F1 2017: Tips and Tricks thread.

[tallcoolone 0]

I have some tips for career mode that I found useful.  I'm sure that most have figured it out.  But here it goes.  Probably this makes more sense also. if you are going to stay long term with a team.  I chose Williams because I wanted to bring them back to glory. 

1.  Develop the engine durability upgrades first..  This will allow you to have fresher engines during the practices, qualifying and races  The only one that I didn't upgrade to the full extent was the electronic control unit. All the rest I upgraded to the max.  I was able to complete season 2 with just the 4 engines and  4 gear boxes without having to take any grid penalties.  Also the fresher engines in practice will help you to complete  the practice programs easier.  Allowing you to get more resource points.

2.  Get all the resource points you can.  Attempt all the practice programs.  Also notice the last column - Team Objectives.  See what they want you to accomplish and try to do them.  I know this can be tedious but it will help you become a better driver and allow you to amass more R&D points.  Spread your practice programs out,  I do full practices so it easy to do.  Try to make it a goal of participating in each practice, because you get 10 pts for participation and 1 point per practice lap up to 10 laps.  So keep that in mind.  I know that seems measly ..but it adds up.  If you can't get purple in a practice program.  Let it go till the next practice.  You may be able to achieve with a softer compound...say the qualifying tires after you do your qualifying practice program  Example: many times I could not get the save fuel or tire wear program purple practice one.  but I could practice three after the track was more rubbered in and I use a set of qualifying tires after I used them for the qualifying practice program.  I hope that makes sense.  This also would help in achieving the 10 lap per practice goal and maximizing our resource points.  If I have completed all the practice programs in FP1 and FP2, then I will do a full fuel load run for 10 laps in FP3 to get used to the heavier car that I would have in a race scenario. 

3.   After making all the engine durability upgrades, spend your points - 5 cost reduction upgrades and 2 quality control upgrades for each department (engine, aero and chassis).  A guy on Reddit - NevCee, posted a wonderful experiment on how best to use your resource points to achieve the most bang for the buck.  Google - f1 2017 resource points optimal strategy.  He really breaks it down on how he figured it out.

4.  After that make the upgrades to improve where your team is lacking most.  If the team is lacking power the most.  Make the engine upgrades first, and so on. 

I hope that helps.   Like I said, I would only do this if you are going to stick with one team for a long term career.  Because for the first 2 years of the career, you will not have made one performance upgrade, only durability, cost reduction and quality control upgrades.  So it a long term slow burn thing - and btw, Chris will be on your case for not improving the car.  Oh well.  Good luck fellow drivers. 
 
 

[Alv4r0 0]

To improve the engine wear the only thing you have to do (ICE) is to change wears before the 11000rpm (Before the red dots of the rpms start to appear) that improve the wear a lot, and in free practice just do the same (maybe  10500-10800 in fp)

[MarcMCFC1986 0]

Hello

Not sure if this thread is still going, or if anybody will ever see it, but thought I'd pop a message on just in case:

I've only had a PS4 for a couple of months after having an Xbox for many years. I went out and got Gran Turismo, only to discover that it is absolute garbage - so traded that in for F1 2017! Now, I wouldn't describe myself as a die-hard F1 Fan - I usually catch 2-3 races per season when I remember it's on, but this year decided I'm going to make the effort to follow it, and got the game to help me learn the rules and the courses etc so I understand more while I'm watching. In the races I've followed in previous seasons I've liked watching Max Verstappen and Sebastian Vettel, & also like the Red Bull Team from Vettel's years there - so I'm a Red Bull Fan! I'm really enjoying watching the season so far, despite my two favourite drivers clashing in the Chinese GP Last weekend!

I have started a career with Red Bull, replacing Daniel Ricciardo in the team, and have had some very competitive races. My first two races I came 8th & 7th respectively, then won the Chinese GP and throughout the season have usually finished on the podium, winning a handful more along the way! I have just finished the Japanese GP (finished 6th), and I am 16 points ahead at the top of the Drivers Championship. However, I have noticed in the last 3 races (Singapore, Malaysia & Japan) that the Ferrari and Mercedes drivers are so much faster than me! I mean, a lot lot faster - especially the Ferrari's! They are a good 8-9 seconds ahead of me by the end of the first lap - they just go like s**t off a shovel and I've got no chance of competing with them! 

