[Marco Monitto]

Okay nevermind, all those beers the day before were the reason 

Now I'm at 01:33:xxx in race trim and 01:31:392 in qualifying trim (which would have been 2nd place in qualifying that year).

I watched the 2009 German F1 race as preparation this were funny times with refulling and starting the race with youre quali fuel. So not to disapoint you should be a bit faster in our quali

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So to give my feedback to this series so far: The best decision ever was to do the races 1 hour long! This takes away the tension at the start, gived you more time in quali, rewards people who prepare a lot, is more like real life, and finaly awards people how are fast without mistakes. Most importantly the field behaves a lot better than on short 20 minute raes where everybody thinks he can win with a lucky lap 1. Now the top guys showed that you can even come back to the podium from last place.
Also I find this 2009 car is way nicer to drive than the 2018 cars (I mainly had problems under throttle and I guess this due to the automatic engergy deployment) and with KERS this added a nice tactical side as well.
In my opinion all the following F1 races should be 1 hour long alone because of the interesting startegy!

I subscribe to everything written by Simon. I think the best thing about this championship was the different race strategy that everyone has planned. Many last minute drivers, discouraged by this, did not show up and this made everything much more "serious". In addition, the championship was hard fought and until the last race the winner is not yet known. I think that, as Simon said, this must be a must, like the GT races for an hour, Formula 1 also deserves races of this duration. I hope this continues from now on, because I believe that the experiment has been perfectly successful. Thanks SRS and thanks Henrique!
The last thing that would drive me crazy would be the possibility of joining teams and competing in the team ranking.

[Simon Meisinger]

Absolutely. I think a constant 1-hour F1 series would bring a lot of people to SRS.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would make SRS the only place that itsn't iRacing with a weekly proper F1 sim-race that people can simply join without having to commit to a league.

[Marco Monitto]

Absolutely. I think a constant 1-hour F1 series would bring a lot of people to SRS.

Correct me if I'm wrong, but that would make SRS the only place that itsn't iRacing with a weekly proper F1 sim-race that people can simply join without having to commit to a league.

Absolutely. But eith a little difference. Here is FREE!!!

[Donnchadh MacGarry]

This is a bit of long read and probably isn't necessary since its the last race of the season, but I decided to share my thoughts on strategy and setup for the next race at the Nurburgring. Spa was my first race in this series, so I wasn’t fully sure on strategies and setups. I had never raced online in an F1 car before. I had driven them in my spare time but only casually and I had never really pushed myself to see just how quick I could go. So, most of my practice for Spa was spent trying to find my limit and then drive near it consistently without spinning out every few laps, which took me quite some time after many (and I mean MANY) laps. Now that I am more comfortable with the car, I could focus more of the practice for Nurburgring on comparing the strategies and some setups.

I did a bunch of practice at Nurburgring on Friday using Marco Monitto’s Spa setup that he put up in the forums, the one with zero wing on the front and rear, since once I got used to it I could do consistently quicker laps with it at Spa then the setup I had used in the race. I decided I would try and see how quick I could go on this setup at Nurburgring, where I would have to lap consistently over a full stint, before increasing the wing. I read once before that it’s a good idea to find the limit of the mechanical grip of the suspension, dampers first, before adding any aero grip since increasing the wings adds much more drag and reduces top speed. The only thing I changed was the gearing, which I lowered since I wouldn't be hitting the same top speeds as in Spa. Cold tyre pressures on soft tyres are all at their lowest setting of 8 psi (as in Marco’s setup). On the medium tyres they are 8 psi on the both the front left and rear left, and 9 psi on the front right and rear right. 

