F1 2012 My full F12012 season, lights finally go out on the grid

[driveroz247]

Between the time I will continue to spend modding different aspects of this game and the time I am doing things in my life away from this game, I will be (finally) getting around to starting my F1 2012 season in full.

I now have my laptop hooked up to my television and my racing wheel connected and working. So with the current range of mods released for this game, together with my current set-up at home, I believe the time is right to begin this season (finally) just in time before the 2013 F1 season is upon us....

Mods I will be playing with:

• SC mod (fix) RC1 (the mod I was involved with creating, along with Willsb3, remy and roberto )
• Realsim Mod version 2.4 (Thanks Demy)
• Competitive braking mod (Thanks hill)
• Realistic Damage mod (level 5) for AI and player (Thanks Cromiel)

All races will be full race weekends (Practice, 3 qualy sessions and 50% race)

All race weekends will be staged in quick race mode, where I will have dynamic weather at all tracks except for Abu Dhabi, Bahrain, India and Valencia where it will be 100% dry weekends, as per their climates/rainfall in real-life.

I will race in a different car at each track. This way it will give me variety, different objectives and targets depending on where each driver and team are in the points table at the time. I will be keeping score on my own self-made points tables for drivers and constructors chamionships in excel. 4 cars will be not be raced in (1 from each tier) as I have used these cars all the time in my mod and track testing. These 4 cars/drivers who I won't be racing as are Charles Pic, Lewis Hamiltion, Michael Schumacher and Nico Hulkenberg. The remaining 20 drivers will be drawn randomly by me before each race weekend. I will put the 20 remaining driver names into a bag and pick them out randomly before eah race weekend, the one I pick out being the driver I will race as for that weekend.

Car status will be disabled for each race, to enable more driver realism, as a driver wouldn't have this information readily available to him in-race. He would only go on his race engineer's advice and his gut feeling about how the car is handling.

No flashbacks will be used - If I crash the car, I retire!

I will be racing with reduced penalties only.

I will post regular updates/screenshots/videos from my racing in this thread after each race weekend.

EDIT: It will all be raced in TV Pod camera, no mini-map, no proximity arrows, no car status, intermediate difficulty level for AI.

 

[driveroz247]

Whilst I'm still logged in to the forum, I may as well complete my first driver draw for the Australian GP in Melbourne.

And the lucky driver is..................

In a press conference, Narain stated that he'd just be happy to finish the race, and at least ensure he finishes ahead of his teammate and take the fight up to the Marussia's.

Good luck Narain! Let's see how Narain will perform in the first GP of the F1 2012 season.

 

[driveroz247]

It's forecast to be a dry weekend of racing in Melbourne, with no rain for Narain . Temperatures are forecast to climb slightly on race day. Perfect Aussie weather for an F1 grand prix Narain prefers to race in no rain There's no rain for Karthikeyan (I just love playing on his name).

Anyway, back to business, practice showed Narain up to be the slowest car out of those that got laps in. Webber crashed his car and totalled it for the practice session on his first lap, thus never was able to post a practice time.

Qualifying was thus going to shape as a bit of a battle for Narain to get his HRT off the back row. How did he go? Watch the video and find out:

I'm too tired to post the race video and pics tonight, I will do that tomorrow. But I will say the race has already been completed, I'll just update this thread in the morning when I'm wide awake. It's been a long day at work, and long night racing the opening race of my F1 2012 season.

 

[remydeleeuw]

No sound on the video?

 

[driveroz247]

So, Narain has qualified 21st for the Aussie GP 2012, with the 2 lotus cars behind him on the grid, and Massa to start alongside him in 22nd. This should make for a interesting first couple of laps, as the faster cars behind will no doubt try to push to get ahead of the slower cars early on.

