[Owen Pyrah]

David Weber
Wow, you drivers are fast! I hotlapped and the best I had was 1:44:922. I'm consistent and I hit my apexes. All my laps were within one second of that time (and I actually drove two back-to-back laps at 1:44:922 exactly).

Welcome to the world of 'there's always someone faster than you'. Even when I think I'm not losing any time and have run a perfect lap, there will be someone lapping over a second or two faster than me. What might help get your times down:

1. Slow in, fast out - Don't try to outbrake yourself and gain tenths by late braking. Brake earlier and more gradually to optimise your entry and not rush the bend. For the exit corners (at least 70% of bends at most tracks) you want to get the power down as soon as possible. Before apex if possible. Once you crackhe throttle a bit, smoothly add throttle until it's wide open. Try not to chop it. If you rush the entry you'll be later on the gas at exit and lose far more time than you could have gained through late braking.
   
2. Exit speed > corner speed - While you need to carry as much speed as possible through a bend to get the best exit, it's better to carry less corner speed and get on the gas sooner than rail round at the limit and delay getting back on the throttle. I'd rather go a couple mph slower and get on the gas before the apex than have those extra couple mph round the bend and not get on the gas until after apex.
   
3.  Prioritise the bends before the longest straights - The faster you come out of these and the sooner you get on the throttle, the more speed you'll carry. On the longest straights this could mean carrying an extra few mph for about 8 seconds which could easily amount to a fair few car lengths.
   
4. Next prioritise the longest, fastest bends - An extra 1 mph round a long, fast bend is going to be worth much more than an extra 5 mph around a tighter bend like the bus stop at Spa. 
   
5. The faster you go, the more you need to brake - Or to the extreme, if you went round the track at 50 mph you'd probably not brake at all. When you first get to a track you might brake far too early for the first few laps. But then once you've got a basic braking reference point, don't be afraid to brake earlier as you get quicker. It's a fool's game trying to brake later and later. In fact, the faster you go, the more subtle you'll probably need to be with the controls so you might find you prefer getting to the brakes early and gently. Who cares about a few hundreths of a second full throttle at corner entry if you could lose tenths at the exit eh?
   

I'm going to stop myself before I get carried away but they are some of the things I focus on. Actually right now I'm working on improving my throttle and brake control at the first and last 5% of application. That final feather of brake towards the apex and the gentle crack on from the apex to the exit. Using the weight balance to steer..
Oh, and don't push too hard when practicing. You'll improve more if you're going about 80-90% of your max because you'll be more relaxed.