practising is your friend and the more you do of it the better yu will get. Set the weekend ingame to long and do some long stints in each of the practise sessions on the prime tyres with fuel load set to race fuel, ie. 10 lap race 10 laps of fuel, tis will help you in more ways than one and it ives you the insight into how your car will handal in race trim because a heavier car will handal much differently than a light one.

Good luck and hope you have a lot of fun racing.

 

[Joel Vischer]

You should see the full guide from David i guess which is awesome videos on every track with commentary so good luck!

 

[lecardinal]

Hi xryuk,

i agree with Roy accept in the point using aids. If you plan to drive without any aids you should learn it right from the beginning. So, turn them off. You can use the racing line to learn the tracks, but as Roy said turn it off as soon as possible.

I suggest this because with aids on you can't find a comfortable wheel setup and for instance you would have to learn breaking and accelerating again when you turn off ABS and traction control. With aids you will not learn to use the pedals in the right way.

Don't push hard at the beginning and don't let the game frustrate you.

lecardinal

 

[David O'Reilly]

I agree with the above post.
Turn off ABS and TCS asap. They will numb you to what is happening and you will then have to wean yourself off them. Some very fast guys are still reliant on assists and its the difference between being a really good gamer and a really good sim racer. Slow the AI drivers down to make it fun but Less Assists will teach you more about driving sooner.

 

[Michal Sochan]

I suggest this because with aids on you can't find a comfortable wheel setup and for instance you would have to learn breaking and accelerating again when you turn off ABS and traction control. With aids you will not learn to use the pedals in the right way.

Don't push hard at the beginning and don't let the game frustrate you.

You are absolutely right, It's very good advice.

 

[xreyuk]

You can start by reading the guide written by RD member David O'Reilly, which can be found at the top of the forum.
As for books specific for F1 and driving techniques I can't help you out with that, I only watch F1 =)

Thanks mate

You should see the full guide from David i guess which is awesome videos on every track with commentary so good luck!

Where can I find those videos? Thanks

If you have never used a wheel before on any racing game then my tip would be to set the AI on easy and go on a track that has few corners like Monza, when your ok with that track try Hockeniem because that has a technical sector that will help you prepare for other tracks like Melbourne, Budapest and the dreaded Monaco etc.

Its not hard to learn to use a wheel and once you have, you'll not want to use a pad or keyboard ever again. Setting the wheel up is most important though, this setup for the wheel works very well.

Steering Dead Zone: 0%
Steering Saturation: 100%
Steering Linearity: 50%
Throttle Dead Zone: 0%
Throttle Saturation: 100%
Brake Dead Zone 0%
Brake Saturation: 100%

if your keeping your foot near or on the brake you could add a little to the brake dead zone like 5% so that should you add a little pressor by accident it doesn't slow you down (easily done in the heat of the moment).

The next thing is setting up your car, you can use the engineers setups which are good but there not good enough. A setup that works is a setup you feel confident with and although the engineers setups will do the trick you may not be fully confident with them. The big thing to remember when setting up your car is that the setup will never be perfect. For example Hockeniem is a fast track but the technical sector is a little slower (not as technical as it was back in the early 1990's but still can catch you out). Setting up your car for this track can be challanging because you need good speed but also you need to be able to get through that technical sector, balance is king in F1 and all drivers push to get the balance to there liking. So the Hockenhiem track, you have set your car up for speed but find the technical sector a little harder than you would like, what to do. You can add some wing and loose some top speed, you can focus on getting your car setup for the techical sector and then work from there to balance it out over the rest of the track. But on all tracks you will find thats its about give and take. Some parts you will have dialed the car in very well while others you need to be extra carefull. But for help on setups you can take a look through the setups forum (link bellow), there are setups for every track dry or wet. But don't expect a setup that was done in time trial to be perfect because it will not, with sims like tyre and fuel on you will notice straight away why i say that.

Car Setups Forum:
http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-2010-setups/

Because your just starting out with the wheel, turn on the corner/racing line. This will help you learn the tracks, braking points and most importantly where you should be on the track for each corner. As you get better you will start to notice the racing line is not exactly perfect as you can brake much later and accelerate much earlier in many corners, so although the racing line is good to learn with it should be turned off as soon as possible. The last thing i will say is only turn aids off when you are ready, the sooner the better but its no good if your just getting use to a wheel because its can be challanging enough with all aids on. But once you are happy you can drive and deliver competative lap times and be consistant with them, then your ready for a new challange and turning aids off at this point will be hard but very rewarding in the long run. Not only does it help you feel more confident and happier, you see exacly how well the setups you did with aids on really work because a under or oversteering car will be hard to see with the aids on but with them off you will notice it straight away. Also you can sign up for league races here at this very forum and have a lot of fun. Before all of that happens though start practising, practising is your friend and the more you do of it the better yu will get. Set the weekend ingame to long and do some long stints in each of the practise sessions on the prime tyres with fuel load set to race fuel, ie. 10 lap race 10 laps of fuel, tis will help you in more ways than one and it ives you the insight into how your car will handal in race trim because a heavier car will handal much differently than a light one.