After major repair work was done to repair Narain's car following the destruction of his car on his final qualifying lap, let's see how Narain went in the race. Was he able to beat his teammate? Did he finish behind or ahead of the Marussia's? (snippets only from the main parts of the race in the video below, not the full race)

and with just a few laps remianing, could Narain keep Charles Pic behind him?

Oh yes, he could!

So, 7 DNFs in the Aussie GP, including that first corner incident between Kimi and De La Rosa taking both drivers out. Vettel and Kobayashi had a coming together 3 laps before the race end, Hamiltion and Schumacher took eack other out on the final lap! Daniel Ricciardo was unalbe to finish his home GP as he retired the car somehwere in the mniddle of the race with mechanical problems.

So, a good first GP for Karthikeyan, having a bit of luck and some good final pit-stop strategy in order to finish in front of the Marussia's. His teamate didn't even make it past turn 1 in the GP!

Here is the Championship table for drivers and constructors after the first completed GP, and a table showing podium places and pole position. The number in brackets next to the driver denotes their starting position on the grid.

A weekend to forget for the Red Bulls. Vettel and Kobayashi having an incident 3 laps from the finish of the race, Webber destroying his car during practice and having a poor race finishing out of the points. No doubt with the reputations of the team over the past few years, they will be expecting much more from their drivers and will be looking to bounce back and score many points in Malaysia. Nice drives too from Grosjean and Massa, who came from 24th and 22nd on the grid respectively to both finish in the points.

Time for the champaaaaaggggnnnnneeeee!
https://soundcloud.com/jozzbeat/carmen-overture-jb2

Next stop on the calendar will be Malaysia. One can only hope that the weather will be as magnificent to race in as it was in Australia, but knowing Malaysia it isn't likely. Question remians, which driver will I draw to race as for the Malaysian GP?

 

[driveroz247]

Well, the draw for Malaysian GP has been completed.

I will be driving as......

In an interview with the press, Timo stated that he is hoping for a race under changeable weather in Malaysia and praying for a monsoon, as this would help his chances of scoring some type of points. Also, he stated that he would like to finish ahead of both his teammate and Narain Karthikeyan, who both finished ahead of him in Australia. Timo also mentioned that he doesn't see the team having any realistic chance of bagging points, unless the weather conditions on race day play a major part in the outcome of the race.

By the way, the next few races will be screenshots only, as I've exceeded my monthly usage quota with my ISP

 

[driveroz247]

So we arrive in Malaysia for the second GP of 2012. Let's have a look at the weather forecast:

As usual, a real mixed bag with changeable weather likely during the race.

Practice started off cloudy but dry, and all drivers got out to test their car set-ups and tyre wear on primes and options. Timo Glock surprised, as he recorded a lap time faster than both Caterhams. The second half of practice was full wet conditions, as the heavens opened up. Enough time for all drivers to test out their wet weather tyres and driving skills:

With practice complete, here were the final times:

Disappointing time from Webber again, but an impressive time set by Timo Glock, putting up a faster lap on his options than both Caterhams by 2.5 seconds. Can he take this new found speed in his car into qualifying and the race? We're about to find out soon, as I am about to start qualifying now.

 

[driveroz247]

No sound on the video?

Yeah, I had a problem with sound on that one, it was too faint. That's why I added annotations to the video. But my second video should have better sound, especially if you turn the volume to max, just beware of my phone beeping a message somewhere through that video, it's a very loud beeping.

 

[driveroz247]

Drivers out in Q1:

Glock pushed hard in Q2, spinning into a gravel trap on his first flying lap, and on his next lap he terminally damaged his car into a barrier:

Drivers out in Q2:

I have finished the race already but time for bed, results of the race will be posted tomorrow.

 

[driveroz247]

So with Q3 over we had a Red Bull lockout of the front row of the grid, with Vettel qualifying on pole and Webber alongside him on the front row. This put them in the best possible place to make up for their Albert Park disaster where neither driver scored any points, as they look to bounce back hard from that disaster with as many points as possible in Malaysia. Adrian Newey was fuming after Australia, and was cleraly not happy with either driver, but this time his drivers seem have got it spot on in Malaysia.

