It started off as a normal sunday of going out for a walk with my cousin. It was still early when we already has our dinner and have nowhere else to go when I suddenly decided to bring my cousin to the F1 to have an experience of the impact of the sound of a F1 car...
We were hooked.
Anyway, I got myself the game F1 2012 just to have a feel of our favourite Marina Bay F1 circuit. One thing good about this game is I can be playing as anyone in the game from Sebastian Vettel to Charles Pic in all 20 tracks in the season in a quick race session. So I started out a Quick Race, Singapore, in the easiest settings, as Mark Webber... I am never an expert in such games, but I do enjoy them... Soon I realised Singapore circuit was just some dizzying hell of annoying turns...
Personally I had tried this circuit once. R-factor, also from a laptop. At that time, I didn't even managed to complete a lap of Singapore.
As I progress on, I tried out many other tracks like Spa and Valencia, some of the few most beautiful tracks according to the racers. When I finally think I'm ready, I decided to start the new game in the career mode.
Somehow the game has an extremely annoying bug for saving games. Sometimes your save file could get corrupt and it caused my first career to come to a halt after a very significant progress into the game. It refuse to save. Whenever I start my game, it will bring me to where I last stop...
Anyway, I restarted my career, and I am going to share my experience for the 20 rounds in the game season. All below games were played just as according to my first career run... With automatic gearbox, brake-assist, pit-assist, reduced flags and rules, in the easiest AI difficulty. All tracks will be shortened with just 25% of the total length. I had also set my race to be "realistic" in case of accidents. My cars will suffer physical damages if I drive badly and I will have no flashbacks. This would mean if I had a terminal crash, that's it. I'm out of the race. I will fast forward, I will skip the session once I feel confident about securing a reasonable seat, but I will not rewind... There will be no replays. This is however, unless there is a bug that force me to restart...
Each round will consist of 1 practice session, followed by 3 qualifying (Q1-3 - Q2 and Q3 are only available if you complete the previous qualifying above a certain position) sessions, followed by an actual race (R1).
I had chosen Marussia. Equipped with a Cosworth engine, this team is well, one of the newest teams and naturally, they are right at the bottom of the ranking list. My goal is to become top from right at the bottom of the career... I've did terrible terrible job the previous time round, in fact so bad I had only 26 pathetic points (1 from Valencia, 25 from Singapore) points when the save game bug killed me... How will I fare now?
I make it a point to backup my saved game files very frequently now...
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Round 1 - Australia
The Australian Circuit was a relatively ok. There isn't many tricky turns but there aren't any high speed areas too. My only complain is the Hellas turn, there is a very high chances of approaching the corner too fast and thus lands you to the other side of the track.
During play, I always think that this round is rigged. I can never be ahead of the next driver. I am always at the last. During the practice, all drivers clocked their lap time between 1:36:000 to 1:39:000 while my time was never faster than 1:50:000... That was over 10 seconds difference! Until I discovered the fact that I can actually use DRS for the entire time during practice and qualifying.
However, this still does not change that fact that I am slow here. Even though my time had improved to about 1:43:195 (my best at this track) i am still far away from number 23. I ended my Practice and Q1 at position 24th... Glock was at 21st.
Come race day, I started way at the bottom of the grid. At the first turn, I overtook a number of cars. At the second turn, I hit the car infront accidentally, that threw both of us into a spin, and all other cars behind me all started piling up. I lost my front wing and saw wheels flying... Then I got a 10 seconds penalty for causing a collision. When things finally settled down, at lap 3, after a pit stop, when everyone are back to their tracks with their repaired cars, my car was already a holy freaking minute behind the next... 3 cars had already retired. By lap 5, the first cars are already starting to appear from behind me. Yes, I am that slow.
As the race goes on, a few more cars retired for various reasons... I ended my race at position 19/18 (There was one DNF ahead of me) while Lewis Hamilton took the top spot and Glock at 16th... My requirement was to finish the this round at 23rd or above... Goal achieved.
Round 2 - Malaysia
Sepang International Circuit is a race circuit... In all my racing games, there are 2 types of circuits I never like - Dirt tracks and race tracks... Dirt tracks does not grip and you will be skidding everywhere. Race tracks are usually strategically built so it consists of everything. More knowledge and skills are required for such. I would very much prefer street or road tracks where there are many slow turns and usually have a better scenery...
This race track, from a glance, it consist of 2 very distinct long straights, a couple of shorter ones and plenty of turns of various angles. This track got a very misleading and confusing pit entrance... First there is a closed road, followed by an open one that is so hidden that it would make it so hard to find the correct angle to approach. Time could be wasted right before an entrance.
It was a light rainy practice session with a R&D objective, to complete 3 laps within the time limit without using DRS. It was already raining... I can't use DRS anyway and I managed to complete my objective easier than expected. After that, I fast-forwarded a little, and the track was dry... So I put on my dry tires and go for a final spin. I finished at 18, 1:50:729. Glock at 21, 1:51:911, first goes to Alonso at 1:49:372. I know I could do better...
It rained even heavier during Q1... Without DRS, without KERS, I only managed to achieve position 19. Glock was just one place behind me at 20th. My objective was to be 20th and above, objective passed...
On race day, the weather was switching back and forth betweeb light rain and no rain. I was started with intermediate tires. At first lap, everyone pitted to switch into option, including me... Thereafter, it started to rain and at the 3rd lap, everyone but me pitted for intermediate tires... I ran a damp track with dry tires for at least 2 more laps before the others pitted for dry ones once more. Then it started raining again. But I am already completing my race...
