Formula 1 game

[steve_spackman]

Looks like i will be keeping away from the short races then. The game looks great...yet to buy it.

[Brown, Jon Brow]

Looks like F1 2012 is getting very mixed reviews now. Some say it's the best, some say it's terrible. Apparently only one practice session and no tyre-wear in shorter races.

Do we really need 4 hours of practice every race? An hour is plenty time to get used to the track and set your car up. It's not that there isn't any tyre wear, it's just that the wear rate is no longer determined by race length but is the same.

I'm loving it so far. I can't wait to start my 100% racing league. It looks and sounds superb compared with last years game.

[Bruce D]

Do we really need 4 hours of practice every race? An hour is plenty time to get used to the track and set your car up. It's not that there isn't any tyre wear, it's just that the wear rate is no longer determined by race length but is the same.

Thanks for clearing up my understanding of the tyre wear situation

The length of practice would only be an issue if they took into account the time needed to change settings, like Superbikes 2011 does when you ask your engineer to change settings and it costs a certain amount of time.

[Allyc85]

It's not that there isn't any tyre wear, it's just that the wear rate is no longer determined by race length but is the same.

And yet I still manage to spin a rediculous amount of times on worn tyres after 5 laps

Good game though, still slightly spoiled by the penalties system where you can get one for being hit by another car! Or even better when you overtake through a corner you try and give the place back, but the AI wont pass so you get a penalty for that!

[darkos]

Because of the steering issues i can tell the same about it. Steering is everything and for me is messed up. Weird.

[rjbetty]

Because of the steering issues i can tell the same about it. Steering is everything and for me is messed up. Weird.

Hmmmm is the steering the same as in the other games? I don't know why, but for some reason I can't get much handle on it in F1 2011. It has a real Colin Mcrae Rally 4 feel to it, and I never really got into that game. I wonder who developed that game? Ah hang on...!

(Wow I sound like a real F1 driver moaning about the car not being right, cos I'm not doing well - failing to meet targets in career mode in HRT...)

I think I've maybe struggled cos I'm trying too hard to save the tyre wear, and I'm being like Jenson around mid-season and not getting them switched on at all...? I'm too conservative, like an old guy winding down my career these days, and I'm still only in my 20s!! Maybe I'll just try going for it and pushing next time I play. Given the handling seems to be a bad compromise between sim and arcade, I guess the arcadey bit might mean you can push and not have the tyres go off the cliff.

P.S. I still think Grand Prix 2 is the best. I'm going to play it now.

[rjbetty]

Just been bought F1 2012 and I must say I love it. The last two games have been too easy IMO and love the fact even on easy mode when you are learning the game, it still forces you to think about cornering speeds and when to accelerate. It feels like I am learning the game all over again which is fun. Just qualified 15th in a Force India for the Malaysian GP but loving the challenge.

Wow F1 2011 too easy?!
I had one go of it a couple of months back on career mode in an HRT and I had such a top time getting anywhere near the top 20, and I'm not too bad at other games.
But it sounds like tyre wear is more serious in F1 2012? This might play into my hands as I tend to pussyfoot around being afraid to put a mark on the car or any stress on the tyres at all. (might explain why I was dog slow on my one go at F1 2011 too).

[rjbetty]

So is F1 2012 going ok?

Is anyone else playing F1 2011 like I am? I just recently discovered it. I'm doing career mode in an HRT. It's not easy and I'm struggling, but do seem to be improving. Most tracks on my season I am playing for the first time. I am doing 50% distances and short weekends (1 hr practice, quali and race).

My Results:
1.Australia Q-24 R-23/23 Runners - Just hopeless. I have recently been learning manual gears and to be honest am finding it a real struggle. The real drivers make it look so easy, but it takes quite a lot more mental capacity.

2.Malaysia Q-23 R-22/24 - Outqualified Liuzzi and finished ahead of 2 cars. This was much better. I like Malaysia and tend to go quite well here on games. I kept locking up as I have no braking assists into turn 15, the corner that Perez ran wide on in 2012. At least I didn't come last - a very good improvement - and I briefly ran as high as 9th on lap 1!!