Good luck and hope you have a lot of fun racing.

That's fantastic, and thanks for taking the time for posting all of that information for me . I'll take all of your things into consideration, and will check out the support forums.

If anyone else has good material that will explain to me how to drive correctly, or learn from setups, please post it

Thanks a bunch everyone!

 

[Roy Sutton]

No problem bud.

Some video's here that will help you, this is without assists on and legend AI but you can get a idea of how to drive the car and also Steve shows you his setups. http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-20...-lets-play-f1-2010-career-mode-on-expert.html

 

[xreyuk]

No problem bud.

Some video's here that will help you, this is without assists on and legend AI but you can get a idea of how to drive the car and also Steve shows you his setups. http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-20...-lets-play-f1-2010-career-mode-on-expert.html

Thanks again mate, I assume these are the videos Joel Vischer was on about?

 

[Roy Sutton]

Hmmm, might be, not sure bud. Here are some more video's. You might have to go through the pages for the multiplayer video's, not sure haven't actually watched any of them yet. I'm still watching Steve's season 1 vid's at the moment lol.

http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-20...be-series-how-i-drive-single-multiplayer.html

 

[xreyuk]

Cheers mate, thanks a bunch

 

[David O'Reilly]

All Steves multiplayer vids are on his youtube site. Search under cadmuss f1 2010 , they are categorised as career or multiplayer there.

 

[xreyuk]

Thanks David

 

[Mark Ryan]

Huge thanks too David and all involved it putting this together is a gem of a write up,,, After reading it i went online and instantly got my act together its the consitancy that works the places in the race will come with time. Thank you David and all involved it will do one thing and one thing only, Show us all how to be better Drivers with regards to consistency, of course online also

 

[David O'Reilly]

Thankyou

 

[My993C2]

I read the guide yesterday. It is well done. Even for people who know a thing or two about F1, driving on a track and/or know this game can pick up some new info from the guide. I know I picked up a thing or two that I did not previously know.

 

[xreyuk]

I sent the following PM to someone I know, but thought I'd post it here to see if any of you guys would mind helping?

So, firstly, I'm getting better, and able to drive the thing at pace, and keep it on the road, just need to practice braking points, gear changes, setups etc.

However, even though I'm keeping it on the road and going fairly quick, I'm still driving untidily

Firstly, just need some advice on braking. What is the correct way to brake, without locking up? Is it to go hard as you can on the brake and gradually release pressure as you get slower? I've realised that gear changes and engine braking help immensely in slowing you down.

Secondly, when approaching corners, I seem to sometimes be leaving behind skid marks, and I'm definitely not locking up. Could this be as a result of downshifting too early as I approach the corner, resulting in wheel spin?

Thirdly, the guide says you should never brake whilst turning, however, around turns 13 and 14 on Bahrain (sweeping left hander into tight left hander) and the last couple of corners on Valencia, you have to brake whilst turning slightly, is this okay? The F1 guide you linked to say this is physically impossible in real life, but is do-able in the game, however, you see them braking like this in real life on these circuits?

Fourthly, when braking whilst turning, why does it sometimes leave skid marks behind?

Next, on turns 5, 6, 7 in Bahrain, as you go round the right hander (the one's where the AI are really cautious) and go into the left hander, I am locking up frequently. I thought it was to do with braking whilst turning, but I've made sure the car is straightish when I'm braking, could this be to do with the way the weight is shifting in the car? It takes barely any brake pressure sometimes to make it lock up.

Next, do you know of any good links to circuit guides where I can learn what speed (roughly) I should be taking what corners at? Or is it just best to get a feel for it?

Lastly (thank god!). I'm unsure what gears to be taking some corners in, so as a guide, how high on the rev meter should I be to know I'm the right gear for accelerating out of the corner, or to see whether I should be one lower (I understand different ratios affect where the gears are at certain speeds, so speed can't really be used

)?

Other than those I think I'm doing well, I'm still unsure as to whether I'm accelerating out of some corners too slowly because I'm weary of the traction control and skidding (trying to drive clean again!) but I guess that will come with practice (unless you've got any tips?). I'm struggling with some turns in the middle section at Bahrain, I keep thinking I should be going full throttle through some bits, but obviously I'll have to go easy coming out of some corners because I'll hit the next before I've even had chance to get the pedal down!

It might be worth a note, I'm just using the default setups at the moment, thought I'd learn to drive it before I go and make my own setups!

 

[lecardinal]

Firstly, just need some advice on braking. What is the correct way to brake, without locking up? Is it to go hard as you can on the brake and gradually release pressure as you get slower?

If you do so you will lock up the wheel when you start braking and your braking distance will be longer than necessary. You have to use the right pressure. The higher the pressure without locking up the shorter the braking distance and the lower the lap time.