I won't say I did a good job. I did not get a 19/21 without luck though, but that is not even the objective. I am lucky because Glock was last... It does feel good to win your partner. The winner for the Malaysia Grand Prix goes to Lewis Hamilton.
Round 3 - China
I never liked the Shanghai International Circuit... Just look at T1 to T4 and T11 to T13! Who designed those tracks?! Well, this is also the signature of this circuit isn't it? Tackling this circuit need skills. Besides the ridiculous turns, this track also consist of a number of fast approaching sharp corners like T14 and T6 that provides nice overtaking chances. The 2 wide angle turns here are my main weaknesses, I often turn my car too late, thus steering far away from the ideal apex. For a turn towards the right, I tend to drive my car too much to the left.
I didnt do well here. With 3 sections of the circuit not in flavor for me, I managed to cough out a 19th position for my practice session at 1:51:943, but a last for Q1 at 1:52:696. Glock was at 20th...
During race, I equipped myself with prime tires, and options later. My objective was to finished 23rd and above. I managed to pass that objective because of one retired driver ahead of me, and I retired early too. I had a high impact crash on lap 6 at T5.
Round 4 - Bahrain
Bahrain International Circuit from a glance, I can see it is quite a fast circuit with the 4 long straight sections and the gentle corners. It is a fairly simple track, but it still contains tricky parts too. Turn 2 is fast. The big round corners of turns 8 and 9 aren't simple either, especially when I am bad at the them.
During my practice session, I suffered a terminal crash into the barrier between the track and the pit at the first run because I was distracted. I did not clock any time there. In Q1, I got myself a 19th position... Glock was at 23rd... Noticing my time between the first in this session wasn't any more than a second... This track must be one of the potential circuits for me to at least get into a top 10... I like this track... And I am going to play it well on race day...
On race day, I equipped myself with prime tires and set options for the pit. The first few turns were crazy. The brake assist does me no good. I am constantly braking too early and too slow. At second lap of the run, i am at position 12/22 and 2 cars had already retired. One of them is Glock.
I had to say, this is definitely one of the most annoying race I've experience so far, for I am constantly being chased by Button up close. The time gap for most was not even a second apart. It was even worse in the DRS zone, he managed to overtake me a couple of times but luckily it can be pretty easy to get my position back right afterwards. It was a relieve when he finally pitted 1 lap before I go for my turn.
When I came out of the pit during my turn, Button, once again, appeared behind me. I am again being chased around by him... At lap 10, while defending by driving in front of him, he collided on to my car and lost his front wing. That threw him to the back of the grid, moreover, he will need to pit.
With just a few more laps to go, when he came back out he was on full power...
All... The... Way...
He clocked the new best lap times 2 more times before the race ended... He got himself an impressive best lap time of 1:44:287 and ended the race at 17th, more than a second faster than the next best time by set Nico at 1:45:871... I ended this race at position 10, giving me my first point of the season...
Then I sat back... Relieved... This is definitely one exciting race...
Round 5 - Spain (Barcelona)
Circuit de Catalunya would possibly be one of my worse performing circuits... There are numerous wide turns and in one glance, it looks confusing. I never had a quick race on this track prior to my first run of my career... Now at my second run, I still dread this circuit... Well, a career is a career, i will need to go through this monster circuit to progress...
There was a R&D objective to meet on my light rainy practice session. It was simple, I need to spend around 9.7% of my flying lap time braking, while still meeting the required lap time. Nailed it without much effort due to my brake assist... At the 3rd lap, I followed instructions to switch into a set of dry tires since it seems like the track was drying up... I pitted, repaired, and changed my tires, have a look at the information panel, selected flying lap out and whoah, the track is wetter than before! In fact it is so wet that I think I should be using wet tires instead of my current options... Apparently the rain tuned up during this few minutes and i am back to the intermediate tires My best lap time? 1:42:851 at 24th...
In Q1, it was sunny. With option tires, my best time was 1:35:119 at 24th...Glock was at 21st... The first drivers were all in their 1:31:XXX...
On race day, the weather was cloudy with 10% chances of rain... So I assume the race would be mostly dry... Well, I don't know... I shall let fate decide and choose all default settings.
The race took off with a bang... I was driving behind Glock. One car came in front of him, Glock braked, but I crashed on to him... Glock was thrown into a spin, and was hit by another car. Glock was out... Heh heh... This kind of accident excites me... Somehow I did not suffer any penalties here... But I suffered a lost front wing, along with Senna and Massa with either a puncture or wing problem for them. All 3 of us pitted immediately... Massa entered the pit in front of me and came out before me... There might be a bug, because when he came out, he was driving so slowly that by lap 3, I am already 45 seconds ahead...
Blue flag was raised on me on Lap 6... Hamilton was now a lap faster than me. Massa is still behind me, but it does seem like he is driving properly now. Because at this point, I am 30 seconds behind Senna, and Massa was 30 seconds behind me. Pressure starts to go up as the gap between me and Senna gets bigger and bigger and the gap between me and Massa gets smaller and smaller...
After more long long dizziness, crashes, run-offs, and retired cars, I finished the race at position 20/20 out of pure luck... My objective was 20th... Glock, Petrov, Grosjean and ah, Vettel was out.
This is too crazy...