Even though I am not using the best setup when comparing lap times of the strategies (my times when I increased the wing are much faster which you’ll see later), I think the best strategy regarding tyres and stints will be the same regardless of changes to the wings. I am estimating that the race will be about 41 laps. Note that it could be 40 or 42 depending on the fastest driver’s times and if they slow each other down. I split up the stint lengths for each strategy to be of equal length, since I would be using the same tyre in each stint. So, for a two-stop race that’s two 14 lap stints and one 13 lap stint. For a one-stop race that’s one 20 lap stint and one 21 lap stint. Of course, stint lengths would change if using different types of tyres in the same strategy, but I don’t think that is ideal as my results will show. During these tests I had originally thought that the race would be 40 laps (whereas now I think its 41 laps), so I was testing 13 lap stints for the two stopper strategy and a 20 lap stint on the one stopper, so that’s why they are a lap short. I estimate a pitsop with a tyre change (no fuel) is 22s, where the tyre change itself is 4s. When I tested how long it took to add 100L of fuel, it took 9s. So fuel is added at 0.09s/L and so 44L of fuel can be added without increasing pit time when changing tyres. This is roughlyHere are my results

    Fuel: 3.1L/lap  (This is for a zero wing setup and will be higher when increasing the wings).

    13 Laps on Soft 
    Fuel required = 41L     (I actually used 42 L)
    Average lap time = 1:32.4    (laps 2-8 average was 1:32.2, laps 9-13 average was 1:32.7)

    13 Laps on Medium
    Fuel required = 41L     (I actually used 42 L)
    Average lap time = 1:32.7    (stayed same over the whole stint, no drop off)

    20 Laps on Medium
    Fuel required = 62L
    Average lap time = 1:33.9    (laps 2-13 average was 1:33.6, laps 14-20 average was 1:34.4)

    Qualifying on Supersoft
    Fuel required = 6L     (outlap + hotlap)
    Time = 1:30.6     (Was my best time in three attempts).

    Pitstop Tests
    Time lost to pit with tyre change (no fuel added): Roughly 22s
    Time to change tyre alone: 4s
    Time to add 100L fuel: 9s
    Fuel rate: 0.09s/L
    Possible fuel added in 4s: 44L
    Pit time with tyre change and 42L fuel: Roughly 22s
    Pit time with tyre change and 62L fuel: Roughly 24s


Based on these results I think the two stopper on softs is clearly the best. I was losing about 0.2s/lap each lap from lap 9 on (my last lap hit 1:33), but the car was still driveable as long as I didn’t overly push the final few laps. The times were only slower than the two stopper on mediums at the last lap or two of the stint. I think I’ve read before that adding aero downforce helps increase tyre life, so assuming that’s true when I add wing later then the softs could last even a lap longer before the fall off which strengthens their case.
The one stopper stint on mediums was about 1.5s/lap slower than the two stopper on softs on average. Since the race is 41 laps, it clearly loses more time than an extra twenty-something second pitstop would. In fact, it would even be slower than a two stopper on mediums.
Due to a one stopper on mediums being that much slower, I didn’t do a test on the hards. I really doubt a one stopper say with a 40 minute stint on the hards and a 20 minute stint on the softs would come anywhere close to the two stopper as the extra fuel on the longer stint would really increase lap times (when I tested Spa I found 50L extra added an extra second to the lap time).
Hence the rest of my tests from here on have focused on using soft tyres with fuel for a full stint in a two stopper race.

At the end of that long practice session I decided to try some laps with some wing thrown on. I tried a mid-wing setup of FW=19, RW=4. This upped my fuel rate to 3.24L/lap and so I had to use 43L at least to last 13 laps (46L for 14 laps). I lowered the gearing a bit, since I wouldn’t be hitting the same top speed. Marco’s setup used a brake mapping of 1/8, which has the longest braking distances, but the car is very stable under braking. The default one is 4/8, but I kept spinning out when I tried that, so I decided to use a 2/8 as a happy inbetween. I didn’t change anything else. I didn’t do a full stint, but I was able to do a 1:30.6 on softs, so I was lapping about 1.5s quicker per lap. I wasn’t able to do any practice at the weekend but got some done today. With the FW=19, RW=4 I managed to do a  1:30.2, but was more often doing 1:30.5 as before but more consistently then on Friday (again I hadn’t tested the average over a full stint).