Now to the race. After the first 2 laps there were already 2 retirements due to a crash between the 2 drivers into turn 4 on lap 1. Timo Glock had moved up 1 place into 15th and settled in the race well:

Timo's strategy was to go out on options, then come in for another set of option on lap 9, then come in for primes on lap 18 to take him through to the end of the race, but of course with rain on the forecast, this was always going to to change at some stage during the race. Weather reports were suggesting heavy rain by around lap 8. By lap 4 most drivers were pitting for inters as the rain begun to tumble down. Lap 6 saw Timo spin off into a gravel trap due to too much surface water on the track already for his inters, luckily he spun it round, otherwise he would've taken his car straight into the barrier. At this stage he knew it was time to pit for full wets as driving conditions were getting dangerous:

By lap 12, with all drivers on full wets, Timo had slipped down to 21st:

Weather reports were sugessting the rain to stop soon, and it looked like the track was starting to dry out a little more each lap. And by lap 16 all drivers were back onto inters, including Glock:

With a drying line appearing on the racing line, Glock's race engineer suggested to move back to slicks, so Glock pitted for a new set of option tyres. However it proved to be a move made just a little too early, as he strayed off the racing line just a little and spun his car yet again into a gravel trap:

No point pitting for inters again as the track was starting to dry off rapidly now, Glock took his chances and stayed out on the option tyres. Luckily there were no more spin-offs for him. The remaining few laps remained mainly uneventful, and the race ended with Mark Webber winning it for Red Bull. Timo Glock finishing the race in 18th, last of the remaining cars left running in this race:

Timo was said to be rather disappointed after the race, as practice and qualifying had promised so much, but some errors in judgement as to when to pit for inters and wets cost him any chance of finishing ahead of his teammate and Narain Karthikeyan, who both finished ahead of him for the second race in a row.

Red Bull were delighted with their reversal in form from Australia. Not only did they lock out the front row in qualifying, but they also locked out the front row in the race, with the drivers swapping positions and Webber finishing ahead of his more fancied German teammate, much to Webber's delight. Adrian Newey was looking like a very pleased man for a change after this race, in contrast to his disappointment from the result in Australia. With both 1st and second placed drivers from Australia not finishing the Malaysian GP, the result had put Red Bull back where it is used to being - at the top of the Constructors Championship. What a turnaround!

And now, the all important driver draw for the Chinese GP.
drumroll................................

I will be driving the Chinese GP as:

See you all in China!

 

[driveroz247]

So we arrive in China for round 3 of the F1 2012 Championship. Nico Rosberg was confident of repeating his podium finish like he had in Australia.

The weather forecast for Shanghai was as follows:

It stayed dry for the whole of the practice session. With practice complete, here were the times completed by all drivers:

It was dry through all qualifying sessions as well. Q1 went according to script, with both HRTs, Marussia's and Caterhams out, along with a disappointing Felipe Massa, who should have got a lot more from his Ferrari. So both Toro Rosso's survived Q1.

Let's see how Q2 went, we pick up action in the last minute of Q2:

The shootout was over for Nico, totalling his car into the barrier at the end of Q2. Q3
results were as follows:

Next up will be the race, and it will be a video of over 18 minutes showing the major highlights of the race. Stay tuned!

EDIT AND UPDATE: The Chinese GP race video will be here after February 26th, the delay is due to ISP issues. But the good news is that a few of the GPs following the Chinese GP will also be updated here very soon.

 

[driveroz247]

After qualifying his Mercedes 10th on the grid in China, can Nico Rosberg score some points or even a podium perhaps? Hopes were high of a repeat of his podium finish in Australia, but obviously he would need a little luck to go his way in the race.