Round 6 - Monaco
The infamous Monaco circuit. Notoriously known for its narrow tracks, tight corners, and a confusing pit stop. The track lacks overtaking opportunities and there are plenty of elevation changes. It was a very dangerous place to race and this track does have cases where drivers actually crashed and flew into the waters... One of the more famous drivers to do so was Alberto Ascari, who died 4 days later in a test drive with a Ferrari in the Italian Circuit. There are also a number of deaths in this circuit, the most famous death would be Lorenzo Bandini whose car exploded on impact and he died a few days later due to the injuries.
Even with all this negative records, Monaco was well-liked by drivers and players alike. It was a fun challenge to drive and the sceneries were great.
So it was my turn to experience this circuit... At both practice and Q1, I crashed and turned and tumbled my way around, constantly pitting and repairing my car into position 24. Ok, this was expected... And without any penalties too! Probably I need more practice... But anyway, I refused to restart any sessions and thus this naturally bring me to the last grid. Glock was on the 23rd.
With such horrible results, I know I will definitely end the race somewhere in the bottom. I raced on... By the second lap, Glock was already out together with Karthikeyan, who is disqualified in the first lap chaos.
When I lost my front wings, I actually performed better, so for numerous laps, I was racing with a damaged front wing... My car was blue flagged all the while at the first few laps, vehicles behind me were not able to overtake me with my crazy driving. Safety car was deployed on lap 9, but i got into a terminal crash on the same lap at the Nouvelle Chicane, and thus I was unable to join in the safety car fun...
My results? A very surprising position 17! Nico Rosberg won the race... Together with me, those who did not complete the race includes Karthikeyan (DSQ), Glock, Button, Grosjean, Vettel, Webber and Hulkenberg... This has got to show sometimes AI computers do not cheat. They make mistakes as well... And they will do badly when the situations aren't correct.
It does feel strange to see the cutscene which everyone was applauding me even when I lost the race...
Round 7 - Canada
The Canadian circuit is one of the fastest circuits in the F1 calender. it consist of multiple straights, multiple chicanes and 2 sharp turns at both ends. My car does not have the critical KERS technology that can be put into a very good use in these tracks... So what does this mean? Not impressive. Not good at all...
I had an early end to my practice session. I lost control of my car at the last chicane and had a hard crash into the Wall of Champions at the right. This wall, ironically named, have seen many famous crashes throughout the Canadian F1 history. I did not do well for my Q1 either. I ended session in the last position. Glock was 21st...
For the third consecutive day, the weather was wet. For the race at lap 12, I got into an accident that punctured my front tire. This caused the safety car to be deployed for the second time in the entire season. I completed my race behind Glock. He finally out-raced me once more. The only other time he won me is in Australia.
Gah. Whatever...
Round 8 - Spain (Valencia)
Valencia is a street circuit. Definitely one of the tracks that I can perform better. I had tried this circuit quite a couple of times in the quick race games. It was once on my most successful track...
Going to the game, I had a R&D objective - Not to brake for a certain percentage of the race for 3 laps while still maintain the pace to finish within the time limit. Again, with the default settings, the objective seems to be very achievable...
For the practice sessions, I got myself at position 7 and position 19 for the qualifying... Not too bad I guess? At least it was above Marussia's expectation.
Now you readers might ask me, since this track was once my most successful track, what happened to my driving now? Seriously, I don't know either. My driving sucks? And also the vehicle I guess? All my Quick Races were played with Webber or Vettel... I had a very fast Renault engine, very very reputable Red Bull, with the very very very critical technology called KERS... In the quick race sessions, all the top champions were always at the front of the grid, this made some of my games very easy in those races. Career mode feels very different, I have no KERS with my Marussia. The skills I had with DRS in the career mode does not really place a role in quick races whereas the skills I had with KERS in quick races does not play a role for now... Starting at the back of the grid with a slower vehicle don't help much.
I could have chosen Caterham...
Back to the race... Glock was just right behind me at 20th spot... Like Bahrain Circuit, my personal target is at least a point scoring position... When the starting lights goes off, everyone started running at full power trying to get a early front position, when my vehicle suddenly exploded. I'm out. I had not even past the first bridge with the Santander banner, in fact I had not even past the first grid box...
Shocked by this bizzare incident, I replayed to see what exactly happened... It was Glock! He hit my rear left wheel when he was going right, just when I was going left. This side to side collision sent him to the wall at the left and it seems like he lost both his rear view mirrors, and his front wings too... His car looks even more damaged than mine. In fact my car still looks perfectly fine though.
Sigh! My hopes in Valencia race shattered into a thousand pieces in just 5 seconds just like that!
I may be a evil partner (because I block him all the time) but it seems like Timo wasn't someone who will give in easily either!
The results table shows Glock has got himself a 10 seconds penalty, possibly from the incident. He ended the race at position 23rd, over a minute behind Raikkonen.
Hillarious...
Round 9 - Great Britain
The picture above doesn't look correct. The correct starting point should be at the straight before the Abbeys turn.
Silverstone. The main hub told me this is the team's home circuit, thus Marussia are expecting good results. Oh no.
Anyway, Silverstone looks like the Bahrain circuit, but much harder. There are a few straights and a few sharp turns. The highlight of this track are the Maggotts, Becketts, Chapel turns. This sections snakes, you need to get it right in such corners because if you did not, it will set off a chain reaction and you will not be able to tackle the other corners in the series nicely. In addition, both ends to this section are straights. You will be losing a lot of time here. Another difficult section would be the Loop which consist of a few slow turns.
I did not do well in Silverstone. My practice and qualifying placed me at 23rd side by side with Glock. For the both days, the weather was dry. But it was raining on the race day.
