Formula cars, if correctly modeled, are going to be twitchy as hell on a controller. They are super aero sensitive, so if you get the car out of shape, you not only lose mechanical grip, but you can stall the aero. I'm fairly sure PCars2 is modeled well enough to have this effect and I would imagine on a controller it's very hard to catch. It can be tough to catch with a top end wheel if your reactions aren't quick and you don't recognize the oversteer quick enough.
Okay so I have to stress that I am at best a rank amateur driver, but I'd also like to offer an opinion, even if not really qualified to do so.
I've driven a Formula Ford car (no aero), and that thing wanted to spin harder than any other car I've ever driven on a race track. An MR2 with incredibly shit tyres and wonky brake balance was easier to keep pointing in the right direction (and to catch mid-slide once grip levels were exceeded) than it. I found that I could push up to about 9-10ths of my own ability before my butt started trying to eat my underwear, and the one time I did very slightly overcook it into a second-gear corner I was backwards faster than I could blink. I stress again that I'm no Daniel Ricciardo (my best lap was nearly 4 seconds slower than the record for that class of Formula Ford) but hot damn did that thing whip around so fast it took my brain a fraction of a second to even realise I was facing the wrong way and stomp on the brakes.
Fair enough, I wasn't sure if Verstappen needed the stop due to wear or not. Since he did, that's a no brainer.
More generally, would have been an easy cruise for Merc + Hamilton but for the tyre issue. I genuinely cannot fathom why they didn't do a precautionary stop. Aside from the remote chance of a botched stop there was no risk whatsoever. Hell, even with a botched stop they probably had enough time to cover Verstappen.
The amount of tyre issues is a cause for concern though. There were definite failures on Bottas, Hamilton and Sainz. Also a possible failure on Kvyat. The later failures on the hard tyres were particularly stange given that they should have been able to go that distance. With softer compounds next week I wonder if they'll take an overall more cautious approach?
The midfield was quite interesting to follow. A lot of fairly close fighting throughout. Most surprised by how relatively poor racing point have been. For a car touted as the 'pink mercedes', their pace certainly wasn't a problem for any of the other teams. Still a pity that Hulkenberg didn't even get to start. Never great when you can't get two cars to start the race.
The hards were rated for 40 laps, they were all stretching them a fair few laps beyond that.
Hamilton + Bottas put the hards on under a safety car on lap 14 of 52. That's 39 laps to drive to the end. The SC also didn't come in until lap 19. If they're rated for 40 laps they should have covered that with, at worst, some loss of performance.
On Red Bull and their second driver, I'd agree that they've horribly mismanged things. Their car does appear to be an absolute handful to control, and possibly over-tailored to Verstappen. That's why I reckon they need a driver with more experience in the seat - someone who can give solid development feedback and have the engineers listen to it. That would also require Red Bull to actually listen to them. At any rate, throwing rookies into the second seat and hoping it sticks clearly isn't working.
Formula cars, if correctly modeled, are going to be twitchy as hell on a controller. They are super aero sensitive, so if you get the car out of shape, you not only lose mechanical grip, but you can stall the aero. I'm fairly sure PCars2 is modeled well enough to have this effect and I would imagine on a controller it's very hard to catch. It can be tough to catch with a top end wheel if your reactions aren't quick and you don't recognize the oversteer quick enough.
Okay so I have to stress that I am at best a rank amateur driver, but I'd also like to offer an opinion, even if not really qualified to do so.
I've driven a Formula Ford car (no aero), and that thing wanted to spin harder than any other car I've ever driven on a race track. An MR2 with incredibly shit tyres and wonky brake balance was easier to keep pointing in the right direction (and to catch mid-slide once grip levels were exceeded) than it. I found that I could push up to about 9-10ths of my own ability before my butt started trying to eat my underwear, and the one time I did very slightly overcook it into a second-gear corner I was backwards faster than I could blink. I stress again that I'm no Daniel Ricciardo (my best lap was nearly 4 seconds slower than the record for that class of Formula Ford) but hot damn did that thing whip around so fast it took my brain a fraction of a second to even realise I was facing the wrong way and stomp on the brakes.
This is possibly over of those cases where you could use some time in a trainer car (Skippy, Formula Vee) because those are made to exaggerate those characteristics (so yeah, they are worse in that regard) so that you learn to avoid doing unsettling things to the car.