3.China Q24 R24/24 - Back to reality after Malaysia. I find it tricky in the wet, and the track is difficult but I enjoy the challenge Tilke has created. But I didn't qualify far off the back this time. Made so many mistakes in tough wet race, but towards the end I caught 2 cars in front of me and was dicing with them for 22nd before spinning and finishing just a few secs behind. Very tough race but reason for encouragement.

4.Turkey Q24 R21/21 - An utter catastrophe and another wet weekend. I suffered my first terminal crash in qualifying and was around 9secs off the pace. The race was even more woeful. I was all at sea spinning several times at turn 8. I just couldn't get into it. I finished over 3 laps down (50% distance too and a long lap). I managed to crash into Alonso and Alguersuari near the end causing their retirements. My highest finish of 21st scored only cos there were 21 cars.

I was feeling pretty down after this. In real life I would almost certainly have been sacked after these first 4 races. Any driver in this situation in real life would have been extremely fortunate to have been given another chance.

5.SPAIN - Q19 R19 - Wow just the boost I needed. This went brilliantly, scoring by far my best results.

6.MONACO Q23 (start 24rd) R18 - Found this track a struggle, but made some setup changes and started to find speed. Was doing well in the race gaining more confidence, but I crashed into Buemi in the pits forcing the first of at least 2 drive-thru penalties. I also had to make at least 1 more unscheduled stop for a wing. I'm sure that happened more than once. I have had drive-thru penalties at almost every race... Yet despite all this I benefited from Hamilton's retirement to grab a surprise 18th - my best finish!

7.CANADA Q24 (start 23rd) R19 - A reality check after Monaco, I just didn't have the pace in qualifying, but I was close to the cars in front. It was hard to find the pace in a wet race, but I stuck at it despite unscheduled stops. My tyres were really wearing towards the end and Glock was all over me, but I stayed consistent to win 'class 2' again!

8.VALENCIA Q19 (start 24th) R12 - My best race so far, given that I have actually practiced this track several times. My best quali of the year matching best of 19th but further ahead of others. I knew I had a good chance of scoring my best result, maybe as high as 16th if it went really well. In fact it was much better! Sadly I got a drive-thru after hitting someone at the start, but I worked my way up to 10th!! As other cars pitted, I picked off Jenson at turn 1 as he exited the pits (just pipped him) and held him behind me. I almost did the same to Hamilton but I was too hesitant - if I had I would have been running an incredible 4th. My final stop dropped me to 14th/15th sadly, but other cars pitted when I thought they wouldn't, and I found myself back in 10th with Perez and Maldonado all over me. I knew I could keep them behind if I stayed consistent which I have showed I can do. But coming in to the last lap what's this?!! I'm running out of fuel and the car is losing power. NOOOO, on the back straight I am (literally) powerless to stop Perez and Maldonado sweeping past. By the last corner the car has slowed down to a 2nd gear trickle, but there is a huge gap to Alguersuari in 13th so I easily got 12th. Really gutting but I was so encouraged by my pace as it was far higher than expected!

9.THE NEW SILVERSTONE - Q24 R23/24
Coming back to earth with a bump, struggled to learn the new Silverstone in the wet practice and quali. I start to find more speed as the track dries but am unable to take advantage due to problems and remain last, but pretty close. A good start again spoiled by over-aggression and a penalty, I do start to claw up from 23rd, but towards the end everyone pits for intermediates including me, but the team didn't change my tyres!! I didn't understand I had to choose them myself. So I had to pit again. I was so discouraged I lost my focus and spun several times to a disappointing 23rd, ony avoiding last as Jerome D'Ambrosio dropped a minute on lap 1.

10.NURBURGRING - Q24 R18
A bl***y tough weekend I have to say, a real reality check after Valencia. Struggling on setup and pace but close the gap for quali. Still 2 seconds off Trulli ahead though. Not expecting much for the race even though I tend to be a good bit quicker than in Q. It was a great result to be running ahead of both Williamses, even though I did put Barrichello into the wall! Oops. I was also running in 17th ahead of Schumacher too at the start, but I let him by too easily into turn 1. I did the same to Maldonado though he didn't have it as easy. By the time Rubens came, I'd learned my lesson and stayed ahead, though coming out of the last corner he drew right alongside me (I sacrificed much straightline speed on my setup) and I was fortunate the finish line wasn;t further down than it was!