It was another "too wet to use dry, too dry to use wet" situation. At first lap, everyone pitted to change their intermediate tires to the dry ones. It was so crowded at the pit that I need to queue behind Glock, wait for my turn, and wait even further for the path to clear before I can drive out. This pit stop did not change my broken front wing (why?) and I was forced to pit once more on the second lap. A few laps in, the radio suggests to me to switch into intermediate tires since the tracks looked wet, and I followed suit. Exiting the pit, when I regain my control from the self-drive, I skidded on the first turn and lost my front wings. Needless to say, I am last here once more.
I ended my race 20/20. Glock was 16th. Champion goes to Button.
Round 10 - Germany
I am promoted from the second driver to an equal status of Timo Glock. This is the 10th round of the season, after this, I would officially past the half way mark. But it is quite demoralising when I hasn't got a nice streak of scoring wins yet.
Back to racing, I am familiar with Hockenheimring circuit. I had another racing game SCAR which features this track. It got 3 distinct parts - A straight, a series of fast wide turns, a series of slower wide turns... Wide turns... hmm... But it didn't take me long to grasp this track in SCAR. F1 2012 is a different story though. Nord Kurve is very wide in SCAR, from the pit exit to the opposite wall is one excellent overtaking spot. It is wide enough to turn without slowing down. Followed by Einfahrt, in F1, I had to slow down quite a bit, whereas in SCAR, it is pretty much possible to approach it at high speed. Moreover, Spitzkehre was such a slow turn that it would be very easy to cut the corner by accident. SCAR does not penalise for corner cutting...
In the practice session, the ever changing weather forced me to use all 4 tire types. My fastest lap time from this circuit was just a little bit behind Button's.
During qualifying, I needed to pit for fuel, with myself approaching from the side, I overshot the entrance, so risking a penalty, I took a small little reverse and turn into the pit. This gave me a 10 grid penalty for dangerous driving.
I started my race at 24th, and ended at 23rd. It wasn't a nice race.
Round 11 - Hungary
After that race in Germany, I was offered a contract from Toro Rosso. Seriously, I can't wait to leave Marussia. And I can't stand Glock! Toro Rosso cars are equipped with KERS. One very important technology that can make my driving a different story. You will see how.
On practice, I got myself a 4th position at a time of 1:33:100. Ricciardo was third at 1:32:831. Mark Webber first at 1:31:232. See the difference now? My ex-partner, Glock was at the 22nd... Judging from this, I can safety say to get a pole position, I will need to complete a lap by 1:30:000... But at this point, it still seems pretty hard. At my first career run, I didn't get my first pole until Singapore. How will I fare now?
Nonetheless, I gave it a try, I did not get a first, but I got a third. This puts me into the first Q2 session in this career. My time at Q1 was 1:32:272. Ricciardo did not make it. He will be starting the race in the 18th grid. The best time for Q1 goes to Maldonado at 1:30:414.
At Q2, i lost control of my vehicle, with the DRS on, i approached a wide turn too fast and i spun out of control, hit the wall and damaged my vehicle quite a bit. At the second time I got to the same turn, i crash once more in a similar fashion, and in addition, while reversing out, another vehicle came approaching at high speed, and hit me... This 2 crashes had wasted so much time that I did not get to clock a time, and to make matters worse, I got a 10 grid penalty. This means I am starting the race last.
It was an expected dry race day. I put on my prime tires, left my options in the pit, set the fuel strategy to normal, and set off. This is the usual settings I am most comfortable with. 18 laps later, I finished the race at... 23rd.
The turns 8 to 10 continued to be a pain for me. These turns are the fast wide turns that got me spinning at least 7 times, especially when the effects of tire wear kick in.
Anyway, is it just me or is the Hungaroring exceptionally slippery as well?
Round 12 - Belgium
Spa is one of the most scenic circuits in the entire F1. Loved by many, this challenging track is built on a hilly terrain. The track started off with a slow sharp turn followed by got a very fast, very tricky upwards slope which is followed by a snaking downwards slope. It has got a long history and the track itself has been modified several times. This track is also known to have cause a number of deaths before it was heavily modified.
On my sunny practice day, I tried running this track a few laps. The approach towards Eau Rouge, Raidillon and Kemmel was so tricky that I crashed the barriers multiple times. I learnt to approach them slower and it worked out better. During the wet qualifying rounds, I wasn't doing very well. First I was the first, one by one, the other racers all beat each other's timing and I got bumped to the drop zone, and all the way down. When time was running out, I made one final push. Big mistake. I overturned my car... First instance of my F1 gaming history.
I started out my race at position 22. 4 places down what Toro Rosso expected me to meet. On the race day, it rained. For some reason, I really dislike the light rainy system in the game, especially when it is not easy to judge if the rain is going to continue on, stop or get even heavier. The radar never seems to be accurate, and it has given me the wrong information for a couple of times. There are also times when the track was half dry, half wet.
With that in mind, I decided to take a risk and start off with a set of prime tires instead of the suggested intermediate. I am expecting most cars to pit at the first laps. If I can maintain well, getting a nice spot the first few laps should not be much of a problem. My planned worked like magic. At the first lap, everyone pitted for dry tires, and I managed to get a top position of number 2 with not much of a problem... Now maintaining that spot is the key to winning. My plan was further succeeded when they pitted once more for the intermediate, and once more for the dry tires. I was at the leading until lap 9, when I crashed in a similar fashion as my qualifying while trying an overtaking manoeuvre, but without overturning. That put me into position 23rd, one place above my partner, who retired somewhere out there before me.