The truth is, I don't tend to do much in the Practice sessions - I do a couple of laps the get an idea of the track, then I do the Track Acclimatisation session in P1 and sometimes a Tyre Management session, and that's it! After that I just jump to the Qualifying and then to the race. And so, I don't have many Resource Points to improve the car!

I'm not a 'Petrol Head' - in fact, I know next to nothing about cars, engines etc. I just know my 2005 VW Golf gets me from A to B! Hence why I'm not that interested in doing all the practice sessions, as if I got all these points I wouldn't know what to use them on anyway! I've changed part of the engine and gearbox when they have been worn out, but not really been entirely sure if I'm doing it at the right time of the season. At present all parts are green though!

It's probably obvious, but is the reason the Ferrari & Mercedes Teams seem to be so much better than me now simply because they have developed their car throughout the season more than I have? Or am I just struggling with those three particular tracks? Or a combination of both?

Any help, advice etc. anybody can offer would be appreciated! Really really enjoying the game so far, just need to find out why I'm suddenly not that good anymore!

[ChironTheseus 48]

MarcMCFC1986 The practice session R&D are a must if you want to remain competitive in races but 8-9 seconds is a bit much for a sudden turn. Though I do have it myself in the odd race where a driver (normally Kimi) puts on a race like they are racing in max fuel mode the whole race, putting out a huge gap even vs all the other AI but even then its normally only half a sec per lap more than anyone else. Setups matter too but for that much of a gap it sounds more like a glitch or the AI haven't developed as you haven't, then suddenly they spent a load of points at once for huge gains? Or been doing engine durability upgrades then switched to aero as this seems the biggest area for gains, power really is broken, the fuel saving upgrades works well but you don't get much in the way of on track gain as you do for the aero parts (thats my experience anyway). 

You can speed up R&D by checking the list of what is needed first and just doing those.
All only need 1 lap each if you get it first time round and only 3 laps for the Race Strategy unless you have to do 2 tyres of which you only need to do another run on a different set of tyres for 2 laps to pass that.
I literally run through that super fast as possible so I can get right to racing and that is enough for me to gain well.
If you don't do fuel management as I don't (auto gears and controller, easy on manual gears) and you have a fuel saving challenge in list you can simply use low fuel mode on 1 lap of the race strategy to get the extra points there.

[MarcMCFC1986 0]

@ChironTheseus Thank you for your tips - I'll have a look tonight at doing the Practice Sessions in the way you suggest!  Hopefully, with me being 16 points ahead and only 4 races to go (USA, Mexico, Brazil & Abu Dhabi) I'm hoping I can cling onto Top Spot and win the drivers championship - or at least get top 3 - even if I don't actually win any more races! Then I can do the next season 'properly'! Might even step down to a smaller team like Renault or Williams and develop them! 

[ChironTheseus 48]

You'll struggle to get a lower team if you are high on the rankings, you generally only get contract offers from your championship range, so 1st expect only Merc, Ferrari and Red Bull, its very rare to get a low team then but if you do get one then please do share this as many have asked for more diverse team contract offers or personal contract submission (personal fav, do well and impress a select team you chose to want interest from).

[EricTheRed 0]

I did the

PJTierney said:

Here's a few from myself to begin with:

Finding the right AI difficulty for the beginning of your Career.
This year we have a far greater range of AI difficulty settings than before, 110 in total.
That can be a little intimidating but thanks to the addition of Spec Racing and Classic F1 cars we can run a quick test to match our driving pace to that of the AI drivers, resulting in closer racing and more realistic results based on your car's performance level.

• Head to Grand Prix mode and select Catalunya with short Qualifying.

• Choose the 2010 Red Bull RB6 and change the Class setting to Spec Racing.

• Do your Qualifying Session with the default setup.

As everybody's in the same car, the only difference is driver/AI skill.
When I did this I kept running the Qualifying at different AI levels so that my time would match Pole Position as close as possible (I eventually settled on 65%).
What I found was that when I started my Career (Red Bull) I would match the pace of my team-mate (Verstappen) in Qualifying and Races.
This ultimately meant that whenever I was hitting the times of Ferrari/Mercedes I knew I was doing really well in that session, and to maintain that level I'd have to push harder on each successive lap. The battles I have had in the Career have been enjoyable so far purely because the AI feels "just right" for my pace level and the results are fair.