I’ve also tried an increased wing setup of FW=26, RW=9. I think this averaged 3.3L/lap on fuel, might have been 3.4L/lap though so roughly 45L – 48L fuel is needed (note that would make a pitstop 0.36s longer, shocking I know, what am I paying my pitcrew for). I didn’t do full stints, but with this setup I felt at least 0.3s/lap quicker. It might have just been the extra driving had my laps improved, but I felt I could hit 1:30.2 more easily and I even hit a 1:29.9 (and I think I can do better, I saw an estimate of 1:29.7 at one point in the lap). I felt I could be much more aggressive on the throttle around corners so I had much better corner exit speeds and felt more confident in the car when I tried pushing for quicker laps. However later on in the day when I did another bit of practice, I wasn’t able to get those extra time gains with the higher wing, but it was probably because I was a bit too tired and hungry so I wasn’t driving as well. So while I didn’t do a full stint, I think I could average a low to mid 1:30.X per lap on the higher wing setup if things go well, which is about 2s/lap quicker than the zero wing setup.
I also tried a qualifying stint (7L fuel on supersoft) with these higher wings where I managed a 1:28.9, but I only tried this twice so I might be able to do a small bit better.

I probably should do more testing on different wing values, but I don’t know if I’ll have the time. I may try changing the differential too since Marco’s values were at the extreme ends of the diff settings, so I only need to try changing them in one direction to see if its better. I won’t include the full version of my setup, since its mostly based off of Marco’s and I don’t want to take any credit for the changes he made to the suspension, dampers, differential, etc. I’ve added a file with values for the parts that I changed (Fuel, brake map, gearing, wings) for my high wing setup. So if you download Marco’s setup and update those values with the ones I have in the attached file, then you’ll have the same setup as me. I’ll throw the file in the setups thread in the forum too.

[Simon Meisinger]

Now that's dedication! Thanks for the write up, it's really interesting to read other people's approaches.

[Dominic ORourke]

That is thorough preparation! Thanks for sharing. I had a look at the setup and I don't think I'm doing anything particularly different.

One thing I would question is trying to get the suspension right before setting the wing values. Wings essentially add weight down through the suspension so will change how the suspension reacts when adjusted. In most situations we probably won't notice but going from super low down force to high down force it could matter. I heard that when John Surtees ran a team in the early days of wings he tried to get the suspension set up, then attach the wings to the car and for the reason I just mentioned it never worked.

On another note, I've made a video talking about the technical side of the car which hopefully I can upload tomorrow. Should be interesting for any F1 obsessed drivers!

[Donnchadh MacGarry]

That is thorough preparation! Thanks for sharing. I had a look at the setup and I don't think I'm doing anything particularly different.

One thing I would question is trying to get the suspension right before setting the wing values. Wings essentially add weight down through the suspension so will change how the suspension reacts when adjusted. In most situations we probably won't notice but going from super low down force to high down force it could matter. I heard that when John Surtees ran a team in the early days of wings he tried to get the suspension set up, then attach the wings to the car and for the reason I just mentioned it never worked.

On another note, I've made a video talking about the technical side of the car which hopefully I can upload tomorrow. Should be interesting for any F1 obsessed drivers!

It was from this video that had suggested to remove the aero at the start of making a setup so you can get an idea of the chassis balance first, so that's why I mentioned it. 

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al8g-BgbEAQ&list=PLgcDMRxB3syMC3PqE0EtDAHIACtnYp-mc&index=3

From what I understand, creating the zero wing setup should give you a strong idea as to what effect each setting of the chassis has on the car, which might have been not as noticeable if you had lots of aero downforce. Once you increase the wing later on you can then make appropriate adjustments to the chassis to prevent things like bottoming out at top speed (since downforce has increased), it doesn't mean that you should use the exact same chassis settings. One thing to note is that the zero wing base setup he demonstrates is on an oval track. He does then add wing and make three balanced aero setups (low, medium and high downforce) before proceeding to non-oval tracks.