I've realised that gear changes and engine braking help immensely in slowing you down.

Yes, shift down while braking, it helps. When you stop braking you must have switched to the proper gear for the corner.

Secondly, when approaching corners, I seem to sometimes be leaving behind skid marks, and I'm definitely not locking up. Could this be as a result of downshifting too early as I approach the corner, resulting in wheel spin?

Spinning wheels you can only achieve when you accelerate. Try to brake a little bit softer to avoid skid marks. I don't know if you can produce skid marks in the game without locking up and without sliding.

Thirdly, the guide says you should never brake whilst turning,

Just do so!

The F1 guide you linked to say this is physically impossible in real life, but is do-able in the game,

I would not say that this is physically impossible in general but it's physically impossible when you want to turn around a corner with the maximum possible speed. The friction forces of your tyres have to compensate the centrifugal force as well as the braking force. So, if the sum of centrifugal force and braking force is higher then the friction forces of your tyres then your car will slide or spin. The centrifugal force is a function of the velocity in square. Now, put it all together! When you turn with the maximum possible speed without sliding and spinning then the centrifugal force is already near the friction force and there is no room to compensate additional braking force. On the other hand it means that when you can brake while turning then you are already to slow.

Fourthly, when braking whilst turning, why does it sometimes leave skid marks behind?

Maybe your car slides a little bit.

Next, on turns 5, 6, 7 in Bahrain, as you go round the right hander (the one's where the AI are really cautious) and go into the left hander, I am locking up frequently. I thought it was to do with braking whilst turning, but I've made sure the car is straightish when I'm braking, could this be to do with the way the weight is shifting in the car? It takes barely any brake pressure sometimes to make it lock up.

Next, do you know of any good links to circuit guides where I can learn what speed (roughly) I should be taking what corners at? Or is it just best to get a feel for it?

Lastly (thank god!). I'm unsure what gears to be taking some corners in, so as a guide, how high on the rev meter should I be to know I'm the right gear for accelerating out of the corner, or to see whether I should be one lower (I understand different ratios affect where the gears are at certain speeds, so speed can't really be used

)?

I think this is all about practice.
Track guides you can find here:
http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-2010-track-guides/

lecardinal

 

[xreyuk]

Firstly, a massive thank you for taking the time

If you do so you will lock up the wheel when you start braking and your braking distance will be longer than necessary. You have to use the right pressure. The higher the pressure without locking up the shorter the braking distance and the lower the lap time.

Yeah, it seems as though I can hit them pretty much full on at first, and then release the pressure a bit as I get close to the corner, and keep releasing the closer I get until I'm at the correct speed. Would you say that's incorrect and I should be doing it differently, or is it a case of each to their own?

Spinning wheels you can only achieve when you accelerate. Try to brake a little bit softer to avoid skid marks. I don't know if you can produce skid marks in the game without locking up and without sliding.

The only reason I say I'm not locking up is you can't hear it, and the wheel doesn't stop on the replay, I'll try and get a screenshot/video of what I mean and post it here. It's also only one wheel, I imagine if I was sliding it'd show all 4. Maybe I am just locking up and can't hear/see it.

I would not say that this is physically impossible in general but it's physically impossible when you want to turn around a corner with the maximum possible speed. The friction forces of your tyres have to compensate the centrifugal force as well as the braking force. So, if the sum of centrifugal force and braking force is higher then the friction forces of your tyres then your car will slide or spin. The centrifugal force is a function of the velocity in square. Now, put it all together! When you turn with the maximum possible speed without sliding and spinning then the centrifugal force is already near the friction force and there is no room to compensate additional braking force. On the other hand it means that when you can brake while turning then you are already to slow.

Ahh okay, so in corners like the last one at Valencia, and the sharp left hander in Bahrain, you can brake light/medium whilst turning on your approach to the corner, but when you actually get there, to turn at best speed you need to be off the brakes? (and have slight throttle on if I remember correctly)

Maybe your car slides a little bit.

It's strange, like before, I can't see locking up on the replays, or hear it in game, but again it's only coming from one wheel. Maybe I am just locking up, but I did see it could happen when ABS was on, so maybe it's a bit of sliding too. However if it is sliding, I would have thought I'd see all 4 wheels doing it. Especially with it happening with ABS on, I wouldn't think it was locking up. Give it a try in game and stick ABS on and turn whilst braking and see what happens, and maybe you can tell me

However, like before, maybe it's just me being an idiot and locking up!

I think this is all about practice.
Track guides you can find here:
http://www.racedepartment.com/f1-2010-track-guides/

lecardinal

Thanks for the track guides. Do you have any suggestions about revs for accelerating out the corners? Should they be medium, or lower down etc?

I'm still learning how fast to accelerate without spinning the wheels (don't want to wear those tyres out!), and I have a feeling all of the above I've asked will be more relevant in F1 2011.

Once again, thanks mate.