Fair enough, I wasn't sure if Verstappen needed the stop due to wear or not. Since he did, that's a no brainer.
More generally, would have been an easy cruise for Merc + Hamilton but for the tyre issue. I genuinely cannot fathom why they didn't do a precautionary stop. Aside from the remote chance of a botched stop there was no risk whatsoever. Hell, even with a botched stop they probably had enough time to cover Verstappen.
The amount of tyre issues is a cause for concern though. There were definite failures on Bottas, Hamilton and Sainz. Also a possible failure on Kvyat. The later failures on the hard tyres were particularly stange given that they should have been able to go that distance. With softer compounds next week I wonder if they'll take an overall more cautious approach?
The midfield was quite interesting to follow. A lot of fairly close fighting throughout. Most surprised by how relatively poor racing point have been. For a car touted as the 'pink mercedes', their pace certainly wasn't a problem for any of the other teams. Still a pity that Hulkenberg didn't even get to start. Never great when you can't get two cars to start the race.
The hards were rated for 40 laps, they were all stretching them a fair few laps beyond that.
Hamilton + Bottas put the hards on under a safety car on lap 14 of 52. That's 39 laps to drive to the end. The SC also didn't come in until lap 19. If they're rated for 40 laps they should have covered that with, at worst, some loss of performance.
On Red Bull and their second driver, I'd agree that they've horribly mismanged things. Their car does appear to be an absolute handful to control, and possibly over-tailored to Verstappen. That's why I reckon they need a driver with more experience in the seat - someone who can give solid development feedback and have the engineers listen to it. That would also require Red Bull to actually listen to them. At any rate, throwing rookies into the second seat and hoping it sticks clearly isn't working.
But last year it was working for them. Didn't Albon more or less outscore Verstappen from the moment he came on the team? I do remember him having a few epic drives from the back of the grid to the points and top 5 finishes, especially when Verstappen was out of the race already.
You may be an amateur (because you're not getting paid to race) but being within 4 seconds of the lap record in what was probably your first outing in the vehicle sounds pretty amazing.
+4
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Donovan PuppyfuckerA dagger in the dark isworth a thousand swords in the morningRegistered Userregular
You may be an amateur (because you're not getting paid to race) but being within 4 seconds of the lap record in what was probably your first outing in the vehicle sounds pretty amazing.
The lap record is high in the 59 seconds, it's not a long track. Other better drivers on the same drive day were over a second and a half per lap faster than me.
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Red Raevynbecause I only take Bubble BathsRegistered Userregular
That's awesome! Glad to hear it too because that's how it felt in pcars2. I think one loading screen tip said something like, "Remember, it's designed to make you a better driver, not be easy to drive." I liked it once I got used to it and got some tunes but it was a real change to go from playing Forza to that. I appreciate the pcars tips from everyone, I think I'm going to see how working up the GT feeder chain goes in career.
I was excited to be legally watching F1 by subscribing to F1 TV, then found out I had to wait 2 days to watch everything because I hadn't done the pro sub. I thought Pirelli was the exclusive tire supplier, how'd they all manage to end up on Firestones?
It's a trip to see people still talking about Grosjean making bad choices. I didn't watch F1 for several years but when I was last following a lot it felt like he and Pastor Maldonado were competing for bonehead accidents.
Bottas confirmed for another year at Merc. Granted this was pretty much known already, but they've actually confirmed it now. Wording indicates another one year deal. Leaves their options open for reg changes in 2022 if needed.
Formula-E is doing a cool thing to finally finish their season. Starting yesterday they are doing 6 races in 9 days on a configurable track at a German airport. Changing the course a bit for each race, including opposite direction racing.
Now, I still don’t like the sound level choices from the broadcast as the high pitch whining from the cars gives me a headache and the commentary is conversely too quiet, it’s still good racing.
I also want to complain about the on screen graphics but I fear that’s just due to me not understanding all of the information being displayed. They should probably explain things once in a while like other sports do.
Also Public Health England have confirmed Perez quarantine only 'needed' to be 7 days rather than 10 due to when the test was taken. In theory he could race if he has a negative test. Personally, I think it's much too risky and the FIA should enforce a cautious approach. Using a technicality to get around the introduction of a more stringent quarantine leaves a bad taste.