How did I crash? After the slow turn at La Source, the track bends slightly towards the right, then it bends to the left and back to the right up the slope of Eau Rouge. After Eau Rouge is a blind left turn Raidillon. I often approach the Eau Rouge too fast and too much towards the right, this means i had to turn harder towards the first left hand side... It sets off a chain reaction as I will not be able to turn towards the right up in time and crash right into the wall. Otherwise I will barely scrap past that wall just in time to turn at Raidillon, which lands me in the run off zone probably because now i will be turning too much right for the left there. But why did I approach Eau Rouge from the right side of the track? The key here is the speed, this little corner provides a excellent overtaking spot if executed nicely as the cars are likely to be running slower than you in a single file while you overtake them both left and right. Following them behind is much less risky but it will waste the overtaking chance there. With the rest of the circuit filled with wide turns, i figured i will be better off risking it!
Disappointing race indeed. Another great loss of potential points.
Round 13 - Italy
Monza is another incredibly fast circuit in the calendar. The previous extremely high speed race was in Canada. Very similar to the Canadian, this circuit contains a number of chicanes, 2 sharper turns at both side and the rest of the track are mainly straights. The highlight of the track is the turn named Variante Ascari... A turn to named after Alberto Ascari who lost his life there, just 4 days after he took a trip down the harbour in his car in Monaco.
Before starting this race, I got myself a chance to choose a rival. If I won my rival, I could get myself a chance to get their contract! But the thing is, the few drivers I can choose as my rival are Petrov from Caterham, and the 2 HRT cars. I would gladly choose if there are anyone from Sahara, Lotus, Mercedes AMG, Scuderia Ferrari, Vodaphone McLaren, or Red Bull... Otherwise, Glock!
So I took Petrov as my rival...
This track looks easy, but in actual fact, it was much harder than what it seems. That tricky Variante Ascari would require precise turning. The Variante del Rettifilo was another sharp turning chicane. I will also need to pay attention when approaching the pit entrance. The divider was located in a location that it will be very easy to collide on to it. In the practice, I made tried out many different settings for my vehicle, mainly playing around with the downforce. At one point, my vehicle is behaving as if there are zero downforce and wasn't responding to my steering. At the other end, my vehicle ended up very slow and a little too responsive. What I need to find is that point between the two and set my vehicle just right. In the end, I still find the average well balanced settings the best for me.
During practice, I had a very close fight. I clocked the the fastest time of 1:30:441 with the option tires. Ricciardo was 17th, but our time wasn't much of a difference at 1:30:799. My rival Petrov was at 1:31:430. Even Pic and Glock was within 1 second of my time at 1:31:424 and 1:31:436 respectively. I also clocked my fastest speed of 347.14km/h
The rain was full blast on Q1. I've got no idea. Not the results I wanted. Last place. My time was 1:37:914 and Webber's 1:36:339...
On race day, it was dry with 0% chance of rain. Now that I am at the last of the grid, it is very critical I gain position fast. But the auto-brakes are too careful for me. It was braked too early when I approach the first turn.
I ended the race at position 17 after a couple of spin off. There is also one interesting thing to note, there are more than usual number of penalties given. Nico Rosberg got a 20 seconds penalty, Charles Pic, Raikkonen and Kobayashi each got a 10. Usually there isn't more than 2 to 3 penalties given... Even if it is given out, it is given to me. And Senna was disqualified.
Round 14 - Singapore
Look at the above track and look at the number of turns. 24 per lap!
As a Singaporean, this track is special. I had grew up with this place, from the time when both the Singapore Flyer and Esplanade wasn't even built to the time this sophisticated downtown became so pretty, I knew this place by hard. I had also travelled along these exact roads and the buildings, the lane markings, all matches what it is in Singapore. The only complain about the design is, why are there ships along the waters? I had never even once saw a ship of that size stopping so close to that river side.
Anyway, Singapore track have quite a number of similarities as Monaco and Valencia. Both sides of the tracks are covered by walls and there are so many turns. If I am not a Singaporean, I would not like this circuit. However, this track is filled with what I do best, slow sharp corners. For many, the trickiest turns are from turn 10 to 12 named the Singapore Sling, it bends 90 degrees to the right, 90 degrees to the left and 90 degrees to the right once more, all within a space of... 50 metres? A wrong move could send you crashing to the side... Turn 5 is a high speed wide 90 degrees turn... I often approach this corner too fast and often ended up at the wall.
Before the race, I was offered 2 contracts. One from HRT and another one from Marussia both as the number 2 driver. I reject both offers and continued with my Toro Rosso...
And for this special race, I have a target. I am going to dominate the entire weekend, and this has got to be exciting.
But first, I will want to complete a R&D objective. The session start out dry, then it started to rain when I completed the objective. With the track so familiar, I managed to clocked myself the best time during R&D at 1:55:254. A big gap from the next car. I did not even use DRS and KERS for that! So for the rest of the practice session, I sit back and look at the times, confident of securing the top spot. Judging from the results I have from the practice, i can safely say as long as I am faster than 1:52:XXX it should not be a problem to start in the pole position.