I did the above and tried 60% and finished last ..........then tried 55 and did the same.........but in career I am on 55% and its a bit on the easy side so I am at a bit of a lose i am playing on keyboard so I cant really go higher

viking

[ChironTheseus 48]

EricTheRed said:

I did the

PJTierney said:

Here's a few from myself to begin with:

Finding the right AI difficulty for the beginning of your Career.
This year we have a far greater range of AI difficulty settings than before, 110 in total.
That can be a little intimidating but thanks to the addition of Spec Racing and Classic F1 cars we can run a quick test to match our driving pace to that of the AI drivers, resulting in closer racing and more realistic results based on your car's performance level.

• Head to Grand Prix mode and select Catalunya with short Qualifying.

• Choose the 2010 Red Bull RB6 and change the Class setting to Spec Racing.

• Do your Qualifying Session with the default setup.

As everybody's in the same car, the only difference is driver/AI skill.
When I did this I kept running the Qualifying at different AI levels so that my time would match Pole Position as close as possible (I eventually settled on 65%).
What I found was that when I started my Career (Red Bull) I would match the pace of my team-mate (Verstappen) in Qualifying and Races.
This ultimately meant that whenever I was hitting the times of Ferrari/Mercedes I knew I was doing really well in that session, and to maintain that level I'd have to push harder on each successive lap. The battles I have had in the Career have been enjoyable so far purely because the AI feels "just right" for my pace level and the results are fair.

I did the above and tried 60% and finished last ..........then tried 55 and did the same.........but in career I am on 55% and its a bit on the easy side so I am at a bit of a lose i am playing on keyboard so I cant really go higher

viking

If not investing in a wheel get a 360 controller, they are supported, it will help a lot in smoother handling of the car, I have tried keyboarding on Steam but it really is old school Tomb Raider up down left right, you can't smoothly turn. Make sure its a microsoft 360 as they are best supported, Steam are good too but more pricey. If price is no issue go for a wheel.

[PJTierney 4,908]

PJTierney said:

Here's a few from myself to begin with:

Finding the right AI difficulty for the beginning of your Career.
This year we have a far greater range of AI difficulty settings than before, 110 in total.
That can be a little intimidating but thanks to the addition of Spec Racing and Classic F1 cars we can run a quick test to match our driving pace to that of the AI drivers, resulting in closer racing and more realistic results based on your car's performance level.

• Head to Grand Prix mode and select Catalunya with short Qualifying.

• Choose the 2010 Red Bull RB6 and change the Class setting to Spec Racing.

• Do your Qualifying Session with the default setup.

As everybody's in the same car, the only difference is driver/AI skill.
When I did this I kept running the Qualifying at different AI levels so that my time would match Pole Position as close as possible (I eventually settled on 65%).
What I found was that when I started my Career (Red Bull) I would match the pace of my team-mate (Verstappen) in Qualifying and Races.
This ultimately meant that whenever I was hitting the times of Ferrari/Mercedes I knew I was doing really well in that session, and to maintain that level I'd have to push harder on each successive lap. The battles I have had in the Career have been enjoyable so far purely because the AI feels "just right" for my pace level and the results are fair.

Hi everyone, a bit of a late bump to this one but with F1 2018 round the corner this may prove useful :)

For F1 2018 this method should work fine once again, however I believe an alternate method may be more beneficial.

• Go to Grand Prix from the main menu.
• Instead of using Classic F1 Cars choose Modern F1 Cars.
• Choose Aston Martin Red Bull Racing (driver doesn't matter, though I'd go with Daniel Ricciardo)
• Choose Spain (Circuit de Catalunya), 25% race distance, Short Qualifying.
  
• Set the Driver Difficulty to whatever you had in F1 2017 (or if you're starting from scratch, go with 55 since that's halfway)

The goal here is to push as best you can in Qualifying, and at the end see how your times compare to your teammate.
Ideally, you should be slightly behind Ferrari/Mercedes on pace and slightly ahead of Renault, McLaren and the other midfield cars.
If you're at least half a second off your teammate, set up the event again but with +/- 10% AI Difficulty.

Once you're close to your teammate in Qualifying, continue towards the race, and pay attention to who you are racing against throughout.
You should be somewhere around P3 to P5 depending on how well the race and your strategies are going for you.
At the end of the race, look at the Race Director and compare your laptimes to the Ferraris, Mercedes and your teammate.
If you're where a Red Bull "should" be, then great.
If not, try again with +/- 5% AI Difficulty.

You may be able to get this right first try, but don't be afraid to do ti a few times until you've hit that sweet spot.
Then, once you start your Career you should (in theory) be at the right spot for whatever car you're driving :)