Of course you might disagree and find it easier to make a setup with some aero from the get go, there's no real correct answer just whatever suits best. The thing with sim racing is that it is easy to make adjustments to the suspension if you know what you're doing, you just click a few buttons and poof... it changes instantly. So its not too much trouble to make quick adjustments to the chassis once the wing is added. In real life it would not be as easy to make a suspension setting for a zero wing setup, then increase the wing and make changes to the suspension afterwards and would take much, much longer. You would realistically not have the time to do so on a track weekend.

I found the video playlist very interesting when I watched it about two years ago. As far as I know, the guy  who made it has worked with top level sim races in the FSR league for Rfactor 2. I never got time to work on setups after I watched it, real life got in the way and I had to take a break from sim racing for a while, so I really need to watch it again. The first two videos just explain what each setting does to the car. The third video (the one I linked) starts making a base setup on an oval track, where you start form the ground up to get a good idea of how the car behaves. So initially there's no wing, no differential, etc. until you make a balanced chassis setting, then you can add the aero and differential. The fourth video moves to the "home track", i.e. a track you are comfortable on with a variety of high, medium and low speed corners, so Spa, Susuka or Barcelona are good choices. Use the base setup you made from the oval and make appropriate adjustments (I think the oval setup tends to oversteer on a regular track, can't remember though I could have it the wrong way around and it actually understeers). The setup you get here is a good base setup to start with from any track. The fifth video then moves to the track you are racing that week, where you make the final adjustments.

It would be very time consuming to go through these steps when making a setup initially, but if its done properly then one would have a very solid setup that could easily be adjusted for each race after the first one. [url=https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=al8g-BgbEAQ&list=PLgcDMRxB3syMC3PqE0EtDAHIACtnYp-mc&index=3][/url]

[Simon Meisinger]

From what I understand, creating the zero wing setup should give you a strong idea as to what effect each setting of the chassis has on the car, which might have been not as noticeable if you had lots of aero downforce.

That sounds very true, I'll definitely give that a try in the next F1 series.

thanks for sharing those videos

[Dominic ORourke]

From what I understand, creating the zero wing setup should give you a strong idea as to what effect each setting of the chassis has on the car, which might have been not as noticeable if you had lots of aero downforce.

That sounds very true, I'll definitely give that a try in the next F1 series.

thanks for sharing those videos

Thanks for sharing the videos, I will have a look when I have time. To understand suspension set that is absolutely true. This is why Formula Ford was traditionally very good for learning how to set up cars. My point was more about using it as a method for building a setup in an F1 car; it seems to have extra steps and be more time consuming.

The important thing with car setups is to keep learning and if your process works then that is great. I don't consider myself that good with setups but I'm doing some reading and using sims to educate myself.

[Dominic ORourke]

A clean (mostly) first lap! In general not many incidents which is great too.

I pushed hard for about 6 laps and managed to get a gap, then it stayed almost the same until the end. I think that Donnchadh was very close shows that you get out what you put in and there is no substitute for proper practice. His improvement from Spa to here was impressive. 

I hope Simon enjoyed seeing the drift I had a bit after half distance. My only other mistake was putting 3 laps too much fuel in on the last stop.

A huge congratulations to Marco on the championship, consistently clean and fast all season. In general a big thank you to all the drivers for good racing and big grids. I hope a weekly series of 1 hour F1 races continues because it's been the most fun I've had in sim racing. Also worth mentioning it was enhanced for me by all the real skins this season after so many Ferraris last season. Thank you to all at SRS.

Lastly, I finally got around to making a video about the car we have been racing and how it never raced in that spec: https://youtu.be/HriuCdvZX0o