Perez tested positive again, so will not be driving. It makes their loopholing around regulations look even worse to me - what if he'd had a false negative test instead? With another positive test there's now the question if he has to quarantine for another 10 days. At this point RP should at least consider the possibility that he won't be available for Spain (or wherever the next race happens to be). Hulkenberg to fill in again and hopefully will actually start the race this time.
Edit: Beaten by Jazz!
Hard for me to parse exactly what the decision was, but as far as I can tell in simple terms:
1. The front brake ducts were fine because although they were based directly on Mercedes IP they actually used that IP in 2019 to design brake ducts for their 2019 car (pre-brake-ducts-as-listed-parts) so the current ones can be considered an evolution of those 2019 parts.
2. The rear brake ducts were not fine because they were based on Mercedes IP that was obtained in 2019 legally but not used to design brake ducts for the 2019 car, so the current brake ducts cannot be considered an evolution of 2019 parts.
I didn't think I would say this, but I think the FIA ruling is actually correct. The front brake ducts were developed legally in 2019 from purchased data / parts and used on the car. You can't retroactively make a part a team used last year illegal. Racing Point also purchased the rear brake duct information before the change, but because they ran a higher rake than Mercedes it wasn't a suitable part for use on the 2019 car. The regulations were unclear on how a situation where you had purchased the information before the change came through, but then didn't use it, should be handled. Racing Point interpreted it as anything they had prior to the change was fair game, whether it had been used on the car or not. The FIA is under the opinion that using purchased information to develop a totally new rear brake duct for their car was not allowed, and claim that they would have advised Racing Point that the front duct was legal and the rear duct illegal if they had asked when the new regulations came through. This is, of course, impossible to prove or disprove but it does sound reasonable.
As for the penalty, I think it was relatively minor because Racing Point was fully cooperative with the investigation and didn't try to hide anything. Preventing Racing Point from using those brake ducts would effectively kill their car for the season, which the FIA is going to be quite hesitant to do because it's hard enough to get teams to enter, you really don't want to kick them out. With the abbreviated schedule they would almost certainly completely miss at least two races before they could get an acceptable part put on the car, and how do you even prevent them from incorporating aspects into the replacement? It would be a nightmare to try and enforce and just be a massive PR disaster I feel.
The FIA even admits that it is partly at fault (not in so many words) because there was insufficient clarity on what was and was not allowed. Racing Points interpretation that anything they legally possessed before the change is fair game is not some crazy thing, so if the FIA had written the regulations differently then this situation would not have arisen. The FIA also seems to be saying that developing parts based on things like photographs taken of competitors at a race weekend is also allowed, which could open up some interesting shenanigans.
It's so weird to be in agreement with the FIA though.
So not really motorsport related, but I was reminded that the DS4 and Steam Controller have motion control available, which can be used as a steering input in racing games. So I went and found a profile for motion control and loaded it up, and started practicing a bit with it. It definitely feels pretty good, though it requires a fair bit of tweaking and practice to get the sensitivity where I want it. While doing this tweaking I noticed something very odd in that my throttle was not behaving like I expected, so I went to the pedal calibration stuff and checked it out. Tried the left trigger for the brakes, and everything worked fine the input went smoothly from 0 to 100, so that was good. Then I checked the right trigger for the throttle and it went smoothly from 0 to 10, and then spiked instantly to 100 with any further movement (and well before it reached the end of its travel). I have no idea why it is doing this, or how to fix it. I then shut everything down and plugged in my DS4 and set it up with a motion control profile, and repeated the experiment. Both the left trigger and right trigger worked exactly as I would expect, smooth progression from 0 to 100 over their entire travel range. So for now I'm playing with the DS4, but I'd really like to be get the Steam Controller working properly. It has the back buttons setup as paddle shifters and it has the ability to press harder on the triggers to also have it trigger an additional input, such as activating an ERS system.
On the suggestion of a friend, I tried a motion control setup on F1 2019 as well, and in that game I was able to have my throttle at intermediate positions instead of just fully open or fully closed. I don't know if it is a difference in the profile I loaded into the controller, or something strange with a game setting, or what the issue is. Anybody have any thoughts or tips on setting this up properly? I haven't been able to figure out how to do anything other than basic changes to a controller profile, so I don't know if there is something I could change to enable an analog output on the right trigger (though it seems to work fine for very low travel amounts so it seems unlikely to be a single digital to analog setting to change). I mean I can certainly get by using my DS4, but I'd prefer to use the Steam Controller and its superior button layout.