Race strategy:

Let's see how Nico went (snippets of race highlights only, not full race):

 

[driveroz247]

Pressure mounting on Hamilton
The pressure is clearly mounting on Lewis Hamilton to start turning his qualifying results into points come race day. The newpapers are running stories stating that even though we are only 3 races into the 2012 season, it is very clear that Lewis Hamilton is already under pressure to perform and pick up more points in the remianing races of the season. Lewis is in one of the fastest cars in the field and with his talent and experience, even he has admitted that the start to his 2012 year has not gone according to what he and McLaren had planned.

Driver drawn for Bahrain: I will be driving as Paul di Resta in Bahrain, after the draw was done from the remaining driver names in the bag.

 

[driveroz247]

So the F1 season moves on into the desert in Bahrain for round 4 of 2012.

The weather forecast for the 3 days was typically hot and sunny as it always is in Bahrain, no rain in the desert.

Paul di Resta had a very impressive 4th in Australia, but hasn't been in the points since then. Confidence was high before the start of the weekend in Bahrain. Practice saw di Resta finish with the 17th fastest time. Let's see what happened in qualifying:

Paul will be starting a lot further back than he expected. A disappointing qualifying. It looks like he'll need a lot of luck in the race to challenge for the points. Could he manage to score some points in the race? Wait for the next video to find out!

 

[Sasha Jednak]

What happened exiting last turn? I think Paul can get some points from this race. You are doing good just try to get wider line entering some corners. Waiting for next video.

 

[driveroz247]

What happened exiting last turn? I think Paul can get some points from this race. You are doing good just try to get wider line entering some corners. Waiting for next video.

Absolutely no traction on either lap, lost the rear end twice Yes, you'll like the next video, it's an action packed race at Bahrain! Over 25 minutes of thrilling f1 racing

 

[driveroz247]

Race day in the desert, under blazing hot sunny skies. How did Paul di Resta go after starting in 22nd on the grid? Could he get into the points like he did in Australia? Watch this action-packed video and find out:

 

[Deleted member 137812]

Race day in the desert, under blazing hot sunny skies. How did Paul di Resta go after starting in 22nd on the grid? Could he get into the points like he did in Australia? Watch this action-packed video and find out:

Nice video!
You were lucky there were a lot of crash in the first couple of laps, but to bad you didnt manage to pick some points.

You like your current damage settings? not a bit to high?

 

[driveroz247]

Nice video!
You were lucky there were a lot of crash in the first couple of laps, but to bad you didnt manage to pick some points.

You like your current damage settings? not a bit to high?

Yes I was definitely lucky . But 22nd to 12th was still a very good drive from there. Went out on primes, then came in for options, then final stint on primes (2 stopper). Worked well!

I'm loving it on damage level 5. More chance to bring out SC, more retirements with anywhere from 1 up to 8 or 9 DNFs in each race, which I like. I think it adds nicely to the excitement and drama and realism

 

[driveroz247]

Hamilton delighted with first win for 2012
After picking up only 6 points from his first 3 races in 2012, Lewis Hamilton was said to be delighted by his pole to victory race in Bahrain. Hamilton led the race from start to finish in what the media have suggested was a totally dominant display in his McLaren-Mercedes car. Hamilton suggested after the race that he could use this win as a springboard to a much more successful, dominant and consistant season than what his first 3 races produced. Martin Whitmarsh, McLaren Mercedes Team Principal has also said that he is thrilled that his 2 drivers have won 3 of the first 4 grand prixs, and is happy for both Hamilton and Button, who still leads the Drivers Championship. He added his other major goal would be to finish ahead of Red Bull in The Constructors Championship for 2012. No doubt from what we've seen so far of the McLaren-Mercedes car and their drivers this year, it would take a brave person to bet against this happening.


In other news: Driver draw for Spanish GP in Catalunya has been done. The lucky man I will be driving as will be The Iceman:

See you in Barcelona, as the F1 2012 season moves to Europe!