11.HUNGARY Q19 - R DSQ!
Another struggle on setup came good in the end as I grabbed 19th. Went on the grass down the inside coming towards turn 1 at the start. Was disappointed to get a penalty for this, but I did outbrake myself again and hit cars... Disappointingly didn't make much progress after that though I picked off a couple of cars. Got another penalty when Barrichello drove into the back of me! I wasn't much into this and kept cutting the turn 6-7 chicane increasingly consecutively to earn a Disqualification.

[steveaki13]

So is F1 2012 going ok?

Is anyone else playing F1 2011 like I am? I just recently discovered it. I'm doing career mode in an HRT. It's not easy and I'm struggling, but do seem to be improving. Most tracks on my season I am playing for the first time. I am doing 50% distances and short weekends (1 hr practice, quali and race).

My Results:
1.Australia Q-24 R-23/23 Runners - Just hopeless. I have recently been learning manual gears and to be honest am finding it a real struggle. The real drivers make it look so easy, but it takes quite a lot more mental capacity.

2.Malaysia Q-23 R-22/24 - Outqualified Liuzzi and finished ahead of 2 cars. This was much better. I like Malaysia and tend to go quite well here on games. I kept locking up as I have no braking assists into turn 15, the corner that Perez ran wide on in 2012. At least I didn't come last - a very good improvement - and I briefly ran as high as 9th on lap 1!!

3.China Q24 R24/24 - Back to reality after Malaysia. I find it tricky in the wet, and the track is difficult but I enjoy the challenge Tilke has created. But I didn't qualify far off the back this time. Made so many mistakes in tough wet race, but towards the end I caught 2 cars in front of me and was dicing with them for 22nd before spinning and finishing just a few secs behind. Very tough race but reason for encouragement.

4.Turkey Q24 R21/21 - An utter catastrophe and another wet weekend. I suffered my first terminal crash in qualifying and was around 9secs off the pace. The race was even more woeful. I was all at sea spinning several times at turn 8. I just couldn't get into it. I finished over 3 laps down (50% distance too and a long lap). I managed to crash into Alonso and Alguersuari near the end causing their retirements. My highest finish of 21st scored only cos there were 21 cars.

I was feeling pretty down after this. In real life I would almost certainly have been sacked after these first 4 races. Any driver in this situation in real life would have been extremely fortunate to have been given another chance.

5.SPAIN - Q19 R19 - Wow just the boost I needed. This went brilliantly, scoring by far my best results.

6.MONACO Q23 (start 24rd) R18 - Found this track a struggle, but made some setup changes and started to find speed. Was doing well in the race gaining more confidence, but I crashed into Buemi in the pits forcing the first of at least 2 drive-thru penalties. I also had to make at least 1 more unscheduled stop for a wing. I'm sure that happened more than once. I have had drive-thru penalties at almost every race... Yet despite all this I benefited from Hamilton's retirement to grab a surprise 18th - my best finish!

7.CANADA Q24 (start 23rd) R19 - A reality check after Monaco, I just didn't have the pace in qualifying, but I was close to the cars in front. It was hard to find the pace in a wet race, but I stuck at it despite unscheduled stops. My tyres were really wearing towards the end and Glock was all over me, but I stayed consistent to win 'class 2' again!

8.VALENCIA Q19 (start 24th) R12 - My best race so far, given that I have actually practiced this track several times. My best quali of the year matching best of 19th but further ahead of others. I knew I had a good chance of scoring my best result, maybe as high as 16th if it went really well. In fact it was much better! Sadly I got a drive-thru after hitting someone at the start, but I worked my way up to 10th!! As other cars pitted, I picked off Jenson at turn 1 as he exited the pits (just pipped him) and held him behind me. I almost did the same to Hamilton but I was too hesitant - if I had I would have been running an incredible 4th. My final stop dropped me to 14th/15th sadly, but other cars pitted when I thought they wouldn't, and I found myself back in 10th with Perez and Maldonado all over me. I knew I could keep them behind if I stayed consistent which I have showed I can do. But coming in to the last lap what's this?!! I'm running out of fuel and the car is losing power. NOOOO, on the back straight I am (literally) powerless to stop Perez and Maldonado sweeping past. By the last corner the car has slowed down to a 2nd gear trickle, but there is a huge gap to Alguersuari in 13th so I easily got 12th. Really gutting but I was so encouraged by my pace as it was far higher than expected!