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
Qualifying:
OH MY GOD Hulkenberg P3, oh please, oh please, oh PLEASE let his luck turn once. Just once. Let him have that podium.
+6
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Nova_CI have the needThe need for speedRegistered Userregular
I haven't been this excited for a race in.....
well
ever. I started watching 2015 and it's been Mercedes dominance the whole time and my chosen team (McLaren) hasn't done anything in that time, but now, now there is an outcome I am 100% invested in.
That's one hell of a result for Hulkenberg, especially considering how little time he's had to prepare. If he can hold it in the race - and I sincerely hope he does - it could make life slightly awkward for Racing Point. It would be their first podium of the season, scored by a temporary driver... That said, Verstappen has generally been a step ahead of everyone bar the Mercs in race pace. At any rate, it's a big result for Hulkenberg when he's looking for a race seat. He's too good to be languishing on the sidelines, and there are few drivers that have arguably hung around too long in F1.
Also a mention to Gasly, who is doing a superb job in that Alpha Tauri.
So I think I got my Steam Controller issues settled. I looked up how to edit a profile (clicking on the entries with the mouse, which I honestly should have figured out on my own /sigh) and just made the right trigger setup look like the left trigger setup and that seems to work pretty well. I was also able to setup the end of travel click to be the DRS deployment button, though I may change it to ERS and see if I like that better. I'll call this a success.
This year's merc is a beast for sure. I reckon they have a realistic chance of taking every win this year, such is their pace advantage. It is helped by their competition going backwards quite a bit however.
It did make me think about Mercedes legacy in F1 though. They've won the alst 6 championships on the trot, and in that time have made several cars dominant enough that they can be compared to the likes of the MP4/4 or F2004 - and the W11 is certainly putting itself in contention as well. With a record like that on top of their years providing engines I'd say they're a pretty integral part of F1. It would be hard to imagine the sport without Mercedes now.
Posts
Okay so I have to stress that I am at best a rank amateur driver, but I'd also like to offer an opinion, even if not really qualified to do so.
I've driven a Formula Ford car (no aero), and that thing wanted to spin harder than any other car I've ever driven on a race track. An MR2 with incredibly shit tyres and wonky brake balance was easier to keep pointing in the right direction (and to catch mid-slide once grip levels were exceeded) than it. I found that I could push up to about 9-10ths of my own ability before my butt started trying to eat my underwear, and the one time I did very slightly overcook it into a second-gear corner I was backwards faster than I could blink. I stress again that I'm no Daniel Ricciardo (my best lap was nearly 4 seconds slower than the record for that class of Formula Ford) but hot damn did that thing whip around so fast it took my brain a fraction of a second to even realise I was facing the wrong way and stomp on the brakes.
Hamilton + Bottas put the hards on under a safety car on lap 14 of 52. That's 39 laps to drive to the end. The SC also didn't come in until lap 19. If they're rated for 40 laps they should have covered that with, at worst, some loss of performance.
On Red Bull and their second driver, I'd agree that they've horribly mismanged things. Their car does appear to be an absolute handful to control, and possibly over-tailored to Verstappen. That's why I reckon they need a driver with more experience in the seat - someone who can give solid development feedback and have the engineers listen to it. That would also require Red Bull to actually listen to them. At any rate, throwing rookies into the second seat and hoping it sticks clearly isn't working.
This is possibly over of those cases where you could use some time in a trainer car (Skippy, Formula Vee) because those are made to exaggerate those characteristics (so yeah, they are worse in that regard) so that you learn to avoid doing unsettling things to the car.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.watch-and-listen-to-hamilton-fight-for-survival-on-last-lap-of-british-gp.4Ok89xPidk3Bv69d7ra4nT.html
But last year it was working for them. Didn't Albon more or less outscore Verstappen from the moment he came on the team? I do remember him having a few epic drives from the back of the grid to the points and top 5 finishes, especially when Verstappen was out of the race already.
So what changed since 2019?
The lap record is high in the 59 seconds, it's not a long track. Other better drivers on the same drive day were over a second and a half per lap faster than me.
I was excited to be legally watching F1 by subscribing to F1 TV, then found out I had to wait 2 days to watch everything because I hadn't done the pro sub. I thought Pirelli was the exclusive tire supplier, how'd they all manage to end up on Firestones?
