07-06-2020, 09:47 PM
(This post was last modified: 07-07-2020, 10:36 PM by 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.
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.