And for Q1, it continues to rain heavily. I did not get the top spot. I lost to Vettel by 0.065 seconds. This still allows me to progress to Q2 anyway. Q2, despite showing 100% chance of rain, I did not encounter any. With my options, this time with a little kick of KERS and DRS, I clocked 1:52:837 at number 1 once more. Vettel, who won me earlier, clocked 1:57.810. This brings me to Q3, the first time of this season. Q3 is short, there are only 10 minutes. So you only got 1 to 2 chances... Every manoeuvre is important for Q3. And yes! I've made it to my first pole position of this season at a time of 1:51:877! The gap to the next car was 4.392 seconds. Awesome! Awesome!
I didn't want to push hard the on the race. I completed the race at 30:33.478 with a relaxed pace. First full 25 points of the season.
Round 15 - Japan
Suzuka Internation Racing Course was the only track in the F1 calender to be running in an "8" figure. It loops clockwise first, then it goes anti-clockwise, and back to clockwise direction. I find this track to be no easy feat! Despite running multiple laps, I am still very unfamiliar with the circuit. First, there is a snaking section, then there is an U-turn, and there are a very fast straight that is joined by a extremely fast turn, then suddenly a chicane.
During practice, my fastest lap time was 1:48:966 clocked very early in the session... This wasn't a good result, for the fact that the average lap time for this circuit is about 1 to 2 full seconds faster. Moreover, I got myself a 10 grid penalty on one of my flying laps for causing a collision on one of the flying laps. When I regain my control from the computer, I was just right beside another vehicle. At the famous 130R, I threw it into a spin...
Come qualifying, the track was wet. Very very wet. With the poor results I had in practice, qualifying was no different. Besides running off and hitting the walls multiple times, I was suspended for dangerous driving. I spun into an opposite direction, and I ended up driving the wrong direction, and thus the suspension. With the practice and qualifying session added up, I got a holy 40 grid penalty. I bet I am the record holder for this...
The 1st turn, Dunloop, 130R and Spoon continues to be my weakness.
On race day, I started at the bottom, and my objective is to complete at 18 and above... I started last, and managed to complete at 19th. Just a little bit behind the objective.
Round 16 - Korea
Finally I am more than 3/4 into the season. And I still hasn't done well... Well, I know I won't... Because I didn't practice. For most of the circuits here, I had not even drove on them for more than 2 sessions. Most of them were just only 1 full session of Practice, Qualifying and Race prior to this...
Anyway, I am now in the Korean Circuit. I find this unique, because it is the Korean circuit that gave me a new way of looking at the tracks. Korean circuit is mainly consist of 2 parts, straights at the front half and plenty of complicated and confusing turns at the latter half... If you realised, a number of tracks were in built in such manner...Malaysian circuit, Chinese Circuit and Bahrain circuit in a way... Indian and Abu Dhabi too. I find it easier to race if you have this mindset because it will be easier to divide the use of KERS...
It was also this circuit that caused me to adopt the way of using KERS on straights more than turns. Throughout the entire Korean Grand Prix, I emptied my KERS all between turns 2 and 3. With the DRS on, the car can reach a breakneck speed... It provides an excellent overtaking spot on the approaching corners... Before this, I had never understand why are straights such nice overtaking spots as according to so many people... But now I do...
Trying out the new way of playing, in practice, I managed to clock a surprising number 1 at 2:04:050 with my wet tires... A certainly positive result. In qualifying, I surprised myself my clocking another first with 1:51:300... Realising my plan was working out better than expected, I stick to this plan and go on with 1 more first in Q2 and get myself 4th on the grid...
During the race, it did not take me much effort to be in the leading spot. It only took me 3 turns to do so... I was in the lead until I pitted. At the next lap, I regained my lead when the cars ahead pitted. Then at turn 11, something devastating happened... I oversteered and crashed into the wall losing my front wing. The pit stop that follows threw me into position 17 when I rejoin the track. I go on to clock a few more fastest laps and overtook as many cars as possible. I crossed the finish line at position 11... Jenson Button completes the race ahead of me by 19 seconds...
Disappointing!
On a positive note, at least I beaten both my partner and rival...
Round 17 - India
India has got a similar circuit pattern with the Korean circuit. Straights separated by sharp turns, and the rest are all confusing turns. Just by looking at the circuit map above, I am worried at turns 10 to 12 and 15. These few turns adds up to become 2 wide turns, which I can still barely master.
Anyway, my hub is telling me Lewis Hamilton could win the Championship at this race. Taking a look at the current standings, Lewis Hamilton was at the first spot with 230 points, followed by his partner, Jenson Button with 175 points. I am at position 14 with 26 points. Ricciardo is at position 19 with 5 points. Petrov is the last standing with points at 20th spot. Those without any points were Glock, De La Rosa, Karthikeyan, Kovalainen and Pic. If my mathematics do not fail me, if Lewis Hamilton scores a full 25 pointer here, and Button got a 18, that would mean their points will be pulled apart by 62 points. Button would need to take the checkered flag for the rest of the season while Lewis will need to be driving drunk.
Well, we know it wasn't possible so I believe I can safely declare him at the winner now?
Whatever...
I was offered to extend my contract and I was also offered a contract from Caterham. With such attractive offers, of course I will extend my time Toro Rosso. After all, they had been treating me well...
Back to the race, after completing the R&D objective, I used the tactic I previously used in Korean circuit and that is to empty the KERS in the the straights and follow as close to the racing line as possible for the rest of the circuit. It worked like a charm on practice as I managed to put myself in the first place once more...
On qualifying, on my first flying lap, at the long straight, I wasn't paying attention and collided on to Raikkonen hard. This shattered his car on the spot and I am left with a puncture, missing rear view mirrors, and a missing front wing. Ouch. I also got myself a penalty for causing a collision. I returned to the garage, repaired my vehicle, and continued on to clock a time of 1:38:279, just a tiny fraction ahead of Lewis Hamilton...