It's a trip to see people still talking about Grosjean making bad choices. I didn't watch F1 for several years but when I was last following a lot it felt like he and Pastor Maldonado were competing for bonehead accidents.
Now, I still don’t like the sound level choices from the broadcast as the high pitch whining from the cars gives me a headache and the commentary is conversely too quiet, it’s still good racing.
I also want to complain about the on screen graphics but I fear that’s just due to me not understanding all of the information being displayed. They should probably explain things once in a while like other sports do.
Fun racing!
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.racing-point-say-perez-will-race-in-70th-anniversary-gp-pending-negative.6xIByUDrMKDb41z3LfkHYy.html
https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/formula1/53691818
Steam | XBL
Edit: Beaten by Jazz!
In a further blow to RP, Renault's protest of the brake ducts was upheld. €400,000 fine and 15 constructors points deducted. Official ruling is €200,000 and 7.5 points per car for use in the styrian GP, and a reprimand for subsequent races.
https://www.formula1.com/en/latest/article.breaking-racing-point-deducted-15-points-and-fined-heavily-as-renault.7j9tsLSAm7rXnWHxH1Uy9c.html
Steam | XBL
Not counting the awful showing last week, RP is still looking good for the rest of the season.
... unlike Renault.
1. The front brake ducts were fine because although they were based directly on Mercedes IP they actually used that IP in 2019 to design brake ducts for their 2019 car (pre-brake-ducts-as-listed-parts) so the current ones can be considered an evolution of those 2019 parts.
2. The rear brake ducts were not fine because they were based on Mercedes IP that was obtained in 2019 legally but not used to design brake ducts for the 2019 car, so the current brake ducts cannot be considered an evolution of 2019 parts.
As for the penalty, I think it was relatively minor because Racing Point was fully cooperative with the investigation and didn't try to hide anything. Preventing Racing Point from using those brake ducts would effectively kill their car for the season, which the FIA is going to be quite hesitant to do because it's hard enough to get teams to enter, you really don't want to kick them out. With the abbreviated schedule they would almost certainly completely miss at least two races before they could get an acceptable part put on the car, and how do you even prevent them from incorporating aspects into the replacement? It would be a nightmare to try and enforce and just be a massive PR disaster I feel.
The FIA even admits that it is partly at fault (not in so many words) because there was insufficient clarity on what was and was not allowed. Racing Points interpretation that anything they legally possessed before the change is fair game is not some crazy thing, so if the FIA had written the regulations differently then this situation would not have arisen. The FIA also seems to be saying that developing parts based on things like photographs taken of competitors at a race weekend is also allowed, which could open up some interesting shenanigans.
It's so weird to be in agreement with the FIA though.
Steam | XBL
On the suggestion of a friend, I tried a motion control setup on F1 2019 as well, and in that game I was able to have my throttle at intermediate positions instead of just fully open or fully closed. I don't know if it is a difference in the profile I loaded into the controller, or something strange with a game setting, or what the issue is. Anybody have any thoughts or tips on setting this up properly? I haven't been able to figure out how to do anything other than basic changes to a controller profile, so I don't know if there is something I could change to enable an analog output on the right trigger (though it seems to work fine for very low travel amounts so it seems unlikely to be a single digital to analog setting to change). I mean I can certainly get by using my DS4, but I'd prefer to use the Steam Controller and its superior button layout.
well
ever. I started watching 2015 and it's been Mercedes dominance the whole time and my chosen team (McLaren) hasn't done anything in that time, but now, now there is an outcome I am 100% invested in.
Also a mention to Gasly, who is doing a superb job in that Alpha Tauri.
Mercedes 1-2-3 though, heh.
Also
But still. Go Hulk! Also Ricciardo and Gasly. But mostly Hulk.
Steam | XBL
P3 - P10: 0.696 seconds
Lando Norris is closer to Nico Hulkenburg than Nico is to Lewis Hamilton. The pace from Mercedes is unbelievable
It did make me think about Mercedes legacy in F1 though. They've won the alst 6 championships on the trot, and in that time have made several cars dominant enough that they can be compared to the likes of the MP4/4 or F2004 - and the W11 is certainly putting itself in contention as well. With a record like that on top of their years providing engines I'd say they're a pretty integral part of F1. It would be hard to imagine the sport without Mercedes now.
Also those Mercs were eating through those tyres. Funny because the RPs don't seem to have been as bad with regards to usage/blistering.