9.THE NEW SILVERSTONE - Q24 R23/24
Coming back to earth with a bump, struggled to learn the new Silverstone in the wet practice and quali. I start to find more speed as the track dries but am unable to take advantage due to problems and remain last, but pretty close. A good start again spoiled by over-aggression and a penalty, I do start to claw up from 23rd, but towards the end everyone pits for intermediates including me, but the team didn't change my tyres!! I didn't understand I had to choose them myself. So I had to pit again. I was so discouraged I lost my focus and spun several times to a disappointing 23rd, ony avoiding last as Jerome D'Ambrosio dropped a minute on lap 1.

10.NURBURGRING - Q24 R18
A bl***y tough weekend I have to say, a real reality check after Valencia. Struggling on setup and pace but close the gap for quali. Still 2 seconds off Trulli ahead though. Not expecting much for the race even though I tend to be a good bit quicker than in Q. It was a great result to be running ahead of both Williamses, even though I did put Barrichello into the wall! Oops. I was also running in 17th ahead of Schumacher too at the start, but I let him by too easily into turn 1. I did the same to Maldonado though he didn't have it as easy. By the time Rubens came, I'd learned my lesson and stayed ahead, though coming out of the last corner he drew right alongside me (I sacrificed much straightline speed on my setup) and I was fortunate the finish line wasn;t further down than it was!

11.HUNGARY Q19 - R DSQ!
Another struggle on setup came good in the end as I grabbed 19th. Went on the grass down the inside coming towards turn 1 at the start. Was disappointed to get a penalty for this, but I did outbrake myself again and hit cars... Disappointingly didn't make much progress after that though I picked off a couple of cars. Got another penalty when Barrichello drove into the back of me! I wasn't much into this and kept cutting the turn 6-7 chicane increasingly consecutively to earn a Disqualification.

Great mid season review. Let us know the final outcome.

By the way what game was this F1 2011 or this years 2012?

[rjbetty]

Haha ok! It's F1 2011. I'm on Singapore now. Always wanted to drive that track! Didn't realise I'd written so much above! I've got a lot (too much) of free time right now...

12.SPA Q21 (start 24th) R20 - Hmmm I don't know why I'm not being that much quicker in races than in quali recently. Trying too hard at turn 1 again = penalty. I'm being real slow to learn... but it was NOTHING compared to what Grosjean did this year! Good fighting climbing back but man, tyres are wearing like crazy. On my final pitstop I did something wrong because they didn't change my tyres!! So I'm crawling round the last few laps struggling, but still in 20th (which is the objective too) a few secs behind Kovalainen. I am holding off Glock who's all over me. My tyres are shot and I'm sliding everywhere with little traction looking like losing places - but I hold on! On the last corner, I have to brake earlier for the tyres, to make the corner, while keeping Glock behind. I do it as Kovalainen inexplicably pits, so I inherit the 'class B' win! Except my shot tyres cause me to run wide on the exit. I just can't get traction so Glock is able to get past!! I was pretty fortunate to not do worse than that!

13.ITALY - Q21 (start 24th) R20
Same as Belgium really. Barrichello drove into me at the start but I stayed on track, heading down the inside into turn 1 (which becomes outside for the 2nd part) - while I tiptoe round the outside, seemingly 5 or 6 cars blatantly straightline the chicane and pass me ! Tyres weren't changed again! 20th behind Glock, but was catching him pretty well despite bad tyres. I could have held a delayed Heidfeld behind me if I'd tried harder, and I hadn't let all those cheaters through at turn 1.

14.SINGAPORE - only free practice (I do short weekend, 1hr FP only) - enjoying the track, but initally 15sec off the pace, then 11. Down to 6 at the end, but it starts raining. Will do qualy next time where it looks to be chucking it down... (ulp)

(not happy with my driving overall really - I was miles better when I was a bit younger )


'Class B' (new teams) results:
6th 4th 6th 6th 1st 1st 1st 1st 5th 1st DSQ 2nd 2nd

Outqualified Liuzzi: 5-8
Outraced Liuzzi: 8-5