At Q2, I once again managed get a first place at 1:37:394. Once again, another tiny fraction ahead of Hamilton... But at Q3, I only got myself a 5th place at 1:37:722, just 0.248 seconds behind Alonso. Now with the penalty, I will start the race at the 15th grid. And to meet the objective of getting a 3rd place? It is going to be tough...
For the race, I completed the race at 10th. 1 point. A delayed overcrowded pit pushed me from 3rd place to the 7th. A penalty pushes it to the 10th.
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I was caught with the very major bug after reloading the game to continue my game in Abu Dhabi - The dreaded save game bug. My last backup was even before the Japan race... I had tried several ways to try not to alter my game too much, but all in vain... I had to restart my game from Japan onwards, and by restarting, I will not be playing it like how I did before... I will be rushing through them... Since I am stepping back to play what I had already played, some of the results I've said up there might not be valid anymore... Below are the changes in positions while trying to get back on track.
Japan
P - 24th at 1:48:966 (D) >> 24th at 1:50:446 (D)
Q1 - SUSPENDED (W) >> 24th at 2:00:066 (W)
Q2 - DNQ (?) >> DNQ (?)
Q3 - DNQ (?) >> DNQ (?)
Race - 19th (Objective: 18th) >> 15th (Objective: 18th)
Korea
Practice - 1st at 2:04:050 (W) >> 18th at 1:55:711 (D)
Q1 - 1st at 1:51:300 (D) >> 1st at 1:51:696 (D)
Q2 - 1st at ?:??:??? (?) >> 6th at 1:52:525 (D)
Q3 - 4th at ?:??:??? (?) >> 6th at 1:50:765 (D)
Race - 11th (Objective: 2nd) >> 1st (Objective: 4th)
India
Practice - 1st at ?:??:??? (?) >> 24th at 1:42:081 (D)
Q1 - 1st at 1:38:279 (D) >> 17th at 1:47:354 (W)
Q2 - 1st at 1:37:394 (D)>> 12th at 1:39:720 (D)
Q3 - 5th at 1:37:722 (D) >> DNQ (?)
Race - 10th (Objective: 3rd) >> 9th (Objective: 10th)
For the 3 races, i had definitely improved.
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Round 18 - Abu Dhabi
Abu Dhabi Grand Prix is the only race that features a day to night racing. Very unique I would say... A full race will see the sun in the skies, and gradually setting, by 60% into the race, the skies will start turning dark, and you can start to see the nice lightings around the area. Yas Viceroy Abu Dhabi Hotel is so pretty to look at night. To experience the transition from day to night, I even had myself a full 100% race prior to this... This track also features another unique feature and that is the tunnel when exiting the pit. None of the other tracks have such exits... With all these combined, this track has to be the most interesting track to race on.
Personally I find this track very similar to Singapore's. First, there are 21 distinct turns in this circuit, this is just 2 turns difference compared to Singapore. This track also consists of a combination of turns of various angles (Section 1, turns 1 to 7) just like turns 1 to 5 in Singapore. Speedy straights mid-way (Section 2, between turns 7 to turns 11) just like Singapore's between turn 5 and 7. Then, Yas Marina ends with a series of 90 degrees turns, again, just like Singapore's. Turns 15, 16 and 5, 6, 7 are also similar to turns 23, 24 and 1, 2, 3, 4 from Singapore's... And lastly, they are also similar in terms of circuit lengths and lap times. 5.55km per lap in Abu Dhabi, 5.07 for Singapore, and the lap times are both around 1 min 50 seconds.
After the Singapore track, this is my another favourite track. The time I spent on this track was much more here. I am feeling confident. Moreover, this track also consists of 2 joining straights followed by turns... Hah. Perfect for me.
During practice, I clocked a time of 1:53:466, more than 4 seconds ahead of Lewis Hamilton at my second lap. I go on to clock a time of 2:00:702 at Q1, 2:00:005 at Q2, 2:00:535 at Q3 all with intermediate tires due to the rainy weather.
On race day, it started slow, it progressed slow, and remained throughout. The weather was too dry for the intermediate tires and at the same time too wet for the dry ones. I completed the race at number 1 with the set of intermediates I started off with.
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I'm caught with the save game bug once more.
Last saved: India... This means I had to restart India once again... In fact I noticed this is the maximum I can go even with the backup. The bug seemed to lie in the India track, but I can't confirm this. The game seem to stop auto-saving itself whenever I got into India. And if I failed to save before I got into India, I will lose all progress from where I started to India.
With this bug on for the rest of the review I can have to do it in a single game, thereafter I will have to restart my game in a new profile...
India
Practice - 24th at 1:42:081 (D) >> 24th at --:--:--- (?)
Q1 - 17th at 1:47:354 (W) >> 1st at 1:45:267 (W)
Q2 - 12th at 1:39:720 (D) >> 17th at 1:39:727 (D)
Q3 - DNQ (?) >> DNQ (?)
Race - 9th (Objective: 10th) >> 16th (Objective: 15th)
Abu Dhabi
Practice - 1st at 1:53:466 (D) >> 1st at 1:52:555 (D)
Q1 - 1st at 2:00:702 (W) >> 1st at 1:51:372 (D)
Q2 - 1st at 2:00:005 (W) >> 1st at 1:52:762 (D)
Q3 - 1st at 2:00:535 (W) >> 1st at 1:51:702 (D)
Race - 1st (Objective: 1st) >> 1st (Objective: 1st)
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Round 19 - United States of America
The Circuit of the Americas was the latest addition to the F1 calendar.
It starts off as a race uphill, with a sharp turn atop before you slide down into this never ending snaking turns up the hill again and race back down.
Not exactly nice track to race on if you ask me. This track consist of a couple of confusing turns. Turn 1 is a blind turn. You will not be able to see the turn clearly until when you suddenly realised you need to make the turn. This kind of turns can also be spotted in other tracks like Spa and Abu Dhabi. Next, the road markings makes turn 7 another confusing turn. Turn 10 is just like turn 1, which you will only see the bend clearly just before you turn. Turns 13 to 15 does not exactly follows the apex rules since the best racing line does not hit them.
However, with that, I surprised myself with a 1st during Practice and Qualifying 1... But my time was no much more than a second ahead of the next. At Q2, it started raining... But I managed to squeeze into the first spot once more with just 0.011 second ahead of Hamilton, at 1:58:000 on the dot. I fainted when I grabbed the pole position in the rain at a time of 1:57:875... just 0.125 seconds after than Q2, but over a full 3 seconds faster than the next car. It was weird to see the opponents driving slower in Q3 than in Q2. Perhaps the weather has got something to do with it. On both Q2 and Q3, I was equipped with wet tires just like the rest, but the rain was much lighter in Q3.
Perhaps this track was easier than what I thought... Because I won the race...
Round 20 - Brazil
The last round of the season.
The tracks were narrow, the track was fast and it really plays on my weakness, there are almost no sharp turns but full of wide bends. And the track was relatively short at just 4.3km per lap...
Expectedly, I didn't do very well... I got 16th for Practice, 1st for Q1, but with 10 grid penalty, 3rd for Q2, 6th for Q3...
I damaged my car on lap 1 during race. I spun out of control at the first turn, and I crashed on to the wall, this punctured my tire and crippled my controls until I had a terminating crash on the divider right before the entrance to the pit.
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This pretty much sums up my race. 5 fastest laps, 3 poles, 4 wins, and a total of 101 points. I've beaten both my team mates (Both Ricciardo and Glock) and I had beaten my rival Petrov as well. This puts me in rank 9 for the season...
Continuing with the season, I realised I am of equal status with Ricciardo... Too bad I could not go on any further due to the save game bug.
So for the conclusion... Worth the money? Definitely not. The save game bug alone is already a very fatal, very grave mistake the developers had missed out... And from what I've read, the earlier versions, F1 2010 and F1 2011 both had the identical bug... And I will not be surprised if the bug is still not squashed in the next release...
However, without the bug, I would say yes. The graphics are good when you are on the tracks. The sound is good. F1 is all about speed, and the game really provide us with the thrill without being on the tracks. I really like the effect on how the vision blurs out into a sea of grey and blinking red dots when you are driving directly behind another vehicle in a wet track. Everything are set to be as realistic as possible, this means the physics programming in the game are probably even more complicated than what I am expecting... To a point it is ridiculous... The tires, the moisture, weather (it can rain in just 1/2 the track, dry the other), temperature, aerodynamics (They even took the aerodynamics in the tunnel in Monaco into play), shelter (yes, even the sheltered section under the Singapore Grandstand), how a little puddle of water, rubber marbles on the road, vehicle damages can affect your driving. I can't believe how the developers actually took all these into consideration.
With the above, this is not just a normal arcade racing game, it is also a strategic game... You can be starting a race in the sun on a wet track. While racing, the track dries up and suddenly you realised you are in the wrong tires. While you go and change into a proper set of tires, the weather starts to play with you and now you are racing in the rain with dry tires. You could have planned differently.
The only complain I have (besides the save game bug) is the realism and graphics when the vehicle goes off-road or got into an accident. More dust could be generated. And during crashes, more realistic damages could be made. Currently, it actually takes quite a hit just to puncture a tire, it will take a very hard hit just to dislodge a wheel, whereas in real life, I could have been killed a million times throughout the 18 rounds. In graphics, the maximum damages I can see in an accident is an overturned car with 4 dislodged wheels, missing front wing and 2 rear view mirrors. In real life, the whole car would have been disintegrated. I would like to see more damages in a high speed head on collision in the game than just broken front wings and wheels.
My personal rating for the game? 3/10...
I had initially given this game a rating of 4.5... But I decided to pull it further down because I had missed out one important factor I always keep a lookout in games, and that is the replay value. Racing games usually will have an disadvantage because there is only 1 single goal, to get first in the same few tracks using the same tactics... And for F1 2012, there are almost nothing to keep the player entertained when the game is completed, thus the player will get bored really fast... The replay value for this game is not exactly that bad however, because of the multiplayer support, and a different mode of gaming - Champions mode. Other than that, the game is either racing with yourself (Time Trial / Time Attack) or racing with others (Career) and this is not enough...
I could have given much higher, but the incredibly frustrating bug is an unforgivable error, especially when it already existed in the earlier 2 versions. I can't even progress, I might as well classify this game as unplayable and chuck it into the bin...
No. Really... I meant it...
Lets just hope the next release would be better.
Many ideas and credits come from another reviewer
http://www.wilfridwong.com/2012/10/02/f1-2012-video-game-a-brief-review-as-a-casual-racer-and-an-avid-f1-fan/
All images from
http://www.allf1.info/tracks/ & http://www.formula1.com/default.